{"id":1876,"date":"2021-08-30T18:04:32","date_gmt":"2021-08-30T18:04:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mixxed.com\/blog\/?p=1876"},"modified":"2022-09-22T11:40:03","modified_gmt":"2022-09-22T11:40:03","slug":"what-is-bit-depth-in-audio","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/create.routenote.com\/blog\/what-is-bit-depth-in-audio\/","title":{"rendered":"What is Bit Depth in Audio?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Bit Depth Defintion<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Bit depth<\/strong> sets out the number <\/strong>of potential amplitude values <\/strong>that can be recorded <\/strong>into a system<\/strong>, which determines <\/strong>the total dynamic range <\/strong>of the recorded digital audio<\/strong>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Acoustic soundwaves <\/strong>have a countless number <\/strong>of possible amplitude values <\/strong>because they are continuous waves<\/strong>. In order for us to digitally measure soundwaves accurately<\/strong>, we need to establish their amplitude values <\/strong>as a set binary value <\/strong>each time we sample them<\/strong>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Higher bit depth supports higher dB dynamic range, Source: Adobe<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

As you’ve probably seen, the most common bit depths <\/strong>are 16-bit<\/strong>, 24-bit<\/strong>, and 32-bit <\/strong>because of the resolution they offer<\/strong>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

These are the binary terms <\/strong>that represent <\/strong>the number <\/strong>of possible amplitude values <\/strong>that we need to digitally measure sounds <\/strong>for recording. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

16-bit = <\/strong>65,536 amplitude values<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

24-bit: = <\/strong>16,777,216 amplitude values<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

32-bit =  <\/strong>4,294,967,296 amplitude values<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Higher bit depths = higher audio resolution.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

This is because more amplitude values <\/strong>are available for recording<\/strong>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Think of bit depth <\/strong>as a big box <\/strong>with lots of smaller boxes <\/strong>inside it, like when your parents trick you at Christmas. The smaller <\/strong>the boxes are inside the initial box<\/strong>, you can fit more boxes inside it<\/strong>. So, a higher bit depth <\/strong>means that you can fit more boxes inside the bigger box<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A cheesy analogy, we know. But we think it serves its purpose.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As a direct result<\/strong>, the acoustic waves’<\/strong> actual amplitude <\/strong>is closer <\/strong>to an available digital value <\/strong>(bit<\/strong>), which means a more accurate reproduction <\/strong>of the acoustic soundwaves <\/strong>because there are more digital values <\/strong>to measure<\/strong> the soundwave<\/strong>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Bit depth resolution, Source: iZotope <\/a><\/strong><\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

As you can see in the image above, a higher bit depth <\/strong>& sample rate<\/a><\/strong> will reproduce <\/strong>the acoustic sound wave <\/strong>in far more detail <\/strong>than a lower sample rate <\/strong>and bit depth<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But, like with anything, there is a catch. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The acoustic wave<\/strong>, that’s a fluid shape<\/strong>, doesn’t always line up <\/strong>with a digital value<\/strong>. No matter how much resolution there is<\/strong>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Because of this, the final bit <\/strong>in the data <\/strong>that represents amplitude <\/strong>is rounded up <\/strong>or down <\/strong>to either 0 or 1<\/strong>. This is called quantization <\/strong>and it means there is a part of the signal <\/strong>that has been totally randomised<\/strong>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Inside digital audio<\/strong>, we hear <\/strong>this random signal <\/strong>as white noise<\/strong>… and we call it <\/strong>a noise floor<\/a><\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Depending <\/strong>on what harmonic relationships <\/strong>are occurring between <\/strong>the sample rate<\/strong>, bit depth <\/strong>and the audio <\/strong>itself – certain patterns <\/strong>can be caused <\/strong>in the quantization process<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

These certain patterns <\/strong>are what we call correlated noise<\/strong>, and they are particular resonances <\/strong>that occur <\/strong>in the noise floor <\/strong>at certain frequencies <\/strong>in definitive parts <\/strong>of the audio<\/strong>. In these parts, our noise floor <\/strong>is higher <\/strong>than elsewhere <\/strong>and is taking up <\/strong>more amplitude values <\/strong>that the recorded signal cannot get access<\/strong> to.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But there is a remedy<\/strong>. We’re going to cover this in more detail in the future. But, for now, we’re going to summarise <\/strong>what dithering <\/strong>is.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dithering<\/strong> is the process <\/strong>of masking quantisation errors <\/strong>by randomising <\/strong>how the final digital bit <\/strong>gets rounded<\/strong>. This stops patterns <\/strong>from being created <\/strong>and creates uncorrelated noise <\/strong>(randomised noise<\/strong>) and leaves room <\/strong>for more amplitude values<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This puts the amplitude <\/strong>of the noise floor <\/strong>at the bottom <\/strong>of our dynamic range<\/strong>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

As we’ve covered before<\/strong>, if our digital ceiling <\/strong>of 0dBFS <\/strong>is breached <\/strong>by a signal <\/strong>with too much amplitude<\/strong>, our digital system <\/strong>will distort<\/strong>. Therefore, audio bit depth determines <\/strong>the number <\/strong>of possible amplitude values <\/strong>between the noise floor <\/strong>and 0 dBFS<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What Bit Depth Should I Make Music With?<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Even in 16-bit systems<\/strong>, the noise floor <\/strong>is very low<\/strong>. There are very few times <\/strong>you’ll actually need <\/strong>to work with anything higher <\/strong>than 16-bit depths<\/strong>, which is the bottom line standard <\/strong>for music production<\/strong>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, it depends <\/strong>on how much dynamic range <\/strong>you need<\/strong>. As we said above, audio bit depth determines <\/strong>your dynamic range <\/strong>via the difference <\/strong>between your noise floor <\/strong>& digital ceiling<\/strong>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

A higher resolution <\/strong>will give you a lower noise floor <\/strong>to work with, so a higher resolution <\/strong>isn’t a bad idea <\/strong>at all. It offers <\/strong>more room before distortion occurs<\/strong>, which is a much more flexible <\/strong>way of working.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But don’t feel the need to do this unless you need excessive dynamic range over 96dB.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Once you’ve finished <\/strong>your mind opening track <\/strong>using Mixxed<\/a><\/strong> samples, your DAW <\/strong>gives you the option <\/strong>to export <\/strong>your audio <\/strong>in either 16-bit<\/strong>, 24-bit<\/strong>, 32-bit <\/strong>and higher<\/strong>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Bit Depth Defintion Bit depth sets out the number of potential amplitude values that can be recorded into a system, which determines the total dynamic range of the recorded digital audio. Acoustic soundwaves have a countless number of possible amplitude values because they are continuous waves. In order for us to digitally measure soundwaves accurately, we need to establish their amplitude values as a set binary value each time we sample them.  As you’ve probably seen, the most common bit depths are 16-bit, 24-bit, and 32-bit because of the resolution they offer. These are the binary terms that represent the…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":1905,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[20,19,17],"tags":[520,521,522,519,261,524,523],"class_list":["post-1876","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-community","category-music-creation-tools","category-music-sampling","tag-bit-depth-and-sample-rate","tag-bit-depth-audio","tag-bit-depth-defintion","tag-bit-depth-in-audio","tag-mixxed-com","tag-sample-rate-vs-bit-depth","tag-what-is-bit-depth-in-audio"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nWhat is Bit Depth in Audio? - RouteNote Create Blog<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"We're discussing how bit depth is responsible for audio resolution, what amplitude values are, and what bit depth you should use!\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/create.routenote.com\/blog\/what-is-bit-depth-in-audio\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"What is Bit Depth in Audio? 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