I am trying to render a FLAC file. To be exact, my source material is 32 bit float, and when I try to render it as a FLAC file choosing to match the bit from the source file, it renders as 24 bits. When rendering as WAV, the bits match the source file as expected. Only when attempting to render a FLAC file will the output file be rendered at 24 bits. What is going on here? I am using the latest version of WaveLab 11.
flac doesnt support floating point
What about just 32 bit then?
32-bit float (or “floating point decimal”) is the internal format used during processing, whereas 24-bit integer (or “whole numbers”) refers to how the result is stored, e.g. in a file.
Here’s an article that explains it well: 32-bit float recording depth vs. 24-bit
In short, you’re not losing out on any quality by not being able to render to FLAC at 32-bit (in any format) .
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Sometimes it gets stored …
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Yes, of course, it’s possible to store 32-bit float audio in files … but in this case, not in a FLAC container.
If you want to store 32 bit float in a compressed non-lossy format, use WAVPACK (https://www.wavpack.com/) because FLAC is not capable of this.
You can use WaveLab for this.
Of course, if you don’t need compression, just save in the .WAV format.
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