Pro Tools, Izotope and mastering

[killthepixelnow]

Hey there, I'm ready to bounce my tracks. I'm using Izotope to "maximize" the final mixes and since that software work in 24 bit I'm not sure if I should activate the dithering option. Correct me if I'm wrong but CDs are 16bit and I think it's good to have 16bit wave files before burning a CD.

So, I have two alternatives:
1. Activate the dithering in the Izotope plugin

2. Bounce the final track using the 16bit option directly from Pro Tools

What should I do?

 

[SouthSIDE Glen]

I assume when you say you're ready to "bounce" the tracks, you mean you're ready to mix your tracks down to stereo, right?

If so, then mix down to 24 bit. Do whatever mangling you feel you need to do with Ozone in 24 bit. Save the dithering until you are absolutely done with everything else and have a final sound the way you want it in 24 bit. Then you dither when converting the final product to 16 bit.

G.

 

[killthepixelnow]

What I want to do is bounce the final mix into a wave file in order to burn a CD with all the tunes. So, this is the mix master (final product) and here's when the doubt comes... should I use the Izotope dither preset or the Pro Tools option? Hope it make it sense.

 

[Waltz Mastering]

Izotope .

 

[second skin]

what i do is bounce the final mix as a 24 bit multi mono file. no dither, no "mastering" stuff.

then i make a new session and do any limiting, EQ whatever from there. i'll bounce that as a 16 bit interleaved file. this would be the time to use your dither plugin. i don't use izotope so i have no idea if it's dither would be better or not than the digirack one.

 

[SouthSIDE Glen]

What I want to do is bounce the final mix into a wave file in order to burn a CD with all the tunes.

You're mixing down, in other words, right? (I wish PT did not use the word "bounce" so liberally;some of us old-timers are used to using it in a slightly different way.)

The best way is to mix down to 24-bit so you have a 24-bit stereo mix. Then take that and dither it to a 16-bit version. The only *real* advantage to doing it that way is that it allows you to treat dithering as a separate process, so that you can do this next step:

should I use the Izotope dither preset or the Pro Tools option? Hope it make it sense.

Try them.

If - and I mean IF - you can hear a difference, use the one that sounds better to you. that's the only real decision-bender here. For golden ears, sometimes one type of dither "feels" or sounds better than another on one type of music or recording, but a different one may have a better feel on another.

But I'll give you 3:1 odds that you not only won't hear a difference, but you won't hear a difference between either one and no dithering at all...or if you hear a difference at all, that it won't be an obvious choice as to which one actually sounds "better".

G.

 

[Mart[1001]]

I agree with Glen. Just treat dither as part of the process when converting to 16bit. Just handle everything else in 24bit or whatever.

You really are worrying over nothing dude. Just dither when you convert to 16bit...it ain't like it adds hours of compile time or anything.

So export from your DAW in 44100/24bit and then when you're ready to create your CD, just use a wave editor to convert to 44100/16bit and dither.

Mart.

 

[killthepixelnow]

Since I'm exporting the FINAL file for burning a CD I'm putting the dither on Izotope using the setup I showed you above.

I was worried becuase I always left that thing untouched and then bounce using the 16bit setting in the Pro Tools. That menas PT is the dithering software which I find quite weird. My mind is clear now, I activate dithering in Izotope and Pro Tools make the wave file.

 

[PieBot]

I think pro tools automatically applies dither on any bounce to disk.


nevermind this is only when you export from 24 bit to 16, not bounce to disk.

 

[shackrock]

When mixing down from 24 bit to 26 bit, you "should" use some type of dither plugin...

So, if you do your mastering inside of your mixing (aka, Izoptope Ozone is on your master aux channel) - then I suggest using Izotope's dither function. It should apply it at the very end of all other processing the plugin will do.

At this point, your audio is dithered (prepared) for 16-bit. So, when you bounce to disc in pro tools, you should select the 16-bit option.

Your output file will be your song, 16-bit, and it will have been dithered by the ozone plugin.