Downsampling effects in measurement (44.1 kHz vs. 48 kHz)

[5omeone]

Dear REW community,

I was wondering if downsampling affects the measurements with REW. I noticed that the default setting in the sound card settings is 48 kHz. My external sound card does not automatically switch to this value and operates at 44.1 kHz by default. Does this "mismatch" have any influence on the measurements?

Thank you very much and all the best!

 

[John Mulcahy]

The OS will usually resample if the rate set in REW does not match the rate set in the OS. The impulse response is cleanest when the rates match, so it is recommended to set the REW rate to be the same as the OS rate or change the OS rate to the onw you want to use (e.g. on the Advanced tab of the audio properties for the device in Windows), but there is unlikely to be any visible change in the measurement frequency response within the card's bandwidth.

 

[5omeone]

Dear John,

thank you very much for the quick and helpful answer
Does it makes sense to measure with a higher bit rate?

With kind regards!

 

[John Mulcahy]

44.1 kHz or 48 kHz is sufficient for acoustic measurements. Measurements of electronic devices may need higher sample rates to capture any behaviour of interest outside the audible band.

 

[5omeone]

Good to know, thank you very much!