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I'm doing some recordings off of a vintage Roland SC-55 MIDI synthesizer which is capable of 16-bit @ 32 kHz. Is there any reason to record the audio at 44.1 or 48 kHz in my recording software or to configure the recording equipment to capture at a higher fidelity?

On a similar note, my Roland SC-88 is capable of 18-bit audio output but my recording hardware is only capable of 16-bit. Would the answer still be the same?

I am using a U-CONTROL UCA202 as my ADC hardware and Audacity for software.

I can confirm which options are available from my recording device from the Windows sound dialog:

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Sure, you are going to be mastering at 44.1kHz or 48kHz so it makes sense to capture at those sampling rates. The space difference is negligible and you will need to sample rate convert at some point anyway, doing it during the record makes the process easier.

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  • Is there any reason to capture at one over the other? I plan to capture as FLAC but may convert to a lower bitrate mp3 or ogg in the future.
    – Zhro
    Jan 14, 2022 at 2:01
  • Not really any point in limiting your sample rate - what if you want to play on a device that doesn't support 32kHz? 441 and 48 are universal. Don't make life hard for yourself.
    – Mark
    Jan 14, 2022 at 2:10
  • I tend to use the "44 for music, 48 for video" rule, just so I'm not likely to be doing small conversions between the two at a later date for no good reason. [This is, I have to say, from decades ago before these algorithms got reasonably transparent, but I've just stuck to it ever since.]
    – Tetsujin
    Jan 14, 2022 at 18:50
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What is the highest frequency your synth will produce.....counting overtones visible on say.....a scope? Double that + would be the highest sample rate needed......bitdepth is another issue. My opinion? 32k is fine and should produce FM like sound output.....but with better SNR and dynamics....depending on bit depth...

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