Dither Question?

[DJL]

Hi Everyone, I'm new here and I have a question.

First, here is my mixdown chain...

Alesis ADAT-HD24... to... Mackie 32x8 bus... to... T.C. Electronic Finalizer Express... to... Tascam CD-RW700.

My question is... when mixing down should I engage the 16 Bit Dither fuction on the T.C. Electronic Finalizer Express or not? The Alesis ADAT-HD24 is set at 48kHz. The T.C. Electronic manual isn't really clear... so I'm seeking help here. Thank you in advance.

[M.Brane]

Dither should always be the last thing in the signal path when doing a bit/sample rate conversion. So if the bit/sample rate is being reduced to 16/44.1 by the Finalizer then you should enable it there, and make sure it's the last thing in line.

[DJL]

Originally posted by M.Brane
Dither should always be the last thing in the signal path when doing a bit/sample rate conversion. So if the bit/sample rate is being reduced to 16/44.1 by the Finalizer then you should enable it there, and make sure it's the last thing in line.

Hi and thanks for the reply...

See, that's where I'm confused... the Alesis ADAT-HD24 has built-in A/D D/A converters so I think the audio signal coming out of the HD24 is analog... no? Then I have it hooked to a analog mixer (Mackie 32x8 bus) so it's analog... no? Then into the analog input on the Finalizer (last as you said) then to the S/PDIF connector on the Tascam CD-RW700 Recorder.

In other words... I don't know if the Finalizer is reducing or not, because I'm feeding a analog signal to the Finalizer and digital out to the Tascam CD-RW700 Recorder

[pglewis]

Dither should always be the last thing in the signal path when doing a bit/sample rate conversion.

Just a quick note here: dither is only applicable when going from a higher bit depth to a lower one. Not for changing sample rates.

iZotope has a great dither document, including audio examples: http://www.izotope.com/products/audi...zoneguide.html

[DJL]

Thank for the replies everyone.

Oops, I was forgetting about the converters in the finalizer... even tho I'm feeding the finalizer with analog it's still converting it to 24 Bit digital. So if there is anyone else with my same question who reads this thread... the answer is YES. In other words... always engage the 16 Bit Dither fuction when using the T.C. Electronic Finalizer Express to mixdown to CD. Thanks again everyone.

[TexRoadkill]

Try it both ways and listen to decide which version you like better.

[DJL]

Originally posted by TexRoadkill
Try it both ways and listen to decide which version you like better.

I already did... and my question has been answered... but, thanks.

[Titanship]

Originally posted by DJL

My question is... when mixing down should I engage the 16 Bit Dither fuction on the T.C. Electronic Finalizer Express or not? The Alesis ADAT-HD24 is set at 48kHz. The T.C. Electronic manual isn't really clear... so I'm seeking help here. Thank you in advance.

DJL,
I have an HD24 with a Mackie SR24. I'm just curious- why do you use a finalizer? Since the Mackie is analog, it's already left the digital domain once it passes out of the Mackie, right? Does the finalizer make the mix "sound better."

thanks,
titan
peace

[littledog]

Titan,

The Finalizer does a whole host of functions:

multiband compression and expansion
5 band parametric eq
"digital radiamce" (sort of a warming/distortion function)
stereo adjust
de-esser
normalizer
limiter

and also includes tools like a phase meter and a test-tone generator.

can be a nifty little device if not abused. like any other device, whether it makes your mix sound "better" is purely a function of the skill of the user.

[Titanship]

So, is "THE FINALIZER" the name of a certain product/brand? Or, is that a generic term?
thanks,

titan
peace

[DJL]

The finalizer is made by T.C. Electronic.