Recording Quality (& mastering/editing MP3WAV)

[WhiteRam]

Please note these questions pertain to only using 1 track or 2 (stereo) track recordings:

#1.  It's my understanding after doing the math, that recording in the lowest track data mode LONG(LV2) is still a better quality than MP3 192kbps.  Is this correct?

#2.  It's my understanding after doing the math, that recording in MP3WAV is a better quality than HIFI(MT2).  Is this correct?

#3.  When mastering or editing a stereo recording that was created in MP3WAV (originally recorded in MP3WAV), I do understand that reverb cannot be used.  My question is, can I stay in MP3WAV while mastering/editing this said creation, and can the finished product end up still in MP3WAV?  In other words can I master this created MP3WAV recording without ever having to convert to track data?

WR

[64Guitars]

Roland hasn't made much information available about its proprietary R-DAC format, but this article gives some clues:

http://emusician.com/daw/emusic_roland_vs/index.html

My guess is that HiFi(MT2) is equal to or better than WAV format for sound quality. I suspect that LONG(LV2) is slightly better than MP3 @ 192 kbps but I'm not certain.

Why don't you try a simple A/B comparison? Record a song from a good quality CD or DVD-Audio directly into the Micro BR's Line Input in WAV format using the Micro BR's MP3 mode. Then record the same song again but in multitrack mode using LONG(LV2). Play them both back and see if one sounds better than the other.

Mastering can only be done in multitrack mode.

[WhiteRam]

That linked nailed it for me when I got to the part about 'choices'. It all starts to make sense now. Yes, I will do some A/B comparisons with different formats to find what I can hear. There is much more to this than recording time/format to determine quality etc. Big thanks 64guitars.

Also the mastering can only be done in multitrack mode clears up an understanding for me. The manual is great, but there's always more! Thanks again.

WR

[jkevinwolfe]

It always best to record in the highest quality mode possible, since you can always reduce the quality when needed, but you can never add quality to substandard recordings. The One gig card limit makes it less practical since the HiFi mode takes up more space, but I think the inconveniences are outweighed by having really solid recordings to work from.

With any form of digital media (audio, photo, video) there's usually regret later that you didn't go for the best quality the machine could do.