Choosing the basic Digital Audio parameters of your session
When starting a recording project and creating a new session its important to determine and chose the audio file format and basic resolution parameters.

Audio File Format:
There are 2 major uncompressed audio format Either chose WAV (Windows) or AIFF (Mac) both suitable and compatible. Its best to avoid SD II as it is not compatible with Windows. Bit Depth Will determine the resolution and quality of the audio’s dynamic range and signal to noise ratio. 24 bit is recommended due to its featuring a dynamic range of 144 dB ( in other words less noise and more headroom). 24-bit audio will always be preferable when compared to 16-bit, giving you 48dB more headroom .It enables you avoid distortion by recording at more moderate levels and still keep well above the noise floor. 24 bit files will take up twice the disc space but not so much more of your computer resources. So for some increase in disk space and CPU/DSP load, 24-bit recording gives you a huge improvement in sound quality and headroom.

Sample Rate:
Determines the overall frequency range and fidelity of the audio.The most common sampling rates are 44.1 kHz, & 88.2 used by professional recording equipment when the destination is CD & DVD A and 48 kHz, and 96 kHz Is the standard audio sampling rate used by professional digital video equipment so naturally chosen for working on films, dvd’s etc.
There is often debate about whether higher sample rates help to improve the quality of a recording in any noticeable way.There are arguments for using higher sampling frequencies during recording in order to preserve psychoacoustic frequencies that humans cannot actually hear but we are still able to perceive.
But be aware : A file recorded at a 96kHz sample rate uses twice as much disk space as a file recorded at 48kHz, and will require double the computer’s resources. Most programs will reduce their track counts by half with the higher sample rate. So this a point it is well worth considering when planing your session.

Session start time:
Make sure when initially creating your session that its session start time is set to 00:00:000
In a professional post production environment session start times are always at 01:00:000 and starting your session at 01 hours could lead to later lead to confusion and timing & sync problems.