Recording bit rate

I have a friend who keeps talking about 16- and 24-bit recording. I've also seen software that talks about "32-bit real". I'm a real noob at this, but I'm assuming the more bits the greater resolution, like more pixels per inch on an image, and I'm assuming that the 32-bit real comes in after the software does some jiggery-pokery with the input data.
We're planning to do some recording, and we're working out what computer to use. I've done some searching, but so far I've been unable to determine what bit rate the Mac uses in recording straight in through the sound input. I''m talking about a mike going straight in through the sound input and recording on something like Audacity or GarageBand.
I have a white Intel iMac, c. 2006. What's the native bit rate? Does anybody know? Also, is it any different for later models?
TIA, Matt

The digital noise is a factor of the number of bits. It is actually 6 * n, where n is the number of bits.
So for an 8 bit signal, the noise is 48 dB down, about par for a cassette tape.
16 bit is 96 dB down.
24 bit is 144 dB down, which for all practical purposes, means that everything else (pre-amps, et al) are what affects the signal fidelity.

Similar Messages

What is the recorded bit rate of iTunes songs i buy?

What is the recorded bit rate of iTunes songs I buy? 192/24? Other?
Thanks!

Thanks for the prompt reply, Neil!
(For some strange reason the system is letting me reply , but won't let me award you a "This solved my question." I'll have to try again later.)

TS5181 iTunes radio - Bit Rate and recording

There is an ongoing comparision to Pandora however, I suggest that Pandora offers a better value by far:
1. iTunes Radio does not state bit-rate
2. Pandora One is 192kb for $40/yr, with no adds; free Pandora is 64kb and has adds
3. PandoraJam permits recording to Mac, $15 one-time cost, 192kb unlimited downoads
4. iTunes Match, at $25/yr, permits saving current and paid misic to iCloud plus no adds, but STILL charges $1.29/song.
NOTE: I am pro Apple and nearly all my IT devices are Apple however; this is a difficult business case.
Can anyone tell me why iTunes Radio would be a better deal?

I'm curious as well what the bit rate is for iTunes Radio and am suprised Apple hasn't published it.
Forbes.com is doing a followup story soon which will compare iTunes Radio, Spotify and Pandora that you may want to check out.
http://www.forbes.com/sites/amadoudiallo/2013/09/18/apple-releases-itunes-radio- a-pandora-alternative/
Amadou Diallo, Contributor 1 day ago
Apple has a history of withholding geek-oriented specs on consumer-oriented products. By their silence I think we can assume that it’s not higher than what Pandora’s max setting offers. And it certainly wouldn’t make sense for the rate to be greater than the 256 kbps of iTunes purchases.
There’s also the possibility that Apple is offering adaptive rates depending on whether a user is connected over WiFi or cellular.
I’m working on a story comparing aspects of iTunes Radio, Pandora and Spotify (stay tuned) and I’ll report on whether there’s an audible difference between them.
Also found a post on Macrumors by someone who did their own "test" yesterday who is suggesting that it is 256 kbps similar to what you get for iTunes purchases.
http://forums.macrumors.com/showthread.php?t=1639713
Money and "value" aside, I've been listening to iTunes Radio for a day now on my Denon AVR and B &W surround sound system via airplay streaming to my AppleTV and it sounds as good as Pandora One -- and I think the playlist alogorithim is superior to Pandora as I'm hearing a bunch more variety and music I like on a station I created similar to one I have on Pandora.

Changing bit rate recording options...

I have a soundcard that can record 24bit, but when I open a new single track project it defaults to 16bit. I'm able to change the sample rate of the project but can't figure out how to change the bitrate. I've been all over the application and the manual. Can anyone help me out?
Thanks!

Altough I'm not 100% sure, here's what I suspect: Your soundcard is not recognized directly by CoreAudio, you use a driver and Core Audio is talking to the driver and not to the soundcard. Since Core Audio is talking to your driver, what it sees is a 32-bits device (almost every audio software is 32-bits floating these days) and not a 24-bits hardware device. Soundtrack Pro then set itself to 16-bits files because it doesn't see a 24-bits device. I use a Focusrite Saffire and since it use the CoreAudio driver, it appears as a 24-bits device so I'm able to record 24-bits files.
Now, the real question: Why Apple forces us to use their ****** AMS control panel for Soundtrack Pro instead of having audio preferences like every other DAW in the world, including their own Logic? Having access to the bit rate, the device utilized and the buffer size in a preferences window is a necessary basic thing!

MuVo N200: recording fidelity and bit-rate for podcasts

Hi,
My plan is to use my MuVo N200 for recording podcasts--I'm wondering what the fidelity and bit rate is for the line-in recording capability.
Is it 64k bps? Something else?
Any one else using the line in?
Thanks,
Larry

See here.

What bit rate to record for editing with iMovie?

I just bought a Sony hd pj260 video cam and need to know what to set the bit rate for shooting to edit on a MacBook pro using iMovie (snow leopard). I have a choice of 60p (28 M), 60i (24 M) or 60i (17M). I'm sure these will mean something to someone. They currently are Greek to me. Can someone advise me please. Leaving for vacation in a couple of days....
Thanks
DJ

60P wlll not work with iMovie, unless you are comfortable hacking the internals of iMovie.
60i will work and the higher bit rate, the better.
Best would be 30P.

Sample/bit rate for Garage Band '08

Hello, I don't have a Mac yet, but am going to get the mini soon and do some acoustic/keyboard stuff in Garage Band to get back into recording. What is the sample and bit rate for the new version? I had read that older versions were 16?
Thanks.
Joe

joewherefast wrote:
Hello, I don't have a Mac yet, but am going to get the mini soon and do some acoustic/keyboard stuff in Garage Band to get back into recording. What is the sample and bit rate for the new version? I had read that older versions were 16?
Thanks.
Joe
The sample rate is fixed at 44.1kHz. The bit depth (audio resolution) is selectable at either 16 bits or 24 bits.

How do I change the bit rate for dls?? How times can I download one song??

I'm new to iTunes. I already downloaded 3 songs when I realized that the default bit rate is 128Kbps. I tried changing the bit rate to 192Kbps with a (Variable Bit Rate) checked.....unfortunately when I downloaded the next 2 songs the bit rate turned out to be the same.
Do I have to restart Windows or iTunes before downloading again?
And now that I have 5 songs with a lower br than I wanted... in order for me to have(download) the song at the higher bit rate...Is it possible to download one song more than once?
Thanx.

You have no choice as to bit rate when purchasing from the iTunes Music Store. The official bit rate of all tracks there is 128 kbps (a very few have been reported to be at higher rates, but that's not a choice you can make, it's how the track was encoded by the record company). The setting in the iTunes Importing preference is for tracks you import from CDs only and has no effect on iTMS purchases.
Is it possible to download one song more than once?
No. Except in extraordinary circumstances, the iTMS allows only one download per purchase.
Forum Tip: Since you're new here, you've probably not discovered the Search feature available on every Discussions page, but next time, it might save you time (and everyone else from having to answer the same question multiple times) if you search a couple of ways for a topic before you post a question.
Regards.

Changing bit rate, etc. on songs already in iTunes library

I've done this many times before, but I keep forgetting how, and I haven't found the HELP menu to be of help. Anyway, I have a recording that Id like to share, but its file is too large, so I have to reduce it by decreasing the bit rate. How do I do this?

iTunes: How to convert a song to a different file format - http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1550 - including information about different formats and discussion about compression.
Topic: Need to convert mp4 to mp3 - Zevoneer's post on converting songs - http://discussions.apple.com/message.jspa?messageID=9244740
This also applies to different bitrate with same format.

What are the Bit Rates of the Music Store and Podcasts?

What is the bit rate quality and format of a song downloaded in the Music Store? And podcasts? Are they perfect, Apple Lossless quality or what...?

This might be true, but you won't experience any improvement in sound quality. Here's some info on bit rates:
This was originally posted by the incredible Sparky the wUnderdog
"As a general principle, you can fit more CDs on your iPod if you encode at lower bitrates (making smaller files), but at the cost of audio quality. Lossless promises to capture all the data on the original CD (thus preserving quality) but coded so the file takes half the space. MP3 and AAC (an implementation of variable bit rate MP4) both eliminate some of the information on the CD in order to compress the digital recording into ever smaller files--the lower the bitrate, the smaller the file, but smaller files mean more information lost and consequent poorer sound quality.
iTunes's MP3 encoder is so-so; the LAME encoder is better at preserving sound fidelity to the original. AAC files ripped in iTunes certainly sound better than its MP3s, with audio quality close to the best LAME MP3s at higher bitrates. With the type of music I listen to most often, sound quality declines substantially as bitrates fall below 256kbps, but LAME or AAC @ 256kbps sounds pretty darned good, and at 320kbps LAME alt-preset-insane is amazingly faithful to the original. However many users claim that with the music they listen to they can't hear the difference between 192 or even 128 kbps files and the original CD source, so they naturally choose higher compression rates to fit more "songs" on their iPods.
CDs take approximately 10MB per minute of music; Apple lossless takes 5MB/minute; LAME insane takes 2.5MB/min; AAC or MP3 at 256kbps take 2MB/min; and iTunes Store files (AAC@128kbps) take 1MB/min. At these rates, a 20GB iPod (really 18.6GB) can hold anywhere from 30 hours to over 300 hours of music. (iPod marketers express this potential playback capacity as "songs," figuring 4 minutes per song--thus 300 hours at 128kbps = 4500 "songs.") You will need to listen to samples ripped with different bitrates and codecs to determine the optimum tradeoff point for you between quality & quantity. It's worth taking some time to do this at the start as it sure beats reripping everything in your collection 2 or 3 times to get it right later.
So far as convenience goes, nothing beats iTunes's one-step process. To change bitrate as you import from CD, go to the iTunes menu > Edit > Preferences, select the Importing tab, choose AAC or MP3 encoder in the "import using" selection box, then choose "Custom" in the "setting" box, and the window permitting bitrate selection will pop up. If you choose iTunes MP3 encoder, at least use VBR (variable bit rate) to maximize the sound quality. (VBR increases sample size as data complexity increases.)
If you would prefer LAME MP3s, fear not, for the easy-to-use CDex ripping software is a free download and requires only one simple extra step to get the files into iTunes for transfer to your iPod. Now if AAC sound quality is comparable to LAME MP3, you might wonder why you should even consider LAME: Because of portability to other devices. At present, hardly anything but iPods can read AACs or Apple Lossless, but almost everything reads MP3s. So if you plan to burn CDs of your compressed files for playback on your home or car CD player (for instance), it would be wise to choose MP3.
One other consideration specific to the iPod: It has a 32MB cache. If you choose a compression rate that results in large files (i.e. lossless), then the cache won't hold very much 'music' and the hard drive will have to spin up frequently to fill it, and that will shorten your battery life somewhat."
JC

Sample & bit rate

I have a two part question:
1) I have a Presonus Firebox that allows me to record up to 24 bit/96k. I am wonder if I should take advantage of this and use those settings in audio midi setup for when I record into GrarageBand? Is it worth the extra file size? Is there a noticeable quality gain? Will 96k work with GB?
2) I know GB is only 16 bit and that CD's that it will be mixed to are at 16 bit/44.1 kHz. But what about if I record a song in GB at 24 bit/96k, mix down to iTunes, and put it on my ipod as an AIFF will the increased quality show up there? What about on an Audio DVD made from itunes with iDVD.
Thanks for any info and/or opinions,
Paul

Not that it's relevant in the context of GarageBand, but it might be useful to clarify the effect of sample rate and bit depth.
The sample rate affects the frequency response. it is mathematically impossible for a sampling system to correctly render any frequency at or above half the sampling rate (trying to do so produces false frequencies - 'birdies ' - known as aliasing). 44.1kHz effectively limits your frequency response to about 21 kHz, 48kHz to about 23 kHz, and so on.
The bit depth affects the noise floor: 16-bit gives a theoretical noise floor of about -90dB below peak: 24-bit gives a theoretical noise floor of about -138dB below peak. -90 is pretty well inaudible: but remember that when adding tracks together the noise, being random, is added (3dB per track if they are the same level when mixed - of course the peak level increases too). The digital noise, if it becomes audible, is far more annoying in its sound than good old-fashioned tape hiss.
In practice, GB's restriction to 44.1/16-bit isn't really that much of a problem: of course 96/24 would be better, but you gets what you paid for!
Incidentally, don't confuse bit depth with bit-rate, which is a combination of the sampling rate and the bit depth, and is fixed for uncompressed files: but of course as you compress files with MP3 or similar you reduce the bit-rate by leaving out information, even though the sampling rate is the same.

Bit rates, file type, MP3 encoders, quality settings etc.

Can someone provide me with or point me to a good explanation of various sound file types and settings and how it relates to sound quality and disk space? I've been importing tunes, recording some streams etc. and I realize I need a definitive source to explain to me how I can get the best sound quality, with all the variables involved: bit rate (64, 96, 128kbps etc.), file type (AIFF, WAV, MPs etc.), MP3 encoder (Apple lossless, AIFF, AAC etc.) Thanks in advance.....

OK. The following is my opinion.
iTunes supports 5 formats. WAV and AIFF are uncompressed and lossless. Apple Lossless Encoding (ALE) is compressed and lossless. MP3 and AAC are compressed and lossy.
WAV, AIFF, and ALE give the same quality as a CD but are too bulky for use in an iPod. The practical choices are MP3 and AAC.
AAC gives better quality for a given bit rate. However, it is not as widely supported as MP3. Many non-Apple players cannot handle AAC. So choose between MP3 and AAC accordingly.
Both AAC and MP3 allow you to select an encoding bit rate, usually in the range of 32 to 320 kb/s. That number affects the audio fidelity of the compressed file as compared with the CD quality original. Given that you will be using a good stereo at least part of the time, I suggest go no lower than 192.
You can do a web search and find listening tests, etc. You can also take a couple of tracks, rip them at 192, 256, and 320, and see if you notice anything better with the higher numbers.
Enjoy the music!

Streaming multi bit rate and single bit rate

I'm trying to simplify my setup. Sometimes I need to stream multi bit rate and sometimes I need to stream single bit rate. This is due to the internet connections I'm sending from sometimes have poor upstream and multi-bit rate is too much bandwidth to send... So.... We resort to single bitrate. As I understand my encoder and server settings are different for each of these... I created a single and multi-bitrate profile for Adobe Media Encoder. That was simple enough. My question/concern is in regards the server settings. I would like to have a server setting for multi-bitrate and a setting for single bit rate. My goal is to void making changes on the server. I simply want to load the desired Adobe Media Encoder Profile. So, do I need to create a dedicated event for single bitrate? Below is the syntax I send to my server from Adobe Live Encoder. Instead of using 'liveevent' for my event would I just give it a different name? Does this stand true for my .m3u8 files? I'm confused to how to name differnet event/streams....
livestream%i?adbe-live-event=liveevent&adbe-record-mode=record

Hi,
When you use a setting like: livestream%i?adbe-live-event=liveevent then the encoder expects multibitrate streams (the %i is replaced by a number so the streams published will be livestream1, livestream2 and livestream3). You cannot use the same setting in the encoder for single stream. Instead you'll have to use livestream?adbe-live-event=<event_name>. You could create a new event under the same application.
Hope this helps. Let me know if you have any other queries.
Thanks,
Apurva

Extremely Low iTunes Bit Rates

All of the music that I purchased from iTunes appears to have a bit rate of 128kbps. I understand that ACC files sounds slightly better at low bit rates. Regardless, this is the absolute lowest tolerable bit rate imaginable. It is only suitable for preview purposes with low quality PC speakers or cheap headphones. I can't believe that Apple would selling warmed over 8 Track Tapes.
Please tell me that I am doing something wrong.
Is the parent file greater that 128 kbps when I choose to burn a CD?
I am prepared to accept some destructive compression but 128 kbps is not functional. Converting ACC files to MP3 would result in even greater loss of quality. Converting the file to MP3 would be necessary for anyone with an MP3 incapable of playing ACC files.
Windows XP Pro
Windows XP Pro

I actually believe that it probably has more to do with storage space, rather than the record companies.
There's a consensus out there that people basically can't really tell the difference between 128k and 192k rips. And since the vast majority people may not notice or even care, Apple's philosophy is probably "why rip at the larger bit rate, and potentially use up 30% more network storage space, download bandwidth, etc. when most people won't notice".
I happen to strongly disagree with this sentiment, and can absolutely tell the difference between 128k & 192k rips (especially on things like Pink Floyd etc.), but it's apparently not my call.

Compressor bit rate question

I put together a 28 minute bike video and I am having some dvd playback issuses (for some dvd players, not all). For some reason the video pauses and skips in the middle of the video. Is there a recommended bit rate to export using compressor? I just export with the default setting on 120 min, 4.0 - 7.5 bit rate at best quality. I read somewhere you take a risk if your bit rate is over 7.0. Any thoughts?

When we first started supplying DVDs to the public we had quite a few issues with some dvds not being compatible. It was never very logical but the rule was that the more expensive the machine the more likely it would not play. In fact some clients actually prefaced their enquiry with the words "I am afraid it was a very expensive machine and we have been told it can be a problem"! Often also they were Sonys.
However I have to say that we have not had this problem for a couple of years now and had just assumed that everything is much more compatible now. Many people who watch Hollywood movies only, do sometimes get problems when they try to watch a copied movie for the first time - remember the process is different (and also that they do damage a little more easily than the pressed ones). It is always hard to convince someone who has watched movies without problem that it may be their machine. Nine times out of ten they would send them back and they played ok on numerous machines back here and we would send them another and it would be fine. Who said this was a science?? Your only other alternative might be to play out into a stand alone recorder and try that but you will lose your menu structure.
Pete Snowdon

Recording bit rate

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