does it matter if I use 16 or 24 bit?
All:
Well, my initial plans of buying Ntrack to record a song I wrote (and hopefully none can remember that first effort), has grown, and now we have a concert tour scheduled this summer to support a “still unfinished” CD.
My question pertains to the CD.
Could I expect a better quality CD (from a sound perspective) if I overdubbed all the parts in the 24 bit version of N?
I’m sampling at 44100.
CD music samples www.soundclick.com/iplan
(Actually, these are Mp3’s so the quality of these is not as good at the larger wave files. Also, the first track, K.I.A. (The Martyr) - is a live recording (done w/ a few room mics) -and is not going on the CD in the condition it is currently appears.
Just curious to hear you thoughts.
I know some people swear by doing it this way or that way, but my ears aren’t really ever sharp enough to hear the difference - so that’s why I rely so much on you guys. I won’t “accidentally stumble on a sound improvement” because I typically don’t recognize the improvement as “better” - just different - if that makes sense.
All the best,
Iplan
Without having to go into all the math or even worse, the totally subjective side of the topic, a very good reason to record at 24 bit versus 16 bit is the extra headroom and lower noise floor. When recording at 16 bit you should keep the incoming level as high as possible but without clipping. This is to obtain the best signal to noise ratio possible. It’s a bit of a pain really, when an otherwise perfect take is ruined by one little ‘over’.
The solution is to record at 24 bits and leave plenty of headroom for transients. Even recording at an average level of -12 or so dB you still enjoy (theoretically) a better signal to noise ratio than 16 bit. So record at 24 bits, leave yourself some headroom for safety and record that big hit CD, becoming rich beyond your wildest dreams… fight with a paparazzi, stay out all hours partying, wind up in rehab (three or four times) and eventually leave this world at a very young age so your family can fight over the money you left.
Better yet, leave that last part out! 
D
Oh yeah… don’t forget to MIXDOWN to 16 bits! I use to do this in Adobe Audition. I’d take a 24 bit mixdown from n-Track or Reaper and load it in Audition for any final ‘polishing’ then save as 16 bit in Audition. Their dither seemed to sound pretty decent. Now I slap Psycho-dither in the Master as the last effect in the chain and do all my final “mastering” inside Reaper. That way, what I hear IS what I get when I burn it to disk. Works great…
D
PS You can get the VST version of Psycho-dither and do the same thing inside n-Track.
PPS Remember to leave the Master fader at 0 dB!
Diogenes has the correct information. I would add one comment - I set my master fader at 0.-5 The difference is not preceived by the ear, but it might (and this might be outdated info) save you a problem when you burn or copy the 16 bit files or the file is played on another machine. Actually, I use Ozone 3 in my final mixdown and it auto sets to 0.-3.
Additional note - Ntrack can dither from 24 to 16 bits. I don’t happen to use it so I can’t atest to its quality but you might check to see how it works for you before investing in other dithering software.