What is 32 Bit Float Audio and WHY YOU NEED To Use It!

24-bit is the industry standard and has a dynamic range of 144 dB. This is plenty if you learn proper gain staging but in certain situations, even the best gain staging will fail to mitigate unwanted peaks in a performance or recording. This is where 32-bit float comes in.
32-bit float gives a whopping 1500+ dB of dynamic range.
Check out the video to find out WHY YOU NEED To Use 32-bit float when recording...

FOLLOW US:

#32bit
#handheldrecorder
#tascamportacapturex8
#portacapturex8
#recording
#audiorecordingstudio
#audiorecording

[Noisegate]

We'd love to know if you would use 32-bit recording especially in a live situation or when recording out in the field..

[JimAlfredson]

32 bit recording is a marketing ploy. Your last caveat sums up the issue perfectly: if you overload the analog front end, it doesn’t matter what the bit rate is. And we still have to get analog signals into the digital realm, which means we need to be careful about gain staging. 24bit is more than enough. In fact, here’s the dirty little secret of the audio world: there is no true 24bit analog to digital conversion in any piece of gear. Go look at the specs and read what the signal to noise ratio is. At best you’ll find around 120db. The dynamic range of 24bit is 144db and remember that decibels are logarithmic. So that 24db difference is huge.

Why is this? Because the noise of the actual electronic components required in the path before the ADC is loud enough to mask the bottom limit of a 24bit signal. In other words, the inherent noise in the resistors, capacitors, transistors, etc is higher than 24bit.

This is true in the new 32 bit float systems too. All they are doing is automatic gain staging using an algorithm. It could easily be done in 24bit as well. But it sounds fancier to say 32 bit float.

Again, marketing ploy.

[larry]

Don't forget the limits of your microphone. For recording gunshots or other loud sounds, I would suggest the RCA BK-5B.

[gznubouit]

People don't seem to realize the very difference between 32bit recording and 32 bit FLOAT, and he just explained it.

[keithraney]

Sometimes high-resolution pics have a lot of noise. Maybe 32- bit float works differently?

[PB-kfqt]

Hi! Thanks for the info. I'm a filmmaker working on a Direct Cinema documentary and not using a boom operator, as it's a very intimate situation with several characters, and they don't feel comfortable with one.

Quick question: Can recording in 32-bit help me bring distant sounds forward in a room with multiple people talking, while also preventing clipping from sounds too close to the mic?

I know it's not a professional setup, but since I'll have to handle the sound myself, do you think a 32-bit recorder can manage this?

[lordbachus]

anyone else see the mind trick he is playing on us? i think 24 bit is more then enough, and 16 bit is enough when recording a single instrument, but not when you mix it, mix is 24 bit. Only when recording at 24 bit, i can see use for 32 bits in the mix, but why record a single instrumetn track at 24 bit?

[eligoldstein]

I was really hoping he was gonna film himself screaming at the top of his lungs

[andrewgordon]

Will 32 bit floating point ever be used on lossless audio playback codecs like DTS HDMA 7.1 or Dolby Atmos? Some high-end audio video processors have 32bit 768kHz DAC's like the Anthem AVM90.

[kukitipoki]

A guitarist turning up his amp? That would NEVER happen

[postaudioformedia]

Speaking from the post audio production side of things...32 bit-float is a complete waste of time and a marketing ploy for filmmakers who don't want to learn proper audio. 24 bit has more than enough dynamic range, the post audio workflow isn't even close to optimized for 32-bit float, and editors who send over AAF's using these "magic pill" file formats always do it wrong and it causes major, MAJOR issues.

You don't need it. Learn to record audio properly and you'll be fine. 24bit is the industry standard for a reason.

The only people who should even mess with 32-bit float are sound designers capturing SFx in the field. Maybe solo filmmakers doing marketing videos in clubs or other extremely loud locations. Maybe. Everyone else is more than fine with the industry standard 24 bit.

If you really want to waste your time and money and do the "set and forget" marketing nonsense of 32-bit then give your audio engineer the 32-bit but edit with the 24 bit audio. We'll relink it later and avoid the issues editors run into trying to muck around with 32.