I must be a "Newbie" cause I don't know the answers

[bigwillz24]

What's Dither?

Someone told me it means to add noise to a track why in the world would I want to do that?

What's Summing?

That's all for now.

 

[Rokket]

What's Dither?

Someone told me it means to add noise to a track why in the world would I want to do that?

What's Summing?

That's all for now.

Dithering explanation:

http://www.mtsu.edu/~dsmitche/rim420/reading/rim420_Dither.html

 

[Rokket]

Someone correct me if I am wrong, but isn't summing just another name for mixing? That's over simplified, I know. But I am not 100% certain how to explain it...

 

[bigwillz24]

Thanks Rokket

 

[Rokket]

Thanks Rokket

Sure thing. Always glad to help!

 

[regebro]

Someone correct me if I am wrong, but isn't summing just another name for mixing? That's over simplified, I know. But I am not 100% certain how to explain it...

Summing is ehm... adding. That is, mixing involves changing levels, summing doesn't. So, the summing is what happens after you have set the level for each channel.

 

[Rokket]

Summing is ehm... adding. That is, mixing involves changing levels, summing doesn't. So, the summing is what happens after you have set the level for each channel.

So, let's see if I go this straight, it's the "sum" of the dB levels of all tracks? Or is that still off base? I guess I have to look it up and study it. It's probably something I've been doing all along and didn't realize someone slapped a fancy name on it....

 

[bigwillz24]

So... according to the article dither isn't something I really need to worry about unless i'm changing the sample rate of the song?

 

[bigwillz24]

So, let's see if I go this straight, it's the "sum" of the dB levels of all tracks? Or is that still off base? I guess I have to look it up and study it. It's probably something I've been doing all along and didn't realize someone slapped a fancy name on it....

Same thing i'm thinking but I want to know why I'm doing what I'm doing...

 

[regebro]

You don't do it at all, the mixer does it. It's the part of the mixer that adds all the channels into a bus basically.

Summing is tricky in analog mixers, because a summing bus needs a huge headroom. In digital mixers they are pretty much trivial.

 

[Rokket]

So... according to the article dither isn't something I really need to worry about unless i'm changing the sample rate of the song?

That would be correct. I personally don't see a need to go below 16 bit anyway.

 

[Rokket]

You don't do it at all, the mixer does it. It's the part of the mixer that adds all the channels into a bus basically.

Summing is tricky in analog mixers, because a summing bus needs a huge headroom. In digital mixers they are pretty much trivial.

OK, that makes sense. So actually, it's something I haven't done, because I haven't used my mixer for anything but a pre amp as of now. I mix in software, but I don't do really use busses there.

 

[regebro]

Doesn't matter, the software still does summing.

 

[bigwillz24]

So I'm getting that summimg is just another way of saying how the tracks are added together on the master fader. Is that all I need to know or do I have it all wrong still?

 

[regebro]

No, that's pretty much it.

 

[gordone]

Dithering is used when changing the word-length (the size of each sample), NOT sample rate (how many samples per second). So if you're going from 24-bit to 16-bit, you dither. If you are going from 96khz to 44.1khz, you convert the sample rate (SRC). Just wanted to clarify that point for you.

So... according to the article dither isn't something I really need to worry about unless i'm changing the sample rate of the song?

 

[regebro]

Dithering is usually done during samplerate conversion as well...

Basically, what you do is to add low-level noise (usually just random one-bit noise) to get rid of any aliasing effects. Instead you get one bit of noise, wich for any media with 16 bits or higher is inaudiable in all practical contexts.

 

[Lurk_R]

Dithering is usually done during samplerate conversion as well...

Basically, what you do is to add low-level noise (usually just random one-bit noise) to get rid of any aliasing effects. Instead you get one bit of noise, wich for any media with 16 bits or higher is inaudiable in all practical contexts.

Hey regebro, I just read this entire thread and got confused all to hell. Is this just a digital thing? You wouldn't dither if you were working in an all analog setup right? I am asking because it seems important, and all I have right now is analog gear (I'm old, you see).

 

[regebro]

Dithering is a purely digital thing, yes.

(Summing is not, and in fact, in any decent digital setup you can ignore it).