Topic: Wavelab dithering

[T.J.]

been trying to figure this dither thing out, but i haven't had any luck. i have followed these directions exactly. and so far, my 32 bit file has not been able to dither to 16 bit. do i have to dither to 24 bit first?

a little background:
- i made a matrix of a studio session i recorded for my friends
-took two 16 bit files and used the audio montage option in wavelab 5.0
-i rendered after matching the files up and the result was a 32 bit file. (i guess b/c i made a matrix of two 16 bit files  )
-now i want to dither back to 16 bit
-i chose dither (UV22 HR @ normal and 16 bit)
-hit the render button
-in the pop up menu i chose for range (whole file) result (create new file) checked (create specific file) and renamed the file from dearprudence to dearprudence16bit
-clicked okay and still have a 32 bit file

what am i doing wrong?

[Brian Skalinder]

-i rendered after matching the files up and the result was a 32 bit file. (i guess b/c i made a matrix of two 16 bit files  )

Sounds like Wavelab is configured to output a 32bfp file when creating a mix from montage.  It isn't that 16-bit + 16-bit = 32bfp, but rather that WL uses 32bpf precision when generating the mix.  You could mix 24-bit + 16-bit, or 8-bit + 16-bit and you'd still have a 32bfp file.

-clicked okay and still have a 32 bit file

what am i doing wrong?

I've done something similar in Audition - resampled/dithered/saved to a new file, couldn't figure out why my file was still 32bfp.  Well, I didn't open the NEW file I created, but rather checked the original 32bpf file.  Did you check the bit-depth of the NEW file?  (No offense intended with such a simple thing to check, I figure we all do screwy things sometimes.)

[T.J.]

I've done something similar in Audition - resampled/dithered/saved to a new file, couldn't figure out why my file was still 32bfp.  Well, I didn't open the NEW file I created, but rather checked the original 32bpf file.  Did you check the bit-depth of the NEW file?  (No offense intended with such a simple thing to check, I figure we all do screwy things sometimes.)

yeah definitely checked the file i created and it was still @ 32 bit. thanks for the explaination brian +T. i checked and wavelab was configured to output a 32 bit file when creating a montage. i guess i could redo the mix w/ it configured to 16 bit, but i want to figure out how to dither this file for future knowledge.

[Brian Skalinder]

Worked just fine for me now with WL 5.

• Open 24-bit or 32bfp file
• Turn on Master Section (Options | Use Mastering Section)
• In the Dithering sub-frame, select UV22HR from the dropdown
• In the UV22HR window, select Normal and 16-bit
• In the Master Section, click the Render button
• In the File tab, Range frame, select Whole File radio button
• In the File tab, Result frame, select Create New File radio button
• In the File tab, Create Specific File frame, tick the Create Specific File checkbox
• In the File tab, Create Specific File frame, select an existing path and assign a non-existing filename
• In the File Tab, select the Audio File Format bar (not titled as such, mine's titled 'Wave (PCM) 16-bit / Attr. Untitled)
• In the Audio File Format window, set format as follows:  Type = Wave (Microsoft);  Audio Format = PCM (uncompressed);  Channels = no change;  Sample Rate = no change;  Bit Resolution = 16-bit;  Attributes = untitled;  Preset = untitled
• Click the OK button
• Watch the "Monitor" window track the process status
• Playback file the new file with Bit Meter to confirm 16-bit output
  

From your description below, sounds exactly like what you're doing.  So...  ???

[T.J.]

change;  Sample Rate = no change;  Bit Resolution = 16-bit;  Attributes = untitled;  Preset = untitled

finally got it! i never changed the bit resolution to 16 bit in the audio file format 
thanks agian brian. another +T in 12

[sygdwm]

this thread should be in the archive if its not already. i have found it very helpful. 

[Chuck]

Yeah, I had the idea to make a nice easy to follow guide to using WaveLab to do this stuff.
I have a little txt file in here to download. I was hoping to get feedback on it then make it available as a guide.
I didn't get any input, so I thought maybe there wasn't a need for it.

[F.O.Bean]

Worked just fine for me now with WL 5.

• Open 24-bit or 32bfp file
• Turn on Master Section (Options | Use Mastering Section)
• In the Dithering sub-frame, select UV22HR from the dropdown
• In the UV22HR window, select Normal and 16-bit
• In the Master Section, click the Render button
• In the File tab, Range frame, select Whole File radio button
• In the File tab, Result frame, select Create New File radio button
• In the File tab, Create Specific File frame, tick the Create Specific File checkbox
• In the File tab, Create Specific File frame, select an existing path and assign a non-existing filename
• In the File Tab, select the Audio File Format bar (not titled as such, mine's titled 'Wave (PCM) 16-bit / Attr. Untitled)
• In the Audio File Format window, set format as follows:  Type = Wave (Microsoft);  Audio Format = PCM (uncompressed);  Channels = no change;  Sample Rate = no change;  Bit Resolution = 16-bit;  Attributes = untitled;  Preset = untitled
• Click the OK button
• Watch the "Monitor" window track the process status
• Playback file the new file with Bit Meter to confirm 16-bit output
  

From your description below, sounds exactly like what you're doing.  So...  ???

+T brian, i always had this problem as well, not anymore ;D