The Unscientific Dither test....

  • Thread starter Thread starter Teacher
  • Start date Start date
Teacher

Teacher

New member
they're all 3 meg sized wave files...


http://www.sicbeats.com/audios/Keepingitgangsta.WAV
http://www.sicbeats.com/audios/Keepingitgangsta1.WAV
http://www.sicbeats.com/audios/Keepingitgangsta2.WAV
http://www.sicbeats.com/audios/Keepingitgangsta3.WAV
http://www.sicbeats.com/audios/Keepingitgangsta4.WAV

I used 4 different dithers on the same track same settings....

4 dithers used were
IDR, Cranesong, Timeworks and Pow-r Noise shape 3, and one file is a combination of IDR, cranesong and PowR-3, this is what and engineer i respect says he does when he wants to burn a cd for clients so i tried it

after this i still think dither doesn't really matter, they do sound different but its not on some oh my god if you use that dither it would sound soooooo much better, but maybe my ears aren't good enough....
 
Last edited:
It's very interesting, Teacher :)

Anyway, I don't even know what's the difference among them. I mean, when it comes to dithering process, I usualy just fire up Waves L1, pick one of the preset, and ready to go. So it's a bit difficult for me to compare them since I'm not used to others you mentioned above.
I'll try it out back home anyway :)

;)
Jaymz
 
i'm in the same boat...reason i did this was cuz i was under the impression the dither didn't really matter....then everybody said it did...so i did this test....

i think i like the cranesong dither the best but since i know which is which it might be subliminal biased since its cranesong and they are known for making killer audiophile gear

but like i said in the first post i don't think its that big of a difference for anyone to really worry about it too much...
 
What if you did one with no dither? Would that work out too? On some narrower dynamic mixes isn't it mostly just eaking out the bottom noise better? (I didn't get to hear these.)
Wayne
 
i have no clue...but i should of done one that was just truncated... o well
 
Thanks Teach,

I really appreciate you taking the time to do this. I'll have a listen tomorrow or Monday. Just got in from a gig and my ears are shot.

And yes... It's my understanding as well that you won't hear a difference until you listen to quiet passages or fades.

I was of the opinion that it would make a difference in the sybillance of cymbals. Something I'm having a hard time getting happy with lately. I thought higher quality dither would help... but I'm starting to suspect my AD converters or the acoustics of my recording space.

Anyway, I'm starting to come around to your way of seeing this, although, like said earlier, there are dithering processors that cost thousands, and Bob Katz's book (Mastering Audio: The Art and the Science) has a whole chapter devoted to it, and it's discussed frequently on the Mastering Web Board.

Must be something to it, but again, quiet passages and fades is where it shows the most.
 
They sound a little different... but I can't tell you which sounds "best"... :rolleyes:

Dithering from 24 to 16 doesen't really show the difference if you're looking for it. Dither from 16 to 8 with and without Dither. Then you'll hear a difference. ;)
 
moskus said:
Dither from 16 to 8 with and without Dither. Then you'll hear a difference. ;)
Click to expand...

but whats the point of doing that in the first place? ;)
 
SteveD said:


Must be something to it, but again, quiet passages and fades is where it shows the most.
Click to expand...

there's both of those in these files
 
looks like dither doesn't matter unless in extreme circumstances like a mastering room or something....
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top