Subject: Re: [linux-audio-dev] cpu/disk tradeoff
From: Bill Gribble (grib_AT_cs.utexas.edu)
Date: to loka 14 1999 - 20:41:04 EDT
Paul Barton-Davis <pbd_AT_Op.Net> writes:
> 16 bit is completely inadequate for professsional audio intermediate
> storage and manipulation. Its adequate for the final result, IMHO, but
> thats not the same thing at all, as many people have pointed out.
Why not use 32-bit int for your intermediate results? a 4-byte float
wastes a lot of its representational ability on numbers way, way
beyond the bounds of what you need to be able to operate on for audio.
If you're interested in serving even the semi-pro audio world, you
want to be able to handle 24-bit input and output. Commodity machines
(ADAT/DA-38, plus any external A/D/A worth the bubble wrap it's
packaged in) are at least 20-bit these days, and most folks want
24-bit ability even though they're mainly getting random bits down
there (not to mention that a commercial recording with more than
4 bits of dynamic range is an anomaly).
Bill Gribble
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