Dithering- Important Tool In For Mastering Sound Tracks
For the last 20 years, the consumer perspective regarding the quality of the digital audio has not changed. Till the middle of the 20th century, the compact discs were made available for the users and the 16 bit 44.1 kHz sound was the best quality accepted by the listeners, though some of the artists record the music and mix the sound at 24 bits or higher than that. When everything is said to be completed, the sound quality has to cut down to CD quality. Lowering down the quality to 8 bits usually, affects the sound in such a way that you will feel bad to hear. Thanks to the advanced technologies that they have helped to reduce the effects of bit-cutting depths this is called the dithering.
What Is The Process Of Dithering?
When mastering music at 24 or above, you will get a wider dynamic range along with a greater clarity, than the one that is made for the CD And having 16 bits or less. The main problem is that when you are cutting higher bit-depth sound to the CD quality, the extra bits will be cut down to the 16 bits. Wav file. The system that the professional is using has no option to cut down the bits. This results in a very unpleasant type of sounds. Dithering tool is helpful in adding the layer of low-level white noise, that affects the numbers to bring back some lost sounds or it is used to replace the unpleasant distortion with the random white noise. This tool does not reduce the bit-depth at all but helps to a greater extent.
Not all the dither is equally created. Some of the dithering plugins will give a flat basic white noise through the entire frequency spectrum. Other dithering plugins have the options of noise shaping. Some of the curves are simple, whereas some are having cuts at different frequencies. This depends on personal choices.
When Can You Use This Tool?
If you are going to apply the dither tool, be sure that you are using it only once at the end of the sound production. When the mix is ready to render down, the dither is to be applied. One layer of the random white noise may not be perceived, but it is helpful. Two layers of white noise are audible, reducing the perceived distortion. Dither is designed to reduce the counter the bit-depth. Some of the audio engineers claim that dithering tool can be used for 16 bit sound.
There are certain considerations when you are not able to use this tool. As mentioned earlier, dithering can be used only once. So, the engineers can use modern tools better than this one if they get the chance.
Last note- when cutting the sound quality from the higher level to 16 bit or less, dither will be helpful in replacing the distortion with the use of white noise and helps in preserving the effects that are lost.
