22khz vs 44.1khz Download Sampling Rate

Choosing The Best Sampling Rate

Many of you have called and asked what the difference is between a 22khz D.A.W.N. download and one at 44.1khz. The first difference is price. The 22khz files are priced approximately 60% of the 44.1khz files. The most important difference though is quality. 44.1khz is “CD Quality” (20-20,000 hz frequency response) while our 22khz downloads are more nearly “FM Radio Quality” (30- 11,000 hz). Many applications do not require the best quality (e.g. message on hold telephone programs) and so 22khz is the cost effective choice. And in skilled hands a 22khz file can often be tweaked to “recover” some of the higher frequencies with judicious EQ. While we recommend downloading the best quality initially rather than massaging files, we know that real world budgets often dictate choosing 22khz. Budget considerations aside, however, when you select 44.1khz on D.A.W.N. you get more format choices: 44.1hz / 48khz .wavs in addition to .mp3, .mp4 (AAC) and QuickTime compressed files at 44.1khz. 22khz downloads on D.A.W.N. are available only in .mp3.