Samplerates: the higher the better, right?

In this video tutorial, Dan Worrall explains when and why you should use higher samplerates for your recordings and mixing sessions, and more importantly... when you should NOT. Also, Dan goes in depth about oversampling vs. higher sample rates.

More info about FabFilter Saturn:

[Lantertronics]

Georgia Tech Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering in the Digital Signal Processing Technical Interest Group here... This is the first explanation of sampling, aliasing, upsampling/downsampling, antialiasing filters, etc. I've seen/heard, in print or in video, in 20 years that (a) didn't make me cringe at any point, and (b) completely blew me away with how illuminating it was.

[tytonproductions]

Finally, someone explains the whole sample rate thing in a way that non-DSP engineers can actually understand. Thank you Dan

[roberthunt]

I've been trying to grasp this sample rate stuff for years. And along comes Dan. I'm not sure anyone could possibly do a better job of teaching this. Color me awestruck. I finally get it! And if I can get it, anyone can!

[KyleJackson]

This is, in my mind, the clearest and most informative demonstration and explanation of sample rates, aliasing, and the tricky bits of digital audio I've ever encountered. I'm also digging the Reaper mixer setup.

[PERRECTUMpl]

Best digital audio aliasing explanation ever. Thank you!

[adithyasatheesh]

Dan definitely knows he's the best. Sometimes I get on YouTube simply to hear this man talk about things I can't comprehend.

[LuxElliott]

Dan, you're amazing. I would replace Alexa and Siri's voice with yours in a heartbeat.

[warnimobv]

probably the most honest video a company has ever made. Not even speaking of the clear and good information told by somebody with a great voice to listen to. Thank you for doing this!

[jeremyjohnson]

This by far the smartest marketing video for FabFilter. And what makes it so unique is the fact, that everything he's explaining is 100% true!😂😂😂

[gepmrk]

"If the song is good and the mix is good, no one will care about a bit of aliasing!" Phew ... sanity is finally restored.

[JimAlfredson]

Thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you. I've been telling people (mostly amateur engineers and audiophiles) this stuff for years but this is the first video I've seen that actually illustrates it perfectly with smart examples and incontrovertible proof. High sample rates for the final, consumer delivery format are useless. Even for basic tracking, they don't really matter because the majority of microphones don't pick up much of anything over 18k anyway. The only reason to use them is in mixing and it is far more practical to just use over-sampling rather than record everything at a higher sample rate.

Dan Worrell is the best.

[norburybrook]

Dan, probably the best video I've seen on tis Thank you . I'll refer friend and colleagues to this from now on

[jeffk]

Great video and explanation. Matches up with what I've been doing for years.

I record and edit/mix almost everything at 48kHz. With popular music, the space and processing savings of 48k are noticeable and any harmonic content above 20k is pretty much buried under other instruments anyway. Plus, producing high sample rate content is pointless anyway since pretty much all forms of music compression (size) will bandpass limit the content anyway before applying the lossy compression.

However, there is still one thing that I record and edit at higher sample rates - that being orchestral music. With typically few microphones (allowing acoustic mixing of the band/orchestra prior to microphone capture), the space and processing savings is unnecessary. There are some instruments that do have harmonics, and even natural energy, above 20k. I find it best to capture and edit at the higher sample rates and then apply bandwidth filters upon final mixdown. This avoids the issue of those frequencies above 20k turning into aliased content in the below 20k range during initial tracking/capture or in the editing stage.

[RmaNYouTube]

I'm 7 years into music production & this video felt like I knew nothing about audio. Soooo much in-depth audio knowledge here.

[whitefiretor]

Absolutely unreal as to how much I just learned in this half hour... Couldn't be happier to have been school by the great Dan once again! Thank you so much!!!!

[BigMTBrain]

That's "PROFESSOR Dan" from now on. So clear. So complete. So concise. So the best! Thank you!

[manifestgtr]

Dude, forget aliasing and is a masterclass on the “inner lives” of our DAWs. This is yet another reason that I will always support fabfilter. Their plugins are among the cleanest in the industry, they’re infinitely usable and they’re pleasant on the eyes over the course of a long day. But even after all that, there’s content like this. I fear the day you guys decide to release a DAW. At that point, I’d have a pretty serious decision to make regarding my 20+ year investment in Pro Tools’ ecosystem....

[McAndriu]

I’m a former Audiovisual Systems Engineer from Barcelona and this has never been explained so clearly to me. Thank you. Best tutorials ever.

[bandogbone]

Dan, your presentations convey not only technical knowledge but also, and more importantly, much wisdom about how the skills fit into the whole project and to this work in general. Much thanks for an EXTREMELY well-planned and produced presentation -- the density of useful knowledge per unit time is off-the-charts! If there were awards given for this sort of thing, you would sweep the whole lot, every time!

[tonynekrews]

That was utterly engrossing, educational and absorbing. I got so much from this, thanks Dan.