# .WAV depth



## Leyawin (Feb 17, 2005)

Im currently using Flstudio to make songs, but i ran across an annoying problem. 
Normally, when i'm done with a song, i export it from the program as a .mp3 file. 
I can choose different wav compression depths: 16 bit, 32 bit (.24) float, or 32 bit float (16.8). Now that im making a cd, I'm exportign as .wav files. But, whenever i choose 32 bit (.24), I can't run the wav file in anything. In real player, it comes up with an error saying 
The File COntains an usupported audio format. THe needed
codec is not installed on your system.

And at 32 bit 16.8, it doesn't play (IT's cool edits own format). But, it works at 16 bit, but the quality is too terrible to put on a CD. The weird thing is, i can play the 32 (.24) wav file when windows shows the little bar at the side of the screen when you select the wav file for preiviewing it (But haven't opened it), and it sounds fine. I really need to know how i can be able to use 32 bit quality. Will i need to get a codec?


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## JohnWill (Oct 19, 2002)

16 bit at 44khz is the standard rate that audio is recorded onto CD's, so I can't imagine why the 16 bit WAV files sound "terrible", they're 100% CD quality.


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## Leyawin (Feb 17, 2005)

But i noticed a SIGNIFICANT difference. I thought 32 bit (.24) float depth would work.
This isn't live audio, it's like a e-music creator. 
What do you mean at 44khz?


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## dugq (Jul 16, 2004)

The only difference you should notice between 32-bit and 16-bit is in low-level detail, if you are noticing a quality difference at higher-volume sounds then it is likely that there is something wrong with the conversion from 32-bit to 16-bit. 

As for 44khz, this is the sampling frequency, it determines the highest frequency sound that can be recorded, which is approximately half of the sampling freqeuncy, so in this case the highest frequency recordable is 20khz. If you are recording at 32-bit then its also likely that you are recording at a higher sampling frequency, which will also need to be converted down before recording to CD


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