When do you use dither?

[Ahornberg]

When do you use dither?

In my workflow there are several stages where I reder out a wave-file (aka bouncing).
Would you add dither to all of theses files? Or only on 16 bit files?

What are your experiences?

[artao]

I don't understand dither, or why I'd use it.
Therefore, I never do ;)

[aoVI]

I do not use it but here is a simplified explanation of the process and the reasons behind its use.

[Maharg]

I don't dither at all. The link posted by aoVl above explains it well, particularly in the author's answers to the questions in the comments section.

[aoVI]

I don't dither at all. The link posted by aoVl above explains it well, particularly in the author's answers to the questions in the comments section.

Yes, with all due respect for the article, the discussion following it is probably the most informative section of that page.

[GaryG]

Sometimes I remember and use it but not something I really notice so I tend to forget. Can make your fades smoother sounding.

There's a few youtube vids around that explain it well, maybe better than reading about it.

[aoVI]

Smooth fades are haircuts.:razz:

[phoenstorm]

you have to know what you are doing...I have stopped using dither when exporting from live...probably I didn't know what I was doing & so that was an improvement :biggrin: I run my projects in 24bits, so within the daw there's little need for it. Trying to find the best way for exporting wavs etc.

[Altus]

Simply put: you should dither only at the very end of the mastering stage, and only when exporting 16-bit audio. This is assuming your source stems/master files are 24-bit or higher. It's very important not to normalize or apply any effects to the audio file post-dither.

[seismic1]

I don't, and neither does Steve, apparently:-

[artao]

Simply put: you should dither only at the very end of the mastering stage, and only when exporting 16-bit audio. This is assuming your source stems/master files are 24-bit or higher. It's very important not to normalize or apply any effects to the audio file post-dither.

Okay. I always work at 24-bit.
How about when I convert a .flac to .mp3? I do that in Audacity, but it never gives me any options regarding dither. I don't even know if it's converting bit-depth.
This is all something I've never really thought about. ..... Perhaps I should be

[Altus]

Take a peek at the Quality tab in Preferences. The dither options should be there.
Shaped or Triangle dither is generally preferred.

http://wiki.audacityteam.org/wiki/Dither

Keep in mind that exporting to FLAC might keep it in 24-bit if you're not doing any conversion beforehand (or during export). I assume exporting to MP3 will force downconvert to 16-bit since 24-bit MP3s aren't a thing.

Hope that helps.

[warrendaly]

I'll render my mix downs at 44Khz/24bit with *no* dithering. I only dither rendering the final master to 44/16.