Library & files
24-bit audio
Bit depth sets how finely each sample is measured. Sixteen bits gives about 96 dB between the quietest and loudest representable sound; twenty-four gives about 144 dB, at one and a half times the file size.
In practice
Sixteen bits already exceeds what a club room can resolve. Buy 24-bit for producing, not for playing.
If a store offers both and the price is the same, take the 24-bit and keep it as your archive copy — it is the better master to make edits from. For the working library and the USB stick, sixteen is the sensible choice: a third smaller, universally supported, and indistinguishable in a room with a noise floor. Never upconvert a 16-bit file to 24; it adds size and no information whatsoever.
~96 dB
Range at 16 bits
~144 dB
Range at 24 bits
1.5×
The file size you pay
Where these come from: The standard dynamic range figures for each bit depth — arithmetic from the format definitions, not catalog figures. For what we can measure, see the other half of the format.
Why it matters
The extra range is for production, not playback. A mix engineer needs room to record quietly and process without hitting the noise floor; a finished master played in a club has a dynamic range set by the room and the system, not by the file.
Which means the honest answer for a DJ is that 24-bit costs you storage and buys you nothing audible. Where it does matter is if you are producing, editing or making your own edits — every generation of processing benefits from the extra room, and the export at the end can be sixteen.
Frequently asked
Is 24-bit audio better than 16-bit?+
It has more dynamic range on paper, which matters while producing and does not while playing. Sixteen bits already covers more range than any club room can resolve.
Should I buy 24-bit files?+
Only if you are making edits or producing, where the extra headroom in processing genuinely helps. For playing out, take the smaller file.
Can I convert 16-bit to 24-bit?+
You can, and it gains nothing. Upconverting pads each sample without adding any information the original did not have — bigger files, identical audio.
Related terms
Sample rate
Sample rate is how many times a second a digital file measures the waveform, in kilohertz. CD audio is 44.1 kHz, and the number sets the highest frequency the file is able to carry.
Lossless
Lossless means the encoding discards nothing: decode the file and the original samples come back bit for bit. WAV, AIFF, FLAC and ALAC are lossless; MP3 and AAC are not.
WAV and AIFF
WAV and AIFF are uncompressed audio containers — the raw samples, no encoding. They sound identical to each other and differ mainly in how they store tags and which software wrote them.
FLAC vs WAV
FLAC and WAV hold identical audio. FLAC compresses it losslessly to roughly 60% the size and carries tags cleanly; WAV stores it raw, is universally readable, and handles metadata badly.
Explore: Audio quality checker · Sample rate · Lossless · All DJ terms