TerraTec EWS88 MT Manual page 72

Hard disks and storage capacity
Now you suddenly have a great recorder, which allows you record audio-signals to a
previously impossible standard. Of course there is – as with most things in life – a catch: As the
sound quality increases, so does the need for hard disk space. If you want to dip your toes into
24-bit recording, you should incorporate a large, and more importantly, fast enough hard-
drive.
To give you an idea of the amount of data your hard disk has to deal with in these
circumstances, here is a simple formula which allows you to calculate your requirements.
Number of channels x resolution in BIT x sampling frequency in Hz divided by 8 divided by
1024 and, again, divided by 1024 = MB/s
For one stereo signal (two tracks) with the highest possible resolution, you will achieve the
following result in MB/s:
2 x 24 x 96000 / 8 / 1024 / 1024 = ~ 0,55
Slightly more than half an MB. This translates into 33 MB per minute.
Let's take a look at a typical multi-track scenario: 8 channels take up about 2.2 MB per second.
An average arrangement of, let's say, 20 channels (of which we play back 16 at any one time),
will require roughly 5 MB per second. And, of course, this is only for play-back.
Naturally, we are not trying to put you off such high resolutions, but we encourage you to take
a good look at your requirements. Not every application justifies such a high resolution. Very
often, the difference between 48 kHz and 96 kHz is negligible.
72 AudioSystem EWS88