32 Bit Floating Point Explained - Sound Speeds

Since the Zoom F6 was first showcased at NAB 2019, the world has been raving about 32 Bit Floating Point Recording. Truth be known, it's been around for years before that and has been used in post mastering for about as long. Understandably you want to record the best audio possible so shouldn't that include recording in 32 bit floating point? You may think bigger is better but it very well could make your life more difficult if you do. Not just because it means recording file sizes 1/3 larger but because it could bring with it more quantization errors and high noise floors. Should you record in 32 bit float? In this video I'll explain 32 Bit Floating Point so that you can make the determination for yourself.

Time Stamps:
0:00 Intro
0:42 Make The Biggest Number
01:56 Signal To Noise Ratio and Dynamic Range
03:10 How Sound Is Recorded
06:00 Understanding Binary
06:30 Bit Depth
07:21 Sample Rate
08:54 32 Bit Floating Binary Breakdown
12:12 Digital Sound Waves, Stair Steps?
13:11 Analog Digital Converters
15:01 The Reality of ADC Conversion
16:11 Should You Always Use 32 Bit?
17:31 When You Should Definitely Use 32 Bit Float
18:11 Outro

I've been asked to release the voice over copy for this video to make following along easier. It can be found at: https://www.soundspeeds.us/32bitfloat...

To purchase the Zoom F6 (shown): https://geni.us/ZoomF6

Two mistakes...
At 15:33 and 15:43 I said 192dB twice and I should have said 194dB.
At 5:12 I say "1 volt of current". It's actually 1V of voltage. Current is a measurement of Amperage.

Watch Monty Montgomery at xiph.org's A/D to D/A Demo:
https://xiph.org/video/vid2.shtml

Conversion Websites Used:
https://www.rapidtables.com/convert/n...
https://www.h-schmidt.net/FloatConver...
https://www.calculatorsoup.com/calcul...

To Ask A Question For The Sound Support Podcast, email: [email protected]

Gear Commonly Used In My Videos:
Panasonic Lumix FZ-80: http://geni.us/SoundSpeedsLumixFZ80
Panasonic Lumix DMC-G7: http://geni.us/SoundSpeedsLumixDMCG7
Aputure Amaran AL-MX LED Video Light: https://geni.us/AputureLight
Tascam DR-40: http://geni.us/TascamDR40
Sound Devices MixPre-6:
https://www.sounddevices.com/products...

Please note that some of the links above are affiliate links and if you purchase something using one of these links, you'll pay the same price that you'd find on Amazon if you looked it up yourself but Amazon will pay me a small referral fee for sending you there to make a purchase.

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