To dither or not to dither?

[JTMMusicuk]

i understand dithering is pretty complicated to explain so if no one can explain then please tell me what uses dithering has
and should i use it if i dont know what its doing???
this has been anoying me for years

[Electric_Head]

i understand dithering is pretty complicated to explain so if no one can explain then please tell me what uses dithering has
and should i use it if i dont know what its doing???
this has been anoying me for years

have you needed it in all the years it`s annoyed you?

[JTMMusicuk]

i understand dithering is pretty complicated to explain so if no one can explain then please tell me what uses dithering has
and should i use it if i dont know what its doing???
this has been anoying me for years

have you needed it in all the years it`s annoyed you?

i havnt really been arsed up until now about getting the best quality out of a mix and master of my tracks, i want to be playing clubs doing live sets this year so its starting to become important

[macc]

Dithering is only required when going from a higher bit depth to a lower bit depth * . Dithering in plugins that work at higher internal bit depths is handled without youhaving to worry about it. Leave dithering until the final stage, you only need it when going from your mix (at 24/32-bit) to your final master (at 16-bit), as the very last stage of processing.

Of all the things you need to be worrying about, dither is the absolute BOTTOM of the list. No-one gives a shit if you used TPDF or 40% noise-shaped dither when you have 10dB too much at 60Hz.

All the practising mastering engineers I talk to spend less than 10 seconds per song thinking about dithering, on average (ie. 'Is it on? Yes? Good'). FWIW Oddly enough these engineers aren't big internet posters. Make of that what you will.


Bit depth, not bit rate - dither has nothing to do with sample rate (and therefore overall bit rate). Dither is a y-axis thang.

[wormcode]

What Macc said, but remember to turn off dithering in any processors you might be using except for the last one in the chain, and turn off in any encoder you might use. Don't want to dither 3 times in a row for nothing.

[JTMMusicuk]

although i might have to read that over a few times that was very helpful macc thanks

[um4mi]

dithering about dithering