32-bit float recorders & differences in audio quality

Our sound and lighting courses can be found at https://school.learnlightandsound.com!

In this week’s episode, we discuss the difference in audio quality between budget and higher priced 32-bit float audio recorders.

Cue these up in different browser tabs and you can listen to them back to back:
ZOOM H4essential review:    • Zoom H4essential: I'm Ambivalent... | Curt...  
Tascam DR-07XP review:    • TASCAM DR-07XP - What's new?  
ZOOM F6:    • Zoom F6 Audio Recorder Review  
ZOOM F3:    • ZOOM F3 32-bit float audio recorder review  
ZOOM H1 XLR:    • ZOOM H1 XLR vs ZOOM F3 Audio Recorders  
Tascam FR-AV2:    • Tiny but Mighty Audio Recorder — TASCAM FR...  
ZOOM F8n Pro:    • ZOOM F8n Pro Audio Recorder Review  

If you’d like to learn how to make great dialogue audio for your film and video projects, please have a look at my courses including processing dialogue audio in Adobe Audition and DaVinci Resolve/Fairlight, recording sound, how to use the Zoom F4, F6, F8, and F8n, and how to get the most from the Sound Devices MixPre series of recorders. Our latest courses cover Sound for Live Streaming with the ATEM Mini and an Intro to Izotope RX. See https://school.learnlightandsound.com for more info!

Support my work creating videos by donating at Ko-Fi.com: http://ko-fi.com/curtisjudd

Gear used or mentioned in this episode (the links below are Amazon.com, B&H Photo, Sweetwater, or other affiliate links. As an affiliate, I earn from qualifying purchases):

Zoom H4e — https://geni.us/Nqcmdr
Zoom F3 — https://geni.us/6RvZm
Zoom F6 — https://geni.us/pCFS
Tascam DR-07xp — https://geni.us/UxsHA9
Sound Devices MixPre series recorders — https://geni.us/O8e0
Sennheiser MKH50 boom microphone — https://geni.us/iYb065
Impact Turtle-Base C-Stands — https://geni.us/8a8tt
Aputure LS 600x Pro Bicolor LED Light — https://geni.us/EreRQa
Aputure Light Dome III Softbox — https://geni.us/AVHU1p
Rosco Prismatic Glass Gobo in Cool Lavender — https://geni.us/GWKt
Canon C70 Cinema Camera — https://geni.us/ABYB
Canon RF 24-70 f/2.8 lens — https://geni.us/qwsEs
Panasonic GH5 camera — https://geni.us/InspOl
Panasonic 12-35mm f/2.8 II lens — https://geni.us/gr47

The outro music for this episode is from Musicbed - “Dynamo” by Virgil Arles. Take your films to the next level with music from Musicbed. Sign up for a free account to listen for yourself: https://geni.us/G7by

Copyright 2025, Curtis Judd

#audio #recorder #32-bit

Index
00:00 This video is brought to you by…
00:07 What is 32-bit float recording?
00:26 An important consideration
00:41 How a 24- or 16-bit recorder works
01:45 How a 32-bit float recorder works
03:00 How 32-bit float faders work
03:45 Recovering clipped 32-bit audio
04:20 How hardware quality affects sound quality
05:23 Not-so-great recorders
06:14 32-bit float recordings are NOT noise-free!
07:32 My take: you get what you pay for
08:28 What can we do about this?
09:39 Please buy my courses