96K vs. 48K vs. 44.1K

[lcressy]

Sven62

I clock off of the Digimax via wordclock, so my digimax is set at 48k internal and my Digi003 is on wordclock-so it always starts at 48k. I think the digimax's clock is better than the 003, from my findings. I assume you are slaving the digimax, so it is picking up the rate of the session file. Now If I want to work at 96k, I can still clock off of the Digimax, I just can't use the ADAT inputs, but if I am only editing and mixing at this stage, I don't need them anyway!

[thenightangel]

Imho, it's about mastering..I took a Riaa/AES bootcamp in audio and sound a year or so ago, the redbook spec 48K for cd master, 44.1/16b for playback ( the commercial, distributed release). in a sense, recording at 96 for tracking in the studio, stereo master at 48, the dupe facility then prints from master at consumer spec 44.1. By recording at 96 it's all about the bandwidth "headroom", then on mixdown, data compression etc then consumer grade (more compression) at least it was explained that way to us. the bitrates exist for differing formats, since say a digital hdcam fieldshoot will be in a given spec, in theory, it can be transferred into a dav environment, edited, mastered ( up to analog in a few cases) then printed to 35mm hires, or whatever print spec you're aiming aiming for, each spec moving up and back the resolution matrix based on purpose- the info is in the RIAA Redbook I seem to recall a "Bluebook" as well (?)..it provides all of the info regarding workflows, audio/video film standards, commonly used terminology for recording and distro related stuff, why all these different resolutions are out there and what they're for, etc and on and on.. a quick read through that increased my productivity by a factor of 3 or so. hope that helps.

[Sven62]

Originally Posted by lcressy

Sven62

I clock off of the Digimax via wordclock, so my digimax is set at 48k internal and my Digi003 is on wordclock-so it always starts at 48k. I think the digimax's clock is better than the 003, from my findings. I assume you are slaving the digimax, so it is picking up the rate of the session file. Now If I want to work at 96k, I can still clock off of the Digimax, I just can't use the ADAT inputs, but if I am only editing and mixing at this stage, I don't need them anyway!

My 002 clock is set to external ADAT, which is the Digimax on a light pipe. When I power up, the Digimax clock indicator light cycles through the three settings and usually lands on 44.1, which is what I track and edit in (that might change after this thread). But, about 10% of the time the Digimax power up lands on 48K and if I don't catch it I end up in a session that sounds like the chipmunks. So, from that I am guessing that it is not picking up the rate of the session file. But, I dunno.

I dunno who's a slave to what, but that is my setup. I don't know what to call it. You tell me. :-P And can I make the Digimax start at a desired clock rate 100% of the time? Or detect the rate of the session file?

Also, please explain how you work in 96K when the Digimax only goes to 48K. Can I do that, too? Cuz... that went right over my head.

[daeron80]

Your 002 is slaved to the Digimax. Another way to say it is, Digimax is the master clock. 96 kHz is not an option with that configuration. You'd have to change your clock source to internal.

Not sure why Digimax would sometimes settle on 48. Could be a bug. Is anything connected to its BNC input? Maybe it's set to external sync? Anyway, I don't think it can't detect session rate without creating a clock feedback loop.

[lcressy]

sven62

If your digimax is cycling, then it may not be set right. If it is set to internal, then it should stay locked to what rate you select until you manually change it. Check to see if it is in fact set to "internal". I have a feeling it is set to external as well, causing it to look for a signal, thus the cycling.
The fact that the 002 doesn't have BNC, does infact limit you to 48k if you want to use the clock off the digimax. I can clock at a higher rate, just not use the inputs from the digimax at that point. For mixing, that's allright. From what I am finding out, bouncing the verbs at a higher rate sounds so much smoother than at 48k, you may want to switch to internal for mixdown and go up to 96k, import all of your session data, and give it a try. But for tracking, I like using the digimax clock over the 003 (until a get an external clock).

[stoox]

i usually record at 96 on a regular session...

as for the 16 vs 24 arguement my take is....

16 sounds fine and you could get professional sounds at 16. i can hear a little bit of a difference and its not really "worse" per say. i do record at 24

[DrFord]

Choosing to record at 16bit when 24 bit is available is not even a matter of opinion. It is an absolute. 24 bt sounds better.

Now thats not to say that many amazing recordings have been done at 16bit, cause they have. Just remember that bitrate of sampling is exponential. 17 bit is not 1 bit more than 16, it's (if my math brain works at this hour) 16 bits greater than 16 bit... I think thats right.

But it's not the loud bits, it's those little tiny soft reverb tail bits... oh yea you know the ones...

[Sven62]

...whoa

[Sven62]

Originally Posted by lcressy

sven62

If your digimax is cycling, then it may not be set right. If it is set to internal, then it should stay locked to what rate you select until you manually change it. Check to see if it is in fact set to "internal".

I'm guessing there's a switch on the back....

[lcressy]

Sven62,
I am on the Digimax FS, not Lt - this post has gotten so long, I forgot that...but... I just looked at the LT on the presonus web site, and I think that if the "external" button is not selected, then it would in fact be set to internal, thus should send out the word clock info via adat to your 002. This unit is very much limited to 48k for adat as well as clocking. So, if I were you, I would track at the 48k clocking off the digimax, then upload the session files into a new session at 96k using the digi002 internal clock. You will notice the plugs - especially the verbs and delays much more clear when they bounce at that rate vs 48 or 44.1.

I may also add, that if your room is not acoustically treated, your monitors are not on a pro level and decoupled, cables are not at least in the mongami range and you are using the digi002 main outs ( instead of a better ADC), you may not be able to hear these differencesdue to the limitations of the equipment.