What to use for 24 -> 16 dithering?

[Bennett]

What dithering plug do you Tracktion users use and why?

[IIRs]

MDA dither, cos its free..

[christianmusicmaker]

What dithering plug do you Tracktion users use and why?

Ozone not free but very good

Dither: Prepare audio for CD with word-length reduction and high order psychoacoustic shaped dither.

• Choose from three types of noise shaped dither algorithms.

• Integrated DC offset filtering, auto-blanking and dither harmonic suppression for dynamic and transparent conversions.

• Unique set of bit scopes and DC level meters provide a complete view of the digital bitstream and conversion process.

http://www.izotope.com/products/audio/ozone/

[Lunch Money]

I just export... and whatever gets used for dithering is what I use.

Greg

[O-Jay]

I just export... and whatever gets used for dithering is what I use.

Greg

Me too, and now I feel a bit stupid - Is this not the proper way to do it?

[Bennett]

Maybe you're right, but I can't find anything which indicates that Tracktion performs some default built-in dithering.

Otherwise I suppose I can always stick with mda's dither.

I just export... and whatever gets used for dithering is what I use.

Greg

[Lunch Money]

Well... when you export as audio, it gives you the option to select depth and rate...

THAT's the definition of dithering, no? Therefore there MUST be some sort of default dither.

Greg

[Jeremy_NSL]

you can click a dithering on/off radio button in tracktion by selecting your output device in options. I'm not sure if that counts for exporting though...

If it doesn't dither then exporting a 24-bit project to 16-bit just truncates, or chops off, all bits over 16. You might not be able to tell the difference though - all depends on the dynamic range of your project.

[Lunch Money]

Alrighty, then... worth looking into! Thanks.

Greg

[raapie]

dithering is all about adding dithering noise when converting from 24 to 16. Ozone3 offers the best sounding dithering noise in my opinion, but this is personal. most people love typeI and II.

[cbit]

glad i noticed this thread.. i always assumed there was some automatic dithering going on didnt realise i had to check the radio button in the settings section doh!

As far as i can see.. the only advantage to disabling dither on your output device would be if you've manually inserted a dither plugin of your own on your master bus, can anyone confirm?

also, i thought T worked at 32 bit internally.. so even if you output to 24bit, dither is still useful.. right/wrong?

[raapie]

Hi cbit!

Adding dithering noise is only needed when mastering a track. Because of the added noise, in theory you can't change the file after the dithering proces, because you change the noise level. Adding dithering noise to a 24 bits track doesn't make sense, since the last 8 bits will contain information, while in 16 bits it will not. So only dither when you're mastering to 16 bits.

About 32 bits... I am not sure how Tracktion handles this. Since soundcards can only handle fixed bits (16, 24), this format is maybe only used when recording WITH effects. Something like a 'live input'. But I think Jules is the only one who's able to answer this one correctly. But with Nuendo for example you'd only choose to use 32 bits when recording with effects. In all other cases 16 or 24 bits is a better choice.

[cbit]

ok thanks raapie. At the moment i export finished tracks from tracktion as 24bit wavs. then i either import for premastering in another app.. or send the wavs somewhere else for mastering.. am i right in thinking i don't need to worry about dithering at all while working in tracktion?

[IIRs]

ok thanks raapie. At the moment i export finished tracks from tracktion as 24bit wavs. then i either import for premastering in another app.. or send the wavs somewhere else for mastering.. am i right in thinking i don't need to worry about dithering at all while working in tracktion?

Worry about it for long enough to make sure that its all switched off

[cbit]

lol thanks ears