Originally Posted by AnalogOverdose ➡️

32 bit doesn't have greater dynamic range than 24 bit due to the noise floor. In a theoretical world where there's no noise floor, then yes, it would have more dynamic range, but in reality, that doesn't exist. I'll explain more in the next explanation.



The noise floor is a small amount of AC current that's not supposed to be in the signal. Think of it like white noise, and all electronics will add noise. A good preamp will have an equivalent input noise (EIN) of -130dB, and they're generally capable of over 60 dB of gain. For example, let's say the gain is set half way, and is adding 30dB of gain, then the noise floor the preamp is adding will be -100dB. This is audible noise that's added to whatever signal is being recorded. All microphones have self noise as well, which adds to the total noise floor.

Dynamic range is measured as the difference between the loudest volume possible and the the noise floor.

Given the same noise floor, if you are recording in 32 bits, that noise will utilize more bits than it would if you were recording in 24 bits. Regardless of the bit depth you're recording at, the noise floor will utilize the same percentage of the total bits available.