ASIO and ASIO 2, bitrate, samplerate...

[Noctulius]

Let's suppose I'm going to record an album (a commercial one), mix it and send the mix to the label so that they could master it themselves at some expensive mastering studio and print the CDs. Ok. The recording and mixing would be done on the following system:

Pulsar II Classic (v3.01 Pro Pack software);
Asus P4T-E (P4B266, whatever);
P4 2GHz;
512 Mb RAM (RIMM or DDR);
Some IBM 60 or 80 Gb 7200 rpm UDMA-100 harddisk;
Logic Audio Platinum v4.8.1;
WaveLab 3.04d (will I need it?);
No external FX or dynamics (except for pre-amps and guitar distortion units and combos);
No VST or DX or Logic plugins used (dynamics/effects are Pulsar only);
Mixing will be done using PulsarMixer.

The final mix would be wav-files with chosen bitrate and samplerate. The problem of dithering and downsampling is label's headache.
Then I have some questions:

1. ASIO or ASIO2?
Does ASIO2 bring significant benefits (which exactly?) compared to ASIO? I guess ASIO2 is more DSP-hungry with many channels. And I will have many. Btw, why there are just "ASIO" modules and "ASIO1" (those 64-channel ones). Are they both are the same type (ASIO1) modules?

2. Bitrate?
Is there any point for me of using "flt" or "32" modules since Pulsar's converters are 24-bit? Why are they in Pulsar anyway? Any advice on bitrate? I have no harddisk space problem...

3. Recording...
With ASIO2 I have only "ASIO2 Dest" and "ASIO2 Dest-64". One "Dest" for any bitrate? How should I configure the recording (not mixing) project then to record at desired bitrate?

4. Samplerate?
Should I record in 44.1 or 48 kHz (96 kHz with that number of channels I need runs out of DSPs)? Is there a big difference? As I said, the final result would be the CD (not DVD), yet I won't downsample the mix myself (the mix can be in any samplerate or bitrate). Again - no disk space problem.

Thanks.

[Noctulius]

Anyone?
Well, perhaps it all was discussed somewhere here already. Could anyone give ma the link to the topic then please?

[Rob van Berkel]

samplerate: If the mixing and mastering is done at 96k I would definitely choose 48k as the resampling from 44.1 to 96 is harder to do than 48 -> 96
wordlength: choose 24 bit, as this matches the pulsar convertors and the Logic engine.
My two cents...
Rob

[jupiter8]

As your recording for CD there is no reason WHATSOEVER to use anything else than 44.1 kHz samplingfreq.

ASIO supports zero-latency monitoring (not needed on Pulsar) and ADAT sync. So unless you use an ADAT there is no reason to use ASIO 2.
I doubt there is a significant difference in performance so use which ever you fancy.

Why would'nt you use the Logic plug-ins?
They are really good and so much easier to deal with than Pulsar plugs.

[garyb]

where would the improvement from 48 to 96k AFTER recording?

[Noctulius]

2 rvberkel:

Mixing will be performed at the same samplerate as the recording. As for mastering, it's not my care. As well as the resampling problem. And as, I said before, I won't use 96 since I have not enough DSP to run all my channels at this freq.
As for wordlength - ok, thanks. Yet I don't understand the meaning of those pulsar "32" and "flt" ASIO modules. A point of their existence. Ok.


2 jupiter8:

As your recording for CD there is no reason WHATSOEVER to use anything else than 44.1 kHz samplingfreq.

Ok, then for what cases are 48 and 96 used? 96 is for DVD only, isn;t it? And 48?

As your recording for CD there is no reason WHATSOEVER to use anything else than 44.1 kHz samplingfreq.

Thanks.

Why would'nt you use the Logic plug-ins?
They are really good and so much easier to deal with than Pulsar plugs.

Ok, thanks. I'll try them.

[garyb]

48 is a little more precise than 44.1(more frames per second).there's not a noticable difference between the two and cds are all 44.1. why fight it?96k is VERY different.(in a subtle way) ;o)

[algorhythm]

Yet I don't understand the meaning of those pulsar "32" and "flt" ASIO modules.

i may be wrong on this, but i think that the "32" is 32 bit, and is used primarily for cubase's 32 bit 'true tape' recording function . . . i think that this is covered in the 3.x pulsar OS manual, so RTFM

[jupiter8]

48 kHz is for DAT:s.
DAT was meant to be a consumer product, NOT a professional solution.
They did'nt want people to be able to make digital copies of CD:s so they choose 48 kHz.
But nowadays almost no-one use that samplerate as you should avoid samplerate conversion because it degrades the sound.

The difference between sample rate and sample depth is that when you lower the sample rate NOTHING of what you have gained is left.
NOTHING. It's the law of physics. No matter how much you wan't to break the law this one can't be broken

Sample depth on the other hand is a different kind of beast.
You should always try to have as high bitdepth as possible becayse it saves more low level detail. And there is a difference even when you convert it to 16 bit:s, partly due to clever dithering algorithms and the laws of physics (or math).

I could give you a lengthier explanation if you want,but trust me this is the case.

Then there is practicallity.
I use 24 bits even if i could use 32 i would'nt for the moment.
The price is higher than the gain.
In my opinion.

I hope this clears things up for you (and others).
I've seen a lot of misinformation on this subject.

[Noctulius]

2 algorhythm:

Sure I understand that "32" modules are 32-bit ones. As well as "flt" is 32 bits with floating point. Heheh... The question was - is there a point FOR ME to use them with MY CONFIG? I. e. - with Logic.

2 jupiter8:

Ok, thanks. Your advise for me is 24/44.1, is it?

[jupiter8]

My advice is 24/44.1 that is correct.
Logic does'nt support 32 bit float.
Even if it did, i think that is overkill.
Thats my opinion.

[Noctulius]

Thanks.