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just wondered if anyone on here uses their s/pdif connections and records in 24 bit. Is there really a significant difference between 16 or 24.
Ive thought about recording in 24 bit, but I would need to get special cables not only for my soundcards ins/outs but for all my outboard equipment aswell including the extreme. Not sure if its worth it to be honest!

No question - 24bit is by far the best!! A couple of things to understand:

If you aren't doing a full song (drums, leads, bass, vocals, etc.) and if you aren't doing anything more than a personal recording then, yes, 16 bit is okay.

24bit allows a ton of room to mix, add effects (after you record the basic tracks), flub a little on your AD to DA conversion as far as volume is concerned. Basically, 24bit gives you extra headroom (provided you recorded at the right volumes). Headroom is the most important variable to mixing and mastering. There has been volumes and volumes written about the need for proper recording levels and headroom. If you can, always choose the better 24bit vs. 16bit - 96khz vs. 48,000khz etc.

For what it's worth, I always record at 192khz and 32bit floating point. It has pretty much been proven that these high levels aren't really needed but - I can and why not. One last note. You can't record higher than what you are capable of; meaning, if your keyboard outputs at 48000khz - it's worthless to record that at 96khz. However, if your keyboard can output at 96khz then recording at 48,000khz is okay (though you degrade the signal). Basically, the more bits you have the higher the resolution on your music tracks and the more headroom you have to add effects and push the final mix during final mastering.

thanks for opinion, but Id like to hear some more opinions particularly those who use their gear only for electronic music like myself

I'm an industrial musician - except for a live bass, EVERYTHING I do is electronic. Even my vocals are ran through a series of effects. But, to help you along, check out:

http://www.tweakheadz.com/16_vs_24_bit_audio.htm

thanks!, great article. I think Im swayed to sticking with 16 bit for now,however I have a further question. I am using mainly synths/modules hardware. (Korg triton extreme, Radias-R, X3 + 2 Emu's)
Do I have to use the S/pdif outputs from this outboard gear to get 24/96 or can I just use the standard L/R outputs Im using now and instead only use digital S/pdif cables from and to the soundcard to through my external mixer(which all my gear is plugged into). What will be the end result quality wise If I just did that? Im asking this because I bought 2 digital coaxial cables specifically for doing this but never got round to it.
(By the way my Korg X3 doesnt even have S/pdif)

RVNOak wrote:If you aren't doing a full song (drums, leads, bass, vocals, etc.) and if you aren't doing anything more than a personal recording then, yes, 16 bit is okay.

You can't record higher than what you are capable of; meaning, if your keyboard outputs at 48000khz - it's worthless to record that at 96khz. However, if your keyboard can output at 96khz then recording at 48,000khz is okay (though you degrade the signal). Basically, the more bits you have the higher the resolution on your music tracks and the more headroom you have to add effects and push the final mix during final mastering.

However, analog signals can be recorded at any resolution. You are converting Analog to Digital, mixing, then converting Digital to Analog (AD/DA). If you want your recordings to be mastered and want that last push into the commercial volume - 24 is HIGHLY encouraged. Also, make sure you record at low levels. Recording hot will make any resolution absolutely and completely worthless. If you record hot - may as well record in 4bit to a palm pilot. One thing to consider - if there wasn't a use or need to record at 24bit, they probably wouldn't have pushed onto the market or even invented it.

RVNOak wrote:

RVNOak wrote:If you aren't doing a full song (drums, leads, bass, vocals, etc.) and if you aren't doing anything more than a personal recording then, yes, 16 bit is okay.

You can't record higher than what you are capable of; meaning, if your keyboard outputs at 48000khz - it's worthless to record that at 96khz. However, if your keyboard can output at 96khz then recording at 48,000khz is okay (though you degrade the signal). Basically, the more bits you have the higher the resolution on your music tracks and the more headroom you have to add effects and push the final mix during final mastering.

However, analog signals can be recorded at any resolution. You are converting Analog to Digital, mixing, then converting Digital to Analog (AD/DA). If you want your recordings to be mastered and want that last push into the commercial volume - 24 is HIGHLY encouraged. Also, make sure you record at low levels. Recording hot will make any resolution absolutely and completely worthless. If you record hot - may as well record in 4bit to a palm pilot. One thing to consider - if there wasn't a use or need to record at 24bit, they probably wouldn't have pushed onto the market or even invented it.

so you are saying using just the one pair of digital cables routed through the mixer to PC soundcard WILL make a difference to the keyboard/synths overal sound despite NOT using their resepective s/pdif inputs/outputs.

Let me get back with you on this as I'm going to make a diagram or two to help

RVNOak wrote:Let me get back with you on this as I'm going to make a diagram or two to help

waiting for further advice..............thanks

Sorry man, I got sidetracked. I'll work on that first thing in the morning

Okay, for some reason my Visio is on the fritz so I will just have to explain.

You won't use digital cable to record out of the left/right and 1-4 individual outs. Those are analog signals and you would use standard 1/4" jacks to record that audio.

The Triton Extreme can record digital at 48,000khz not anything higher. So, if you use digital cables - yes you will get perfect digital sound but you can't record at higher resolutions. That would be your S/P DIF.

Page 15 the operation guide gives you a pretty good diagram of how to hook things up. One change to that diagram is, if you want to run your Left/Right and 1-4 individual outs to dsp mixer (Motu/Digidesign/Mackie Onyx/etc.) you can do that and record analag signals to your computer. These dsp mixers will convert the analog audio to digital audio for you in any resolution you pick (for me 96khz at 24 bit).

Also, the S/P DIF connecters on the Extreme are toslink (or lightpipe) where most of the other hardware on the market is coaxial. You might have to find a converter to convert to coaxial depending on the hardwar you want to wire the Extreme to.

I know this is not exactly on topic but I was wondering if there is any way to record samples on the TE with 16bit/44.1kHz using the analog inputs or resampling what I play? TE seems to record 16/48 by default. Couldn't find a way to change this.

Or at least directly export 16/44 WAV/AIFF files?

The reason for this is I use a global library shared by four different samplers and accordingly I sometimes need to transfer samples between those machines and like to keep my own "creations" at 16/44.1 whenever it makes sense.

As far as I know - no. If you take a .wav file that is saved on your cf card, the only option (in the utility tab) is to covert from 44-48.

http://www.korgforums.com/forum/phpBB2/ ... hp?t=35788

This is one thread in M3 section, but it's valid for Extreme as well, I believe.

I always thought Extreme doesn't affect samples at lower rate than 48 kHz and plays them as they are, because I never heard any problems with speed increase/decrease, but I was wrong. According to Jerry, Korg's engine converts samples lower than 48 kHz to play at that rate without affecting their speed.

WaterHead, this means you can keep all your samples at 44.1 kHz to be compatible with rest of your equipment and Korg will make no difficulties reproducing them accurately.

You can always convert samples made with Korg (he will sample them at 48 kHz) in the utility tab, but it's easier doing it on PC.

Yeah but, he was asking if he could record samples on the TE at that resolution. I agree with you shrike - it is easier on the PC. If he is anything like myself, I don't carry a PC to all my shows. Sometimes we will record someone in the audience and during the next song we will chop it and stuff and use it in the next song.

My question is, why would you want to go with lower quality? I know that 44.1 to 48 isn't much of a difference and it is still in 16bit but I usually prefer the higher resolution. Just curious...