Topic: Dither / Resample

[down2earthlandscaper]

Newbie guestion: on dither/resample, is there any user input involved? Or is it all just a function of the software?

When I "save as" from Adobe Soundbooth I have options of selecting what file type, bit depth, sample rate etc.  Is that all there is to it?

[morst]

Newbie guestion: on dither/resample, is there any user input involved? Or is it all just a function of the software?

When I "save as" from Adobe Soundbooth I have options of selecting what file type, bit depth, sample rate etc.  Is that all there is to it?

I don't dither, personally. But I also don't resample or reduce bit rates anymore. 2448 is good enough for my masters and it's good enough to send out.

I use Audacity or Soundforge but have used Protools and Digital Performer a lot, as well.

[todd e]

as with most nerdy taper things, there are lots of opinions on this subject matter.  some folks use the built-in converters, so use external converters. 

http://taperssection.com/index.php/topic,99454.0.html

[Sebastian]

Just saving the file as 16 bit will usually just truncate the bit depth from 24 to 16 bits. Therefore, you might want to manually dither before, then save the file as 16 bit. It will still be truncated - but because you dithered before, the truncation artifacts won't be as bad.

[Brian Skalinder]

Many audio editors have settings to control:

• quality / speed of the resampling process; generally faster is lower quality / slower is higher quality; some applications may have other options
• type of dither, e.g. none, triangular, etc.
• whether or not to apply noise shaping and, if so, what kind

I'm not familiar with Soundbooth.  For software that includes these settings, the settings typically are accessible via some sort of preferences menu and / or built into the save dialog window or process. 

[F.O.Bean]

I've done tons of A/B'ing of different Dithering/Resampling schemes on my home system, and my FAVORITES, are the iZotope 64-Bit SRC[Sample Rate Converter], at its HIGHEST settings, along with iZotope MBIT+ Dither at Ultra/High settings, which are BOTH in SoundForge 10/11! I also love the WaveLab Crystal Resampler, but the iZotope 64-Bit SRC sounds a tad more natural to me! But R8Brain is also a good/free resampling software. I've never used Audacity, but I'm sure it has some solid Resampling/Dithering options! Also, I was taught long ago to RESAMPLE[to 44.1kHz], and THEN DITHER[to 16-Bit]! In that order!

Try a few different plugins like I have done and see which ones you prefer! Also, like Brian said, I ALWAYS do my settings at their MAXIMUM, since I want the highest quality every time, since it'll only be done once in my recordings history/life!

[voltronic]

Here's a neat tool to compare test results of a whole bunch of these:

http://src.infinitewave.ca/

I agree with Bean that iZotope SRC and dither does a great job.  I also do a lot of SR conversion with Foobar using the SoX resampler set to Linear Phase.  I also use it for playback.  If you check the plots from the SRC Comparisons site linked above, it appears to test as good or better than the other high end SRC programs.

[down2earthlandscaper]

Great info. Thanks Everyone. I will check out the links. It's apparent that I have a whole 'nother area of post editing to get into and study!

But in the meantime, the simplicity of this is especially appealing:

Newbie guestion: on dither/resample, is there any user input involved? Or is it all just a function of the software?

When I "save as" from Adobe Soundbooth I have options of selecting what file type, bit depth, sample rate etc.  Is that all there is to it?

I don't dither, personally. But I also don't resample or reduce bit rates anymore. 2448 is good enough for my masters and it's good enough to send out.

I use Audacity or Soundforge but have used Protools and Digital Performer a lot, as well.

[buckster]

Also, I was taught long ago to RESAMPLE[to 44.1kHz], and THEN DITHER[to 16-Bit]! In that order!

Funny, I've been doing the opposite.      I'll flip it around and do it this way from now on.  Thanks.   

[Brian Skalinder]

But in the meantime, the simplicity of this [no dither] is especially appealing

On the other hand, setting a default preference for dither or specifying a setting during saving is only one to a few clicks more effort.

[rigpimp]

I also personally choose to no longer resample or dither.  24/48 or 24/96 is fine since it is just about disk space and backups these days. 

If I do dither / resample it is because an artist requested a CD(s).

When I do dither I choose iZotope's MBIT+
When I do resample I choose Voxengo's R8Brain

Use the SRC comparison tool above to get an idea how and why to choose one over the other.  Ive had that bookmarked and would've posted it here if someone didn't beat me to it.

Have fun!