but I'm confused about how to use it in SF and the EXACT workflow. I'm not talking guessing here, I want to know for sure. I mean what is actually happening when you just save to 16-bit? I was thinking you'd still go to PROCESS > BIT DEPTH, and choose to reduce from 24 to 16, but without any of the algorithms selected?
I can't confirm from experience one way or the other with SF. But FWIW, Audition/CEP works like this:
[1] Open 24-bit file in a 32-bit "workspace"
[2] Dither w/ Waves (or other plugin) to 16-bit, leaving 16-bit audio within the 32-bit workspace
[3] Convert the 32-bit workspace to a 16-bit workspace -without- dithering (i.e., truncate the least significant bits)
[4] Save As a 16-bit file
Perhaps SF operates in similar fashion (substituting the Process > Bit Depth w/ no dither for Audition/CEP's "convert bit depth w/ no dither" function). Try this:
- Open an existing 16-bit file (A)
- Save it as a 24-bit file (B)*
- Run SF's Process > Dither function with no dither/algos on the 24-bit file (B)
- Save the results as a 16-bit file (C)
- Compare files (A) and (C)
If files (A) and (C) do match, then we know two things:
- saving a 16-bit file as 24-bit simply pads the least significant bits with zeroes (which is good), and
- the Process > Dither function simply truncates the least significant bits in dropping the data down to 16-bit.
Which means your workflow should be:
[1] Open 24-bit file
[2] Dither w/ Waves to 16-bit
[3] Process > Bit Depth (no dither/algos) to 16-bit
[4] Save As 16-bit file
One of the few things I prefer in Wavelab to Audition/CEP: the render / Save As feature performs automatically the "convert to 16-bit" step [3] I have to do manually in Audition/CEP.
Topic: 24 bit>>16 bit?? (Read 8528 times)