Re: Calculating dynamic range on signed data?

Jerry Avins <jya@xxxxxxxx> wrote:
(snip)

The dynamic range in bits is just the largest magnitude -- + or - --
contained in the file. Remember: you can't take the log of zero, either.
It is customary to take the lowest value as 1 for just that reason.

I have thought about recording on a digital recorder with the
input shorted and considering that the low end of the dynamic range.

In 24 bits it seems unlikely that it will be zero most of
the time, but maybe in 16 bits.

Instead of dynamic range I have computed the peak (positive and
negative), and RMS for recorded data as 16 and 24 bit WAV files.

With 24 bit data, I can then scale up such that all the bits
are used before converting to 16 bits. Less worry about getting
the record level exactly right, though I try not to be too low.

-- glen
.

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