Floating-point channels
Channels can be made to use 32-bit floating-point sample data. When a channel uses floating-point sample data, BASS takes full advantage of the extra resolution when generating the decoded sample data; it does not simply convert 16-bit data to floating-point.
The main advantage of floating-point channels, aside from the increased resolution/quality, is that they are not clipped until output. This makes them particularly good for DSP/FX, because the quality is not degraded as the data passes through a chain of DSP/FX. So even if the output device is not capable of outputting the channel in its full quality, the quality is still improved.
Floating-point sample data ranges from -1 to +1, but as mentioned above, it is not clipped to this range until output, so it is possible that DSPPROC callback functions or BASS_ChannelGetData calls could receive data outside of this range.
When a floating-point channel is played, it is converted to whatever resolution the output device supports in the final mix.
Platform-specific
Floating-point channels are not supported when using VxD drivers (on Windows 98/95), except for "decoding channels". Windows Vista (and later) audio is natively floating-point, so for optimum performance (not to mention quality), BASS channels should also be floating-point. That particularly applies to formats that are decoded in floating-point anyway, ie. lossy formats like MP3 and OGG. It also applies to Linux and OSX, where BASS's mix format is floating-point.Floating-point channels are not supported on Android or Windows CE. That includes "decoding channels".
Example
Check for 32-bit floating-point channel support.DWORD floatable; // floating-point channel support? 0 = no, else yes ... floatable=BASS_StreamCreate(44100, 1, BASS_SAMPLE_FLOAT, NULL, NULL); // try creating a floating-point stream if (floatable) BASS_StreamFree(floatable); // floating-point channels are supported! (free the test stream)