Hello good folks of Macprovideo, Could you kindly explain the dithering options available when bouncing in logic pro 8. None POW-r#1 POW-r#2 PoW-r#3 Why exactly they should be used and which one to utilize over the other especially when dealing with recordings of rock music. Thanks.

Hi, The difference between the 3 dither types is very subtle and mostly audible on low level sound (reverb tails, fades, etc). The important thing is to dither only at the last stage, when converting from 24 bits to 16 bits. Normally, I tend to use POW-r- #3 but that's a personal choice. Christian

Thanks for the info Christian, it is much appreciated. One other question, if I dither the 24bit to 16bit say using POW-r-#1 and want to hear what dithering with POW-r#3 sounds like, is it Ok to dither the 24 bit recording more than once and save them as seperate files?

Hi tumeninotes, Yes, it's completely fine to do what you suggest as the original project files are not overwritten in any way. When you bounce a project or a file from 24 bit to 16 bit the original will not be affected. You can dither one project as many times as you like. The problem with dithering only occurs if you bounce and dither your project to 16 bit, then apply some more mixing to it - perhaps add some more audio files and then need to bounce and dither again to 16bit (effectively dithering twice). It's a good idea to try out all the POW-r# settings. Often, I find the differences very subtle. Cheers Rounik

Thanks Rounik.

Hey guys, never dithered before. I was wondering if I should select 16bit resolution when bouncing and apply one of the POW options or if I should select 24bit resolution when bouncing + dither. I mean technically dithering reduces the bitrate to 16bit, right? So if I've already selected 16bit resolution in the bounce window, does it make any sense to apply dithering? I also have no idea if I've been recording my audio tracks in 16bit or 24bit mode. Is there a way to find out? Does Logic have an internally set bit rate while recording? Thanks, Chris.

Hi Chris, Welcome to the forums! Dithering is recommended when you are bouncing down from 24bit to 16bit. Basically it adds a little noise to your final output track to compensate for losing resolution. There is no need to bounce to 16bit unless your project demands this (e.g. your final track will be layed as an mp3 or burnt to CD). To check the bit rate you are recording at, choose: Logic Pro > Preferences > Audio > [Devices] [Core Audio] Make sure that 24 bit recording is checked. Cheers Rounik

Hi Chris, another way of checking to see what bit/ sample rates you're working with in a project is to go to the bin/ audio window and see what info pops up. It will say bit rate and sample rates as well as indicating whether a file is stereo or mono by the use of two or one circles respectively. Cheers, John