Quote:
Originally Posted by ratinox
Absolutely. The extra headroom is invaluable in the studio. It's pointless for consumer media.
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It's extra *resolution* that 24-bit provides, not extra headroom.
The headroom is defined by the range of voltages the ADC supports, usually set by the reference voltage provided to the ADC, within limits dependent on its design. The bit depth defines how many steps that input range is divided into, i.e. the resolution within that range.
Admittedly, more bit depth can allow you to have a bigger input range and maintain acceptable resolution, but it's the resolution that the bit depth controls, not the input range directly.