Question about sequence settings for audio and export settings for sample rate and size

Report · Dec 14, 2021

I have a project consisting of video and a bunch of .wav files. The majority of them are 44100 Hz and 16 bit, a very small amount are 24 bit and 48000, 96000, and 192000 Hz. Sequence settings are 44100 Hz (is this correct?). I want to export the audio only, uncompressed, so I select Waveform Audio for the format and Uncompressed for the Audio Codec (I want compressed video and lossless audio and I don't wanna use Quicktime; I will merge the audio and video externally).

My questions: what Sample Rate and Sample Size should I use for the export settings to ensure lossless quality? And is my logic correct that the setting for the sequence should be the same as the majority of the audio files I'm adding to it?

Report · Dec 15, 2021

Lossless audio is a catch-all term that describes any PCM audio stream, and whilst it is possible to have 8-bit lossless audio we generally take the term to mean anything from 16-bit 44.1kHz upwards, which is of course the rate of RedBook audio for CD.

For video, YouTube notwithstanding, the minimum rate is usually taken as 16-bit 48kHz, and to my mind you should never, ever use 44.1k on a video file because it is frankly bad practise.

Generally, unless there is a damned good reason 192kHz is excessive and has the potential to introduce some problems you should never face (such as biasing frequencies) and I am of the firm opinion it doubles your file sizes from the optimal 24/96 and gains you nothing except the need for larger storage drives.

What sample rates should you be using? That depends on what you are doing, and I would again advise no higher than 96k and that 48k will often be fine unless your delivery specs ask for 96k.

Bit Depth is another matter altogether. 16-bit audio can be brittle sounding & I prefer 24-bit, which also has a far greater dynamic range potential as 24-bit audio has 48dB of dynamic range over 16-bit. That is the main difference.

For more detail, please see https://bpmskills.com/tech-tips/16-bit-vs-24-bit/