Reference Guide

1111
System configuration
Improving audio performance
Bit depths for recording
You can choose the bit depth of newly-recorded files in SONAR, and you can change this value at
any time. The Transport module in the Control Bar shows the project sampling rate and the current
record bit depth setting.
The choices for the recording bit depth setting are 16, 24, 32, and 64. At present, no devices can
record at 32-bit or 64-bit resolution, so you don’t need to choose these options yet. 24-bit files give
greater dynamic range than 16-bit files, so 24 is a good choice for music that gets very soft, as well
as loud. 16-bit recording is efficient for many recording projects, especially louder projects.
To choose a recording bit depth
1. Go to Edit > Preferences > File - Audio Data.
2. Under File Bit Depths, change the Record Bit Depth field to the desired number.
3. Click OK.
Bit depths for importing audio
You can choose the bit depth of imported files in SONAR, and you can also import files at their
current bit depth. You can import files at bit depths as high as 64. Because SONAR can play
projects that contain files of different bit depths, you don’t have to convert 16-bit files to 24 bits to
play them with other 24-bit files, saving significant storage space.
See “Bit depths and float resolution” on page 1109 for more information about 64-bit files.
To choose an importing bit depth
1. Go to Edit > Preferences > File - Audio Data.
2. Under File Bit Depths, change the Import Bit Depth field to the desired number. You can
choose the Original option to import the files at their current bit depth.
3. Click OK.
This process changes the default import bit depth, which appears in the Import Audio dialog. You
can override this value for one import process at a time by changing the value in the Import Audio
dialog.
See also “SONAR project file compatibility notes” on page 1113.
Note: If you are playing back 32-bit or 64-bit audio at high sample rates (and high latency sizes),
the disk I/O buffer size in Edit > Preferences > Audio - Sync and Caching may need to be
increased to handle this extra disk streaming throughput. A too small disk I/O buffer size can
result in dropouts or clicks during audio playback of such content. If so try a higher I/O buffer
size like 256 or 512.