T-RACKS and dithering question

[BERFAB]

I just got around to mastering my first tracks with T-RACKS this week. I must say that it is very easy to get the final mix right with just some tweaks on the presets in the mastering suite.

I really used to dread that final step, but now it looks like the sound I'm aiming for is generally the sound I'm getting.

I have a question regarding dithering though. Before T-Racks, I used the dithering plugs that come with Cubase SX3. But the T-Racks manual specifically says not to use dithering plugs. The results seem great, so I guess they know what they're talking about, but I'm left wondering why that is, as I don't see any specific dithering tool in T-Racks.

Does anyone know why that is?

thanks
-B

[BERFAB]

Anyone?...Bueller?...Squids?...Anyone?

[Kim Lajoie]

The T-RackS manual specifically states that dithering shouldn't be used before T-RackS. That's really particular to dither, not to T-RackS... dither should always be the very last processing step before mastering[1] to CD or whatever your distribution medium is. It should even be after any final volume levelling.

That's because dither works at the bit level to create the aural illusion of there being more bits of dynamic range than there is in actual fact. Any further processing destroys the effect.

In the end though, listen with your ears. Don't mix with your eyes. In the end, what's important is that is the music sounds good. You might like some dithering over others. You might not bother, or even prefer to master without dithering. You're the boss.

-Kim.

[1] I use the term "mastering" here in it's traditional form - the process of actually making a master copy. The stuff we do with T-RackS is actually called "pre-mastering", although people tend to get a bit confused around here.

[BERFAB]

The T-RackS manual specifically states that dithering shouldn't be used before T-RackS. That's really particular to dither, not to T-RackS... dither should always be the very last processing step before mastering[1] to CD or whatever your distribution medium is. It should even be after any final volume levelling.

That's because dither works at the bit level to create the aural illusion of there being more bits of dynamic range than there is in actual fact. Any further processing destroys the effect.

In the end though, listen with your ears. Don't mix with your eyes. In the end, what's important is that is the music sounds good. You might like some dithering over others. You might not bother, or even prefer to master without dithering. You're the boss.

-Kim.

[1] I use the term "mastering" here in it's traditional form - the process of actually making a master copy. The stuff we do with T-RackS is actually called "pre-mastering", although people tend to get a bit confused around here.

,

Kim-
Thanks for the response, but here's my confusion: On page 13 of the manual, it says the following:

2) DO NOT use digital resolution optimizer processes, like dithering or noise shaping, or other limiter/epanders before using T-Racks. T-Racks will add dithering (if you want) at the final stage. Dithering must be applied only at the END of the production work-flow.

What does that 2nd sentence mean? It seems to say that dithering is part of T-Racks. If T-Racks will add the dithering IF I WANT, I assume that there's a button or something that I can flip on and off for the dither. But I can't find anything that points to dither in the actual T-Racks suite. Am I missing something here? Or should I just be running the T-Racks suite and then use my Cubase SX3 dithering on the final pass?

Thanks for the help.
-B

[Kim Lajoie]

As far as I'm aware, there's no dithering control in T-RackS. I don't know if it has a dither stage built-in. It's ok to add a dithering process after T-RackS though.

-Kim.

[harmony gardens]

The way I understand it, dithering is the process of making up for the possible aliasing phenomenon that happens when translating between different sample rates. The idea is to do your levels and other modifications at 24 bit to benefit from the extra headroom that you get from the higher resolution. You apply dithering when making a 16 bit version that is cd ready.

[Kim Lajoie]

Harmony Gardens - Almost there, but the term you want is quantising (or quantizing, if you're in the USA), not aliasing.

-Kim.

[BERFAB]

Harmony Gardens - Almost there, but the term you want is quantising (or quantizing, if you're in the USA), not aliasing.

-Kim.

Kim, aren't you in Florida? And since I'm in Boston, and Harmony is in Wisconsin, I think we can ditch the European spelling...

Thanks to both of you for chiming in. I totally get it that dither is a mechanical process--essentially filling in the electronic blanks that are left out during bit reduction. Which is why I remain a bit confused by what T-Racks does. It's not an EAR thing, because the process is a mechanical one. But again, the final product does sound great without additional dithering.

In my case, I'm taking my Cubase projects from 32 bit float and rendering them right to 16 bit MP3 files, which I then drag into no-name CD burning software to burn as needed. I haven't used anything in addition to T-Racks, so I'm wondering how that's possible if it doesn't have a built in dither.

-B

[geekboy]

If you are creating regular audio CDs, don't render as MP3s -- render as WAV files or something similar. MP3 is a compressed, lossy format.

(If it's just a data CD, then obviously MP3s are fine.)

[BERFAB]

If you are creating regular audio CDs, don't render as MP3s -- render as WAV files or something similar. MP3 is a compressed, lossy format.

(If it's just a data CD, then obviously MP3s are fine.)

Good tip. Thanks. Still 16 bit though, right?

-B

[geekboy]

Yes, "Red Book" audio CDs are 44 KHz/16 Bit. That's what you want. And you should probably save them as WAV files.

Use MP3 only for online distribution, etc.