I forgot to dither 24bit -> 16 bit. Does it matter?

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shmaller

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I recorded and mixed my tracks in 44.1 kHz, 24 bit depth. When preparing the files for release, I rendered them at 44.1 kHz, 16-bit. Reaper has the option to dither, but I forgot to click it.

Does it make enough of a difference to be worth going back and re-rendering with dithering enabled?

My ears tell me... no. I can't hear any difference between the 16- and 24-bit tracks (my music is loud and does not have the enormous dynamic range of, say, a symphony).

I figure that 16-bit is standard for CDs (or so I've read), and will help with file size when people download the album (if anyone does lol)

thanks!
s
 
When I record, which is not often, I always run 24 bits 44.1kHz in Samplitude Pro X 6. I then invariably export the file as either 16 bit .wav or 320k MP3. In neither case do I dither! Sam does it for me and I expect most DAWs do the same? I can set the TYPE of dither in Samplitude but have never bothered to change it.

Keep Calm and Carry On.


Dave.
 
Ive never in modern times thought about tweaking what the machine does. Ive also never actually noticed any audible difference, so I dont worry. One of my releases is from an mp3 file because I did it from a different computer by mistake. Listening back, I've no idea which one it is!
 
I have also read some time ago that when you run at 24 bits the inherent "audio" noise is effectively dithering the signal because 24 bit digital noise is way,way below it? Even the very quietest systems, in the low -120dBFS region are still some 20dB 'noisier than the digital noise floor.

Dave.
 
Dithering becomes more important when going to low bit rates, but I would guess that the vast majority of people would not be able to hear the difference at 16 bits. I will dither when converting to wav files (I use 88/24). I don't think Reaper even allows dithering to MP3 or OOG.

And yes, Schmaller, the standard for CD audio is 44.1kHz/16 bit PCM wave files.

If you are doing files for download, most sites allow 320kbps MP3, but it does come at a bit of a detriment to the original source. It is a "lossy" system. FLAC is a lossless compression system. It would be akin to using ZIP for text files. While the files size is reduced, the original data is completely recovered.
 
When to add dither is a subject of controversy. The simplest way to look at it is that you should always dither when going down in bit-depth. So, if you’re going from 24-bit to 16-bit, you should dither. If you’re going from 32-bit fixed point (not floating point) to 24- or 16-bit, you should dither. However, if you’re bouncing your mix to a data-compression codec like MP3 or AAC, dithering is not necessary. They’re both formats that introduce artifacts into the signal that dither won’t remedy. So just Wave Files should be dithered in my opinion.
 
How far down the road are you? Just rendering again with dither is easy enough, but if you’ve already uploaded it all over the place, it’s probably not worth it. It’ll be fine. Nobody will ever notice. That said, I always leave it on but often also just add noise way above the dither floor anyway for “vibe”.

FWIW, I don’t think you have to dither going to mp3 because of the way that algorithm works.
 
I have never bothered with it when rendering from 24 to 16.
 
Are you sure it doesn't happen automatically?
 
It's a selection box in Reaper. You have the options to dither and to use noise shaping. There are also selections for the interpolation of the data when changing sample rates.
 
At worst, not dithering will affect the last fraction of a second as a song fades out, or the reverb trail as it fades to silence.

If the listener is in a car, on a plane, walking on a noisy street, they won't be able to notice.
 
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