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Re: Why 48 kHz sample rate if destined for CD?

"Why do you sample at 48 kHz if you're going to end up on CD?"

I can think of few things off the top of my head.

1. Headroom - recording at 24 bits gives you more headroom to work with and less worry about hitting the digital brick wall and the dreaded digital overload.

2. Frequency extension - Most people believe that an analog disc can extend well beyond 22k in frequency extreme which is the limit of a CD's 44k (half of 44k is 22k). Going to 48k adds a couple more "khz" to get you a 24k limit. I know I can't hear 24k but some believe these high frequencies can affect lower harmonics. Hence the popularity of Super Tweeters, etc.

3. The only reason I downsample to CD resoultuion (44k/16b) at this point even though my primary listening device is a Squeezebox which can handle 48k/24b, is because of limitations in the software I am using and speed of work flow. CD Architect is geared towards creating CD masters. It does not, for example, have the ability to write out non CD formats. CD Architect is execellent at track sequencing and song fade ins and outs. At this point it is just easier to go with the CD resolution. It would be more time consuming to have to sequence the raw 48k/24b file. The option I do have is that I can go back and do just that - sequence the 48k/24b file whenever I feel like it.

4. Your suppostion of why not just record at CD resolution could be asked of why many recording studios record at 48k/24b? If downsampling was the only issue then why do they bother? My previous answers shed light on this.

Good question. Hope I made some sense in my answers.

-CB

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