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Updated: July 5, 2008

So, you've downloaded a show in 24 Bit format. Now what?

With more and more "tapers" recording shows to laptop or harddrive recorder, recordings in 24 bit .wav format are becoming more and more prevalent. Lot's of people are always asking question, and this website will answer many of them. Here we go:

No. Audio CD's are limited to 16-Bit, 44.1 kHz. (that's 44,100 samples per second, with each sample being 16 bits long). 24 Bit recordings are generally recorded at 48 kHz, 96 kHz, or even 192 kHz. Although those are the usual sample rates for 24 bit files, some recorders will only record at 44.1 kHz. So it is possible to have 24 bit, 44.1 kHz files.

There are many ways to listen to 24 Bit files. You can burn them to DVD, either as a DVD-Audio disc or a DVD-Video disc. Or you can listen to them from your computer.

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Currently, you can make a DVD-Audio disc or DVD-Video disc. Let's talk about these formats for a little bit. In order to play a DVD-Audio disc, your DVD player must support this format. This feature is being included in more and more DVD players, but many older DVD players will likely not play a DVD-Audio disc. DVD-Video, however, is a lot more common and any DVD player should be able to play the disc.
One important difference to note about the two files is that DVD-Audio will allow just about any sample rate, 44.1kHz, 48, 88.2, 96, 176.4, or 192 kHz. Conversely, DVD-Video discs must either be at 48 kHz or at 96 kHz. The majority of the time, it doesn't make any difference, because most live 24 bit recordings are made at either 48 or 96 kHz. But if you have a 24 bit, 44.1 kHz file set, you will NOT be able to burn a DVD-Video disc.

Here are some options for burning software:

Yes. But there are many factors to consider. First of all, do you have a soundcard that is capable of playing back 24 bit files? If not, then your soundcard will playback the files in "16-bit" mode, and you won't hear any of the advantages of the 24-bit recording. Another important thing to consider is this: are you going to be sending an analog signal out of your soundcard, or a digital signal to an external DAC (digital-to-analog converter). Before you hear the music, it must be converted back to analog at some point. Computers are noisy machines, so if you let your soundcard do the conversion, it will likely be noisy and you will miss out on a lot of the detail of the 24 bit recording. Generally speaking, sending a digital signal to an external DAC will do a much better job on the conversion process.

Yes, 24 bit recording rock! but if you're listening from your computer and playing it through a cheap set of computer speakers, then you probably won't hear much of a difference over 16 bit files. However, with a nice playback system than can reproduce the fine details in a recording, the difference is night & day.

Good. This FAQ was not meant to answer all your questions. It was meant to answer the basics. This FAQ deals with the questions that always get asked whenever I set up a Bit Torrent for a 24-bit show. If you'd like more information, do some research, there is a a lot of great information about 24 bit audio on the greater interweb. We do, afterall, live in the "information age." Go! Spend a few hours reading up and learning about it. Trust me, it's worth it to sit back, close your eyes, and really sink back to the environment at a show. and with 24 bit shows, it's just that much easier to imagine yourself back at the show.

Here's another FAQ that goes into much more detail: www.24bitfaq.org

If you'd like to contact me about updates that you think are appropriate for this page, please contact me at jasonsobel AT gmail DOT com