What to do with 16 bit drum sounds?

by Jorge
(Madrid)

Question

I accidentally recorded drums with 16 bit depth, what can I do to get the most out of these audio files?






Answer

Good question. If you recorded these audio files at their optimum capacity, that is used as much gain as possible before digital clipping, you might be lucky.

The thing with the difference between 16 and 24 bit audio is the headroom you can use when processing. If you record a low level signal at 24 bit, you shouldn't have any problems if you have to increase the gain substantially, but if you have a 16 bit audio file that needs a severe gain increase then you might notice more noise as the signal to noise ratio of a 16 bit file is less than that of a 24 bit file.

That said, if you have 16 bit audio files, but you are processing them inside your DAW(Logic, Pro-Tools etc) at 24 bit, all the extra processing is done at 24 bit.

For example: If you send your two overhead mics to a reverb engine, that reverb engine is still generating reverb at 24 bits, although you are sending 16 bit audio to it.

So the bottom line is, if you recorded drums at 16 bit, but you recorded them loudly enough, you shouldn't have to worry too much. It's only when you are in need of that extra headroom that you might come into some problems.

If you don't think you can use your audio files and decide to record your drums again, be sure to check out my helpful guide to drum recording

Hope this helps!