Hi Andy,

Studio One's direct bounces (bounce in place, etc) render at 32-bit float. IIRC, this was done to remove any situation where a bounce would ever clip the audio file. In other words, when operating at 32-bit float internally (like all modern daws do) nothing clips internally and likewise, no matter where your levels at any given moment, direct bounces will never clip the bounced audio file.

Despite the common misconceptions surrounding gain staging, it's largely irrelevant internally.

In Song Setup you can change the bit depth for recording and other drag and drop exports. If that's set to 24-bit for example, dragging an audio file to the browser to export will render a 24-bit file, etc. It's probably best to leave that set at 24-bit as recording 32-bit float is generally a waste of hard disk space.

The Mixdown and Stem Export dialogs let you choose the bit depth of those exports on a case by case basis.

Hope that helps.

Thank you very much Lawrence, that helps a lot. I didn't consider that, regardless of an audio interface's specifications that software would/could operate at a higher bit depth. But yeah, that makes a lot of sense.

Like you say, disk space may become an issue at some point. I would have to archive finished projects earlier than I normally do, which is sometimes never haha!

One thing I have tried, before posting here, was opening a bounced track from 32 to 24 bit and Studio One doesn't mind one bit. In hindsight, though, I'm thinking that is a bad idea as I should leave any dithering for SO to do.

All good fun

Thanks again,

andy

As Lawrence stated. 32 bit floating point internal processing is simply that internal bit resolution, crunching out what it needs to, be it bouncing, or internal signal processing. This is within the confines of the DAW's processing. Most DAW's, and many signal processors handle audio manipulatuon within that same framework.

Lawrence wrote: Despite the common misconceptions surrounding gain staging, it's largely irrelevant internally.

Exactly true. Different entity, entirely. Gain structure, you could say dances to a different tune.

andymorris2 wroteOne thing I have tried, before posting here, was opening a bounced track from 32 to 24 bit and Studio One doesn't mind one bit. In hindsight, though, I'm thinking that is a bad idea as I should leave any dithering for SO to do.

Yes, it's relative minutia. If there's an audible difference between 32-bit float and the same audio truncated to 24-bits, I doubt if anyone could even hear it and besides that, there's no way to even test it as the audio device reduces everything to 24-bit anyway before you hear it.

Minutia (worrying about irrelevant minutia) is the enemy of productivity. Make good music and let the guys at Bell Labs with the white coats worry about that stuff.