Does working at 48 kHz instead of 44.1 kHz change the sound?

Last week, I received the following question from one of my students:

“If someone, theoretically, made a song entirely out of samples (no recorded elements), would working in the DAW and exporting at 48 kHz (as opposed to 44.1 kHz) make any sonic difference?”

This is actually a very interesting topic. Let’s dive in.

The theory behind the sample rate

Firstly, if you’re working in a DAW and your project’s sample rate is 48000, any sample you import into it will be automatically resampled to 48000.

That conversion will change the way that sample sounds slightly, as it adds additional sample points. Depending on the DAW and the algorithm used for resampling, it may sound different.

That’s why I always recommend A/B testing the “HiQ” button in Ableton. There is definitely a difference there.

Subsequently, if your project is set to 48000, all the plugins will process your signal at that rate. This leads to a different outcome in sound: since there is more frequency “headroom”, you get less aliasing and a cleaner sound.

This also affects any plugins that use oversampling, as the Nyquist limit is further away.

My approach

In my mastering studio, all my projects are set to a 96 kHz sample rate, and I work in that format. Later on, once the master is approved, I convert my 96 kHz file to 48 kHz and 44.1 kHz for delivery. All those files sound pretty much the same.

But if I change my project sample rate and export three different files, one at 96 kHz, another at 48 kHz and the third at 44.1 kHz, there is a huge difference in sound, since the plugins are processing differently.

The difference is quite obvious, and it’s not a good one.