In the audio path dialog box, if I'm playing a 16-bit FLAC file, the output bitrate is shown as higher (24bit) than the input bitrate (16bit). Output Encoding is set to "None".
Why is this happening? Is there a way to force the output bitrate to be the same as the input bitrate?
Thanks for any help.
For clarity 16 and 24-bit are measures of bitdepth, not bitrate, which are distinct. The short answer is that outputting at a higher bitdepth is lossless, and allows for volume reductions without losing audio information. If you're starting with a 16-bit signal outputting at 16-bit, and software volume reduction is discarding the quietest parts of the signal (with a few dB, you're not likely losing much, but with 20 or 30dB of attenuation you might be losing some very soft audio). If you output a 16-bit signal in a 24-bit "wrapper," then you can reduce the volume by 48dB before any audio information is lost, and it doesn't alter the signal whatsoever.
So it's essentially a clear "win," which is why the default behavior is to output at the highest bitdepth supported by the output device. That said, if it bothers you, just go into the audio settings and configure a fixed output bitdepth.
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Topic: Why Output Bitrate higher than Input Bitrate? (Read 2500 times)