Bit Depths, And Float Resolution; Bit Depths For Playback - CAKEWALK SONAR User Manual

:
To Import Audio That Has a Different Sampling Rate
• Use the File-Import Audio command to import the audio file(s) (this converts them to the project
sampling rate).

Bit Depths, and Float Resolution

SONAR supports all common bit depths. SONAR's 32-bit capability provides full floating-point
resolution for extended dynamic range, and more precise audio processing. You can also choose 64-bit
resolution (Audio Options dialog-General tab-Mixing Engine button) for maximum dyanamic range and
precision.
A SONAR project can now contain files of different bit depths. You can specify different bit depths for
playing back, recording, importing, exporting, and rendering audio (bouncing, freezing, applying
effects). To play back or record at a specific bit depth, your sound card must support that bit depth.
To Find the Bit Depth of Clips in a Project
• Right-click a clip, choose Clip Properties from the popup menu, and examine the Audio files tab.
Or
• Use the File-Project Audio Files command to open the Project Files dialog, and examine the Bit
Depth column.
The following topics show you how and why to choose bit depths for various operations.

Bit Depths for Playback

Most sound cards can play audio at 16-bit or 24-bit resolution, with a few sound cards supporting 18-bit
and 20-bit resolution. When your project contains files with different bit depths SONAR plays them at
the bit depth that your sound card is currently set to. Because SONAR can play projects that contain
files of different bit depths, you don't have to convert 16-bit files to 24 bits to play them with other 24-bit
files, saving significant storage space. If you're playing 32-bit files or 24-bit files at 16 bits, you can turn
dithering on in the Audio Options dialog to compensate for the truncated data.
Note: SONAR 4 does not play back projects that contain files with different bit depths, so if you want to
open a multiple bit depth project in SONAR 4, see "To Rewrite Audio Files at Different Bit Depths" on
page 551 for a conversion procedure.
When you first install SONAR, the Wave Profiler profiles your sound card at all the bit depths that the
sound card supports, so when you change the playback bit depth, you don't need to run the Wave
Profiler again (you do need to relaunch SONAR).
Here's how to change the playback bit depth for a project:
To Change Playback Bit Depth
1. Use the Options-Audio command to open the Audio Options dialog.
2. On the General tab, choose the bit depth you want to use in the Audio Driver Bit Depth field.
3. Click OK.
Note 1: if you choose to play back at greater than 16 bits, you may need to pick a bit format for your
data on the Driver Profiles tab of the Audio Options dialog box in the Stream > 16 Bit Data As field. You
may need to consult your sound card's documentation to find the optimum setting.
Note 2: some audio devices, especially USB devices that use WDM drivers, can not operate in 24-bit
mode unless a variable in SONAR's
which goes in the [name of your audio device ('n' in, 'n' out)] section of the
550
. file is set to 1. The variable is Use24BitExtensible=<0 or 1>,
AUD INI
. file.
AUD INI