This is probably one of the questions I get asked more than any other and it (thanks to the extremism of the internet) can provoke all manner of responses. As such I have put together the following set of guidelines which I use, and through explanation with my students suggest that they use. I hope that you find these guidelines useful when you are struggling with what sample rate and bit depth to use for your project.

Note // Is you don’t understand what Sample Rate and Bit Depth are, please let me know and I will write an article explaining what they are, why they are important and how they affect the sound/music you are recording.

What sample rate?

I mostly work with film, or content that will be used in film/TV, therefore I work at sample rate of 48 kHz. If I am doing a music only project then I will tend to stick to 44.1 kHz (depending on the music, see below). But that is me, here are the guidelines for making a choice, and you can choose the one most relevant to your projects needs. I have the following set of rules (for myself).

44.1 kHz - Music only projects with mainly electric, electronic instruments or low dynamic range output (eg rock, dance etc).
48 kHz - Film projects, library music, composing, some field recordings for SFX and ambiences.
88.2 kHz - I never use this one personally
96 kHz - Sound design, SFX, Ambience and Sample library recordings for pitch and time manipulation.
Also music which is exclusively acoustic only instrumentation (eg acoustic guitar, singer songwriter) and classical recordings.
192 kHz - Extreme sample manipulation for sound design, SFX. Some acoustic instruement recording when recording in an exceptional space, with exceptional mics and preamps. (or when I have more HD space than sense!)

What bit depth?

Given the cost of hard drive space, and the dynamic range benefits of working with 24 bit, I tend to work with 24 bit most of the time.

16 Bit - If what I am working on is low dynamic range music that is going to end up on a CD
24 bit - Everything else!

I hope that you found that useful and it will stop you getting involved in online debates!

Peace

Neil

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