www.shortscale.org

[Jagtornado]

Hi guys,

I have bought a tascam DR-05 field recorder/WAV/MP3 player recorder. I have have bought it to record small concerts, and to record old cassette tapes of the past. The device also has a microphone in port which you also can use as a line in.
Later I want to transfer it to my computer and burn it on a cd.

My question is: what is the best resolution to record with so it is suitable for all purposes, like burning on a cd, to use the recording on another MP3 player and so on.
You can record in MP 3 format but also in WAV in the following resolutions: 44.1 Khz 16 bit and 24 bit, 48 Khz 16 bit and 24 bit and also 96 Khz 16 bit and 24 bit

Please help me out

[BearBoy]

16bit / 44.1 kHz is CD quality. 48 kHz is generally used for video soundtracks rather than music iirc. 24 bit / 96khz is the best sound quality but will take up more storage space and would then need to be down converted to 16/44.1 when you burned anything to a CD.

I tend to record in 24bit / 44.1 kHz but tbh I can't remember exactly why I settled on that (quite possibly asked on here though ).

Hopefully someone else can give you a more useful answer

Edit: oh, and whichever resolution you use, you will be able to create an MP3 or AAC compressed version for use on portable players/phones etc.
_________________

[singlepup]

44.1 kHz and 24 bit is solid. However, I'd even recommend recording in 44.1/16 for ease of use.

Sample rate: Recording at 48 kHz doesn't provide any tremendous advantages. Recording at 44.1 saves you the trouble of having to covert later.

Bit depth: Generally, a higher number is better. Recording at 24 bit will offer certain advantages when mixing, including more headroom. Do a quick Google search on the topic or read this article. http://www.soundonsound.com/sos/jun08/articles/qa0608_2.htm

If you record in 24 bit, you'll have to dither (add white noise) to the mix when you convert down to CD or MP3 quality files.

Personally, I start a lot of recordings in 16 bit on my iPad. I stick with 16 bit all the way through the recording process. I don't have to remember to convert or dither later. Still sounds good to me, but most people choose 24 bit whenever available.

[Jagtornado]

Thanks for the advice so far. I am starting to get the picture.