Dithering

[tonyc2002]

In Ableton (and I'm sure many others) when you bounce a track down you can select a dithering option. Now, I know what dithering is but whats the best option to select? Theres triangular, rectangular, and three other options for something (each with a number between 1-3). Whats that all about then haha?

[rhythmtech]

from wiki

Dither is an intentionally applied form of noise, used to randomize quantization error, thereby preventing large-scale patterns such as contouring that are more objectionable than uncorrelated noise. Dither is routinely used in processing of both digital audio and digital video data, and is often one of the last stages of audio production to cd.


if its just for listening, to be honest its not gonna make a huge amount of differance what dither you use as long as you're going to 16bit.

personally i prefer to use waves LL3L at the pre-master stage because i trust waves more than i'd trust a DAW plug. but to be honest i cant hear a differance.

[tonyc2002]

Thats cool, I was just wandering what algorithm is the best.

[rhythmtech]

not sure about ableton's onboard but on the waves LL3L i use the "ultra" algo.

[herman]

The Pow-R 1algorithm is highly thought of in mastering circles but do remember to keep and original bit depth version of the file if your going to send for mastering later.