Should I Dither at final Bounce

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adclark

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My Logic 6 training guide suggest "dithering" when bouncing down. why? Is this the right thing to do. I bounce down at 24 bit/48K. I figure when I have the tracks mastered, they'll make it CD ready. Am I correct?
 
Yes.. when ready to burn many software writers will convert your 24/48 to 16/44.1. But that is exactly why you dither! When your file is converted to the lower resolution, you WILL lose some sonic clarity due to the concatonation of the bit addressing.

Dithering is a good way to reduce the loss. but it should be done ONLY ONCE.
 
adclark said:
My Logic 6 training guide suggest "dithering" when bouncing down. why? Is this the right thing to do. I bounce down at 24 bit/48K. I figure when I have the tracks mastered, they'll make it CD ready. Am I correct?
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If you are sending 24/48 files to the mastering house, don't dither. Dithering is only appropriate when you're reducing the bit depth. This would be the last step when creating the 16/44.1 CD premaster -- after all other processing has been done.
 
It's true that dithering should be done whenever there is a reduction in wordlength, but keep in mind that internal the processing of a DAW may be done at greater than 24 bit (often 32 bit float or 48 bit). That's most likely why they suggest dithering at bouncedown to 24 or 16 bit.
 
When software reduces the wordlength why isn't dithering automatic?
 
NYMorningstar said:
When software reduces the wordlength why isn't dithering automatic?
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on some it is...on others they like to give you the choice as to which dither you'd like to use. There are a bunch of different types out there that give different sonic characteristics. there's a website somewhere that has a listening test of the different kinds...don't remember where it is though.


i agree with masteringhouse. Many soundcards have 24 bit I/Os and many programs use 24 bit plugin processing. So even if you recorded originally 16 bit audio files, it's suggested that you still use dither when bouncing to 16 bit.
 
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And I agree with Benny.

In Pro Tools you need to use the dithered mixer (or at least used to) in order for it to be automatic. Also in case I wasn't totally clear, it would be dithering to 24 bit from a higher wordlength.

Some of Waves plugins provide this as an option since the internal wordlenghth of their processing is higher.
 
im sure this has been answered before so apologies but, why not just record everything at 6/44.1?
what is the point in recording higher?
 
Headroom, man! When you're tracking you need all the headroom you can get. Once you have everything sitting in the mix, you can reduce the dynamic range. But if you have to compress on the way in, you've lost a lot of your punch.
 
Higher bit depth gives you a greater dynamic range, affording you the ability to record at lower peak levels.
 
jamtheguitarman said:
im sure this has been answered before so apologies but, why not just record everything at 6/44.1?
what is the point in recording higher?
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better resolution and less errors.
this is a highly debatable topic though.
the benefits of a higher bit depth far outway the benefits of a higher sample rate. you also have to learn how to balance good quality recordings with available disk space. The higher the sample rate and bit depth, the more disk space is needed.
But like Bear has mentioned time and time again, if you can't get a good recording at 16/44.1...24/192 is not going to do anything different for you. Find a standard that you like to use, and then just "Set it, and forget it!"....until you dither down of course.
 
There is also the issue of quantization distortion. Going 24 bit keeps this lower than continuous dithering and truncation at 16 bit.
 
bennychico11 said:
better resolution and less errors.
this is a highly debatable topic though.
the benefits of a higher bit depth far outway the benefits of a higher sample rate. you also have to learn how to balance good quality recordings with available disk space. The higher the sample rate and bit depth, the more disk space is needed.
But like Bear has mentioned time and time again, if you can't get a good recording at 16/44.1...24/192 is not going to do anything different for you. Find a standard that you like to use, and then just "Set it, and forget it!"....until you dither down of course.
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Bear said that?

He's a smart man ...

I recently got a mix at 44.1K/16 and I was amazed at the quality of the mix. Far exceeded most of the 48K/24 bit mixes that I usually get.
 
masteringhouse said:
I recently got a mix at 44.1K/16 and I was amazed at the quality of the mix. Far exceeded most of the 48K/24 bit mixes that I usually get.
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that just goes to show that the acutal SOUNDS you capture with a simple microphone and preamp matter more than any plugin, DAW program, dither algorithm, editing technique or selected sample rate.
 
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