When to Dither

[Terry Cano]

From what I've been taught the Dithering comes at the very final
stage before rndering the CD. So, my questions is, up to that point
my file is 24 bit. Is harbal 2 reading in 24 bit or crunching down to 16 bit?
Should I combine the mon files before HarBal or use them seperated?

Usually my steps are:

1 Mix
2 Export as two mon files fropm SX3
3 Wavelab open the files and put them as stereo L R
normalize
4 Harbal
5 Then back to WaveLab for a touch of reverb to the stereo master
Waves LM, or ???? and dither

[Phi Lion]

From what I've been taught the Dithering comes at the very final
stage before rndering the CD. So, my questions is, up to that point
my file is 24 bit. Is harbal 2 reading in 24 bit or crunching down to 16 bit?
Should I combine the mon files before HarBal or use them seperated?

Usually my steps are:

1 Mix
2 Export as two mon files fropm SX3
3 Wavelab open the files and put them as stereo L R
normalize
4 Harbal
5 Then back to WaveLab for a touch of reverb to the stereo master
Waves LM, or ???? and dither

Hi.

Dither last when lowering bit depth.

Forget normalising.
Its not required.

Export as stereo.

[har-bal]

From what I've been taught the Dithering comes at the very final
stage before rndering the CD. So, my questions is, up to that point
my file is 24 bit. Is harbal 2 reading in 24 bit or crunching down to 16 bit?
Should I combine the mon files before HarBal or use them seperated?

Usually my steps are:

1 Mix
2 Export as two mon files fropm SX3
3 Wavelab open the files and put them as stereo L R
normalize
4 Harbal
5 Then back to WaveLab for a touch of reverb to the stereo master
Waves LM, or ???? and dither

Terry

Additionally, Har-Bal doesn't dither your files down to 16 bit. If the file goes in at 24bit, it is output at 24bit.


Cheers

Earle

[HarBal]

Terry

Additionally, Har-Bal doesn't dither your files down to 16 bit. If the file goes in at 24bit, it is output at 24bit.


Cheers

Earle

To clarify a bit further, if your file is 24 bit and you write to a 24 bit file Har-Bal does not apply a dither. It only applies a dither if you request a file format of lower bit depth to the source. You select that by selecting one of the over-riding files typs in the "file types" drop down list in the "Record As" dialog box.

Regards,


Paavo.

[jess]

HI,

Was wondering if one were to do the project in 24 bit WAV format, say he imports it into SoundForge, and then save it as 192Kbps MP3 (16 bit) would dithering be any good?

Someone told me that when you go from WAV to MP3, dithering is irrelevant?

[HarBal]

If converting from 24 bit PCM to mp3 then dithering is irrelevent. Only do it if converting to a lower bit depth PCM format.

Cheers,


Paavo.