On Mon, 29 Apr 2002 11:46:58 +0100, "James Williams" wrote:

>I've owned a Sony TRV-10 for the last 3 years - overall I'm very happy with
>it. Just decided to get the instruction manual out again and look at any
>options I've never bothered with before....
>
>Audio mode - I've always used 12 bit. Now, I'm just wondering should I use
>16 bit? What are the downsides/pitfalls of using 16 bit (if any)? I'm
>guessing that perhaps the only downsides are, as the manual says, that you
>cannot dub audio on a tape recorded in 16 bit, and you cannot adjust the
>balance in audio mix. However, I now do all my editing on a PC so I guess
>these downsides are not relevant.
>
>Will I notice any improvement in sound quality using 16 bit?
>
>Any advice/opnions would be appreciated

Why Sony sells their camcorder with the audio set at
12-bit 32KHZ is a mystery to me - this is a "special-use"
mode, with reduced quality - and most NLEs cannot handle
the four tracks. Set it for 16 bit 48KHz (lower noise,
greater dynamic range, better high-frequencies - though
the differences will be subtle...).