WTF is Dither?

A practical exploration of dither, with no maths in sight.
How to use dither. How to check your dither is working correctly. Whats the difference between a native DAW dither and a posh dither like MegaBit+ from iZotope? Should you dither when rendering MP3 files?
Once you know this stuff you'll never have to worry about it again.
I used Reaper as usual (plus Sound Forge) but these principles apply whatever DAW you're using.
Intro / outro music is "Memories Evoked By A Smell" from my album "Impostor Syndrome", available in all the usual places. Bandcamp link:
dan-worrall.ba...
If you like this type of content and you want to see it more often, consider signing up for Channel Membership: / @danworrall
Sound Forge
(affiliate link)
www.magix.com/...
Video edited with VEGAS Pro 17:
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[@jonytube]

"if you have to boost the signal by over 100db to hear the problem, it's not really a problem" that cracked me up

[@FurkanTopal]

:D

[@MichaelW.1980]

I was more like „Amen!“ But yea, it’s kinda funny how people tend to make a big fuss over a whole lot of nothing. 😅

[@Mtaalas]

I feel like a broken machine repeating this, but again you've shown that you're a real audio ENGINEER. Gearsluz and other audio forums are so stock full of old wives tales, rumours, misconceptions and "i just feel like it man" attitude towards these concepts that it's sickening. People just need to realize that what you feel or think you hear is never what really is happening and why. Be like Dan, be scientific, be well read... be an engineer.

[@mrhay]

The only videos I watch and share basically. The Internet is so full of misinformation and half-truths. Be careful out there!

[@henriquematias1986]

exactly, i have heard so many stories from people who don't do "null tests", that's so 90's ! i think the best was once when someone was demoing a compressor to me and was telling me it was "sounding much better" and the gain reduction was not even being hit.

[@infinaneek]

Agree, tho I would say this is more DSP than traditional PCB engineering.

[@Kyp031]

Except none of that matters when your an 18year old who produced some Billie eilish crap that has major recognition.. So that doesn't matter really either

[@Syklonus]

If you're "sickened" by that then you don't have a very strong constitution. In other words, who cares what other people do? When amateurs mess up it means more business for people who actually know stuff. You're smelling a little bit like an elitist there brah.

[@ts4gv]

“this is probably more attenuation than the mute button on most analog consoles” lmao

[@dulmin_]

1.) Use 16-bit dither for creating 16 bit files. 2.) Use 24-bit dither for creating 24 bit files. 3.) 16-bit dithering should be done only once. 4.) Dithering is the very final step, even after sample rate conversion. 5.) Use 16-bit dithered files as resources for latter mp3 conversions. 6.) Don't see 'Dither' like a 'Disaster'. Music production has many other steps that deserve more attention. No point of overly worrying about this. _learned all these thanks to Dan_ ❤🙏

[@VAEOMMusic]

when I want to convert to MP3, I should first export 16 bit dithered file and then export MP3??

[@dulmin_]

@@VAEOMMusic can your DAW export .mp3 directly?

[@VAEOMMusic]

@@dulmin_ yes. I use studio one and it supports MP3 export. What should I do? I work at 48k sample rate and want to export 320 kbps 44.1k mp3

[@dulmin_]

@@VAEOMMusic I also use Studio One, but I'm used to dither by FFProL2 plugin. So for answering this question, I had to watch another KZbin video to find how Dithering can be enabled in StudioOne itself (if you are not using a specific plugin to Dither). Here's what I found :- 1. Go to "Options" window (accessible via "Studio One" dropdown below title bar at top). 2. In "Advanced" category, under "Audio" sub-category, enable *"Use dithering for playback and audio file export"* 3. Hit 'OK' (the window will then close with changes applied) Since you've enabled dithering now, once you are exporting your MP3 (at 320kbps 44.1kHz), the file such exported should be automatically dithered. However I'm not familiar with this method, since I do dithering by FFProL2 plugin (so the aforementioned option for StudioOne's own dithering isn't enabled in mine). I assume you know how to export. If not ; well it is done by "Export Mixdown" window accessed by the "Song" dropdown below the title bar at top. In the "Format" region of that window, you can select "MP3 File", and set your preferred attributes (44.1kHz / 320 kbps). I suggest to use Constant bitrate. Since we're supposed to choose a 'bitrate' here (rather than _'bit depth'_ as in Wave exporting), I don't think there's any "16bit / 24bit / etc." choice to be made during mp3 exporting. Besides, mp3 's can't be in 24 bit, which is why if you're supposed to create an .mp3 file using an existing .wav file, it's advised to use a 16bit .wav for that conversion (not a 24bit/32bit .wav)

[@dulmin_]

@@VAEOMMusic *If you can export 'mp3' directly from the DAW (with dithering enabled), that's totally fine.* No need of exporting 'wav' and then converting to 'mp3'. But if a DAW can't export 'mp3' directly (such that you have to export a 'wav', then convert it to 'mp3' by a *SEPARATE CONVERTER APP* ), there you have to make sure that 'wav' file (taken from the DAW) is 16bit.

[@LCTRgames]

"Pfft, I'm not watching 20 minutes of dither explanation...." *20mins later* "Well that was thoroughly interesting and well worth the time."

[@vincemurrain9617]

I swear 😂😂😂

[@Tekkerue]

It seems you severely underestimated Dan Worrall's power. If Dan uploads a 2 hour video on grass growing... you're going to watch the whole damn thing. 😂

[@rea9lizer]

Thank you, Dan Worrall and you made my day

[@BarryWarne]

Tekkerue where do I find this grass growing vid?

[@haui82]

It's called the Dan Worrall effect.

[@dulmin_]

Preparing an extensive tutorial (with examples, verification tests) isn't easy - it's exhausting, boring, time consuming. etc. Imagine bearing all that stress singlehandedly, for making a free tutorial for others! That's an unbelievable attitude👌👌❤ Again, thank you very much, Mr. Dan

[@Sasq2890]

Not quite sure why I decided to watch this whilst in the midst of one of the worst hangovers I've ever had, but it still made sense.

[@queenpurple8433]

LOL

[@AutPen38]

I don't always go to the pub on a Friday night, but when I do I get absolutely dithered.

[@Sasq2890]

@@AutPen38 dithered, lol. I’ll have to remember that!

[@tristanawild380]

Thanks to this video, I've made an Ableton rack where I have a macro to attenuate up to 95db that also boosts the same amount, with a reduction to 16-bit in-between. Delicious, dialable quantization error!

[@mal2ksc]

Isn't that called a bitcrusher?

[@zsteinkamp]

Not surprised Reaper handles MP3 so well, since the guy who wrote Reaper wrote WinAMP :) Great content as always! Thanks!

[@Ziqohth]

oh man thats cool. i love winamp.

[@Micahtmusic]

i never realized that

[@Jaburu]

does it? afaiui from the video it should have dithered the audio before converting

[@nexusobserve]

that is cool woah

[@SkyyySi]

It says right on that page that it uses the LAME encoder. So FL studio will most likely behave exactly the same - just as any other software that probably implements that encoder. Or any software that uses mp3s properly for that matter.

[@IsaiahSugar]

I love how many times you go 'seriously, no one is ever going to notice. Now, let's render it again-' very accurate.

[@seenbelow]

"don't forget to dither the like button" that killed me

[@tonstudiometzingen]

Leave gearslutz and listen to Dan Worrall

[@mrbensvoicebox]

I feel like Danworralslutz.com could be an exciting prospect in more ways than one.

[@sleepCircle]

absotutely

[@latheofheaven1017]

Literally the most interesting tutorial on dither I've ever had. I know that's a low bar, but you just raised it by 108dB Dan!

[@KingGrio]

Dan, I love you. As an audio engineer still in my learning curve, you always answer the relevant technical questions I need answered, and never give me those bullshit tips "guarante[ing me] that [my] tracks will sound 20% better", according to the imaginary unit metric of bettertracksology. Keep it up.

[@ToddBeal]

Yes sir.

[@Notinserviceij]

No one stops learning to be fair 😉

[@AJMansfield1]

As someone from the RF engineering world, watching these videos is just fascinating. There's so much in common between audio and radio, the same fundamental mathematics and a significant overlap in terminology, but there's enough differences that it feels almost uncanny at points.

[@alertsemail7057]

sounds are frequencies right? so that totally makes sense to a layman like me

[@Will-qx9vm]

I am a hobby EDM producer and I worked for a short time in a Radio station, the equipment and plugins/software you use are fascinating and some are unheard for music producers

[@AJMansfield1]

@@Will-qx9vm Probably the two techniques I'm most surprised don't see use in the audio space are frequency mixing and quadrature/IQ sampling. Sure, additively shifting the frequency content of a sample is less "musical" than the logarithmic pitch shifts that audio people usually reach for, but unlike pitch shifting there's no phase discontinuity problems you need some extra intelligent algorithm for, and the effect is basically free computationally speaking. And, while audio files wouldn't actually be smaller if stored using an IQ sample format (since the frequency content of audio is so close to baseband), it _would_ make nearly all effects processing algorithms more efficient, and enable dealing with phase issues in less awkward ways. (In fact, a lot of algorithms literally start by resampling the input to IQ, and end by resampling IQ back to the output format.)

[@JazzyFizzleDrummers]

We do use frequency mixing/ring mods in sound design/synthesis but its generally far less useful for most applications because it 1) isnt much good on polyphonic sources because it doesnt preserve the ratios between notes. We usually work in EDO tuning systems like 12tet and destroying those relationships render those shifts pointless 2) It requires back of the napkin calculations that slow down production. You'd need a program to streamline it regardless.

[@michaelanderwald4179]

This will be the go to link posted on every dithering flamewar thread in the English speaking world for the next 20 years. If it were possible to buy stock of KZbin videos, I'd go long on this one.

[@d5uncr]

Well, except that it's a very artificial demonstration showing a technical detail that's more or less completely irrelevant in the real world... How many people do you know who listen to music at +60 or +108dB? Dithering is free, so there's no penalty in using it, but except for some really extreme cases it's also mostly unnecessary.

[@sleepCircle]

@@d5uncr do you know what flame wars are? they are usually people arguing passionately about things which are irrelevant to most of the world.

[@ToddBeal]

@@d5uncr That was Dan's whole point: at those extreme levels, dithering is the last thing you should worry about - focus on the music production. Watch again and listen to the point he is making.

[@d5uncr]

@@ToddBeal Well, his #1 rule at 9:54 is "Always use dither when creating a 16bit file". That should also have had the caveat that his 24bit rule has : "no one will ever know if you don't". As I said "Dithering is free, so there's no penalty in using it". But to quote Monty Montgomery (of Xiph, creators of ogg/vorbis and opus, fame) : "No one ever ruined a great recording by forgetting to dither the final master". The "Digital Show & Tell" video on the Xiph site is well worth watching when it comes to dithering. That segment starts at the 9 minute mark.

[@Bronwyn031]

You'd have to crank the audio to such insane ear bleeding murderous levels to hear that you forgot to dither your 24bit production that no one would be alive to tell the tale.

[@jarcau_vegan]

There's a floating point in your life, in which you feel safe to write that this video about 16 bit sorcery is not a smoky unshaped burst of noise. - Thank you for dithering us into the topic.

[@LeonTodd]

4:38 - "oh dear"

[@TheIgnoramus]

That extra step of lowering 44.8 to 44.1hz BEFORE truncating, never heard that from any where else! Thanks for the info!

[@ZeMovinPixxle]

"this time the noise isnt as obnoxious sounding" me over here dying from the near 15k dentist drill

[@EthanWiner]

This is great, and I have only one comment. Even with highly dynamic material nobody will hear 16 bit truncation distortion on decaying reverb tails. Just as you had to amplify the snare files by 60 dB to hear the differences shown in this video, you'd have to raise the playback volume at least 40-50 dB to hear that distortion on very soft passages. Of course nobody does that while listening to music, unless they're doing experiments like the ones shown here.

[@DanWorrall]

Hi Ethan, good to see you here! I suspect you're right of course. I well remember when a DAW I used to use turned out to have a bug in the 16 bit dither and no one had noticed for over a year... But its already controversial enough to suggest that 24 bit dither doesn't matter, so that will do for now ;)

[@EthanWiner]

@@DanWorrall LOL, you know me, I embrace controversy. :->)

[@DanWorrall]

Yes I've noticed :)

[@parentteachernight]

I know about dither, but i also know Dan's gonna tell me something i don't so here goes...

[@monkeyxx]

I don't know why but I imagine there's some emotional person going to get pissed off by this video. brilliant stuff.

[@crookman42]

you're doing such a great job in really showing and comparing the technical details in a simple, understandable way! So great! Also there's way too many people on youtube repeating the same cliché phrases and prejudices about Mixing without really double-checking and I'm so so thankful that there's people like you, who cut through all the bullsh** and keeping straight to the facts. And then there's your plain way of presentation, very clear communicated in a pleasant tone and speed. So easy to learn from you. Thank you so very much!

[@zerodreaming]

One of my new favorite channels. I love falling asleep listening to someone calmly talk about sound mastering techniques.

[@MarnixMohrmannPiano]

This completely explains the weird stuff in the stems of a client of mine, no wonder I didn't have a clue what was happening. And it probably is the last time I will ever come across this again in my life, thank you for solving the mystery Dan!

[@Smittefar1]

This is by far the best dither explanation I have ever seen

[@matthewchavezm.b.s5503]

The way you broke all this down finally made it make sense. Thanks for showing the examples and tests of how you tested the daw dither. After testing the stock FL Studio dither compared to Ozone, the Ozone was slightly smoother with the noise shaping engaged.

[@Trackformers]

Yes!! DAN WORALL HAS HIS OWN CHANNEL!! LET'S GOOO!!

[@slingual]

Came here to watch another tutorial. Found the new benchmark for tutorials in general. Thank you!

[@rhedgeco]

14:54 We boutta slap to some "How its made" on the science channel rn

[@indyawichofficial1346]

I do not know in which format to thank you for expanding on this topic the way you did here! All rendered into great and helpful material. To learn, is all that dithers. Every single bit !

[@PRODYNDS]

Glad this channel popped up in my recommendations. Concise & specific content is what I look for on KZbin now a days. Most of what I want to find is kind of hard to find w/o sifting through a whole bunch of filler or is only beginner-intermediate levels of expertise.

[@anothercrappypianist]

I never would have guessed I could be mesmerized for 22 minutes about dithering. I ran this test with FabFilter Pro-L 2 and decided that I still liked Reaper's native noise-shaped dither better than any of the Pro-L2's noise shaping modes.

[@ToddBeal]

Interesting.

[@woosix7735]

Dither is so fascinating

[@dulmin_]

While many people try to boast their stuff on 'tutorials', you are trying to help someone. OMG!

[@LaSnowOfficial]

The Best Audio Engineering Teacher On KZbin🥺🥺❤️❤️

[@NickMcKeon]

I and many other people learning audio are so, so grateful for you Dan!! Thank you so much. Great examples presented clearly and gently as always.

[@revmulvey]

I never thought i could be engrossed in any video about Dither. But Dan you are the man! Great helpful and informative Video. Thank you!

[@RKBibleStudy]

Your videos started popping up in my feed. I think they're great. Don't let my handle fool you... I've been a professional musician and engineer for over forty years. Keep up the good work.

[@JBehrMusic]

You deserve more subs. 16.3k is far too low for the knowledge you give us. Thanks again!

[@DanWorrall]

16.5k now :) Glad you like!

[@mauriziomauricone]

42K one year later! LOL

[@Notinserviceij]

​@@mauriziomauricone113k 2 years later

[@autobotsNdecepticons]

Wow. That's the best explanation of what the heck dither is I've seen yet. All the stupid articles I read before made no sense, and bam, you just demonstrated what it does in a way you can hear.

[@Micahtmusic]

i.. kinda love that distortion

[@djfull4442]

4:36 must be my favourite "oh dear" ever.

[@PatrickSchouten]

For the first time a clear example of how it really works. Thanks.

[@AnimusInvidious]

If i trust anyone to explain dither properly, it's Dan Worrall.

[@maxdamico3148]

Useful Info. High level of dedication. thanx dan

[@briancase6180]

I'm dithering.... Should I praise the way you shape the noise in my understanding? Yes. Thanks! Great video; one of your best (and that's saying something!).

[@kowloonbroadcast]

that was one of the most social responsible sound engineering tutorials I’ve seen in my entire life. considering how this matter really deserves the least % of attention compared to anything else production related, and however making this extremely nuanced showcase, knowing that basically almost everyone has still this question in mind - regardless of amount of practical experience and theoretical knowledge in working with sound. I fucking applause to the genuine educational contribution to the community that this video is. classy as fuck.

[@100chuckjones]

I swear I thought this was going to be about as interesting as watching a national geographic special on "insect mating calls". However this was really well planned out and interesting. Loved it. thank you.

[@greeneyes66]

You're tutorials are always a joy to watch. Insightful and entertaining at the same time.

[@MixYourWay]

Lovely, been doing audio for years and never quite really got my head around dither. This was very explanatory and informative. Thank you sir.

[@Alon21Ashkenazi]

That mp3 ending really blew my mind! Awesome video with great insights, thanks!!

[@djminddrum]

pressing like without seeing content means only one -> Dan Worrall... anyway I have VST prestes called with your name nahhhh

[@buffsop3191]

I absolutely LOST IT when you said "Oh dear..." when showing the 16 bit file with no dither.

[@underdaymusic7794]

Your amazing work shows that most other explanations on youtube and especially forums are just the result or opinions of wannabe-creators. To me, making music is fun and should not be too serious or get stuck by the will to sound more professional than I am currently. Getting better and learning the stuff behind the DAWs is interesting and a longer process. The information to understand that world has to be from guys like you! Maybe 1 out of 10 video creators I know have the REAL knowledge AND ability to explain it for beginners. Thank you.

[@LeeBlaske]

This is an excellent video! Really filled in some important details for me regarding things I've been wondering about for some time. I'll be making changes in the way I do certain things. Maybe they won't be noticeable, but if there's a right way to do it, and a wrong way, might as well do it the right way.

[@saardean4481]

What a great explanation and video. Dan=Quality

[@RaquelFoster]

It makes me happy knowing that there are other nerds who compulsively go down these kinds of rabbit holes. I've made hundreds of spreadsheets to better understand the non-theoretical big picture of some random detail. Things like compulsively testing the aux-in latency of all my portable speakers vs. PA speakers. Or doing a few hundred passes of encoding videos with x264 vs. x265 vs. ProRes vs. hardware accelerated codecs at various bitrates for various video lengths to make the best use of the max upload size on YT. I just learned Fusion 360 and bought a drill press to make a custom rack for MIDI / DJ stuff. 🙂

[@amunahm3324]

The best dither video I've ever seen. "Best" because it helped me understand what dither is and how to use with it.

[@KingGrio]

Hahaha 108 dB of attenuation ! You were really thorough. That's for my next recording of "The soft murmurs of termites"

[@Unit27]

Real thorough but clear explanation. Thanks!

[@lostreverb9806]

Most interesting 23 minutes of reverbed snare hits 💯

[@mayukh_nath]

Very insightful, as always! The mp3 test was a real surprise, since I had no idea that mp3 can encode 32 bit floating point. Can we expect a future video comparing lossy formats such as mp3 and aac with wav? :)

[@uselessoldman7964]

He already did if you look at his video on the myths of mp3 and lossless files and whether higher bit rates make a difference.

[@j7ndominica051]

You can do this extreme dynamic range in Apple AAC-CVBR, but it takes a few seonds to align to a lower level. Opus goes down to about 24 bits. Other codecs and in variable bitrate mode cut at reasonable levels of silence.

[@infurcht]

Mr. Worral i love you .... really

[@nymusicman]

I didn't know David Attenborough did audio editing tutorials... Really though, great job man. Clear explanation and a very soothing voice to go along with it.

[@pryere]

What an informative treat. Dan is the man. I now know dither - Thank you.

[@F-Andre]

thanks for this:) Sometimes i feel dumb, because there are so many "Problems" you never encounter, if you just have a small homestudio.... or some technics etc... its always nice to learn, even if you feel like a totally noob

[@fakirtheune6836]

I got a new favorite channel I think... THANK YOU!

[@cjcurcio]

Superb tutorial, Dan! Thank you very much!

[@DuneArchitect]

Once again, incredibly amazing explanation of a concept I previously knew nothing about. Thank you Dan!

[@DuneArchitect]

My process has become this: 1. Export my mixdown file with no dither as a 32-bit WAV file 2. Import the file into RX for phase correction, save again as a 32-bit WAV 3. Pull the file into my DAW for mastering. 4. Now, when exporting the fully mastered track, I can export a 16-bit WAV or FLAC file with dither, only having applied it once with no loss of dynamic range or extra dithering earlier in the process This is most likely overkill, but will ensure the best end product consistently when dealing with any content that includes a large dynamic range

[@HiEnergyMusic]

Great explanation for intricate facts that were well beyond my scope before watching this video. Thanks, Dan! *Thumbs up*

[@sea-ferring]

Great video. I had never thought of pronouncing WAV as anything other than "wave" - strange how different people process language differently...

[@datajake1999]

I just used this method to test my own dithering and bit reduction plug-in. Thanks for such an informative video!

[@Projektor_music]

I like how all the problems can be solved by just not worrying about it as it's too low in volume...

[@ltchester3409]

Interesting way to test the dither of your plugin.

[@aCeruleanStateMusic]

This is one of the best videos ever

[@farquhaad3209]

Awesome video, as always Dan! I love your style and format, you're very good at doing voiceovers too!

[@papepcool]

Very Interesting. Thx for your work...

[@gedeonandrasmusic]

That's some golden content, thank you for that!

[@ephjaymusic]

This is absolutely brilliant! So well presented! I got the repost from Ian. 👊🏻❤️

[@uniqueflowsnake]

this reminds of mauro picotto new time new place. a creative use of dither/noise/distorion on reverb in it.

[@happylittlesynth]

not many people know that track! classic!

[@NMTCG]

Rule n.1 use 16 bit dither on 16 bit files unless you making industrial :D Love Dan Worrall!!!

[@dinmentor]

Dan for president. Always such great content and so well presented 👌🏻

[@davidsandberg6179]

Fantastic stuff. I always love to see a new video from Dan.

[@canofnothing]

Amazing video. I only had a very basic understanding of what dither was, but the examples really helped drive home what exactly was happening. I had a teacher at school who was very knowledgeable about this stuff, but rambled a lot and spoke way too quickly for me to get everything. Once again, the KZbin education pulls through!

[@edenekendahl1791]

Wow, great video! Thanks a lot! Just found your channel from watching the White Sea Studio.

[@Hello-pl2qe]

Thanks so much! Being able to perform my own tests following along got rid of so much mystery of what was happening.

[@aren6]

really excellent video. This is the ultimate dither video i needed to get an understanding of how dithering worked.

[@codexstudios]

This is so helpful and interesting. Also, it's nice to have rules of thumb for seemingly complicated concepts like dither. Glad to know I should turn on dither now, for years I haven't been exporting with dither of any kind and I couldn't tell the difference.

[@dulmin_]

"Yes minus sixty, SIX ZERO" 😅😅

[@joost3783]

Thank you for providing us with so much well versed knowledge as always Dan!

[@hybridnoisebloom5285]

A dedicated video about MP3/lossy filetype encoding/decoding would be fantastic. Very few videos have been made about the process with any practical look into it like you did at the end of this video.

[@davidfernandezbajo]

just discovered the channel, best audio instructor out there!

[@carlosfernandoramirezsanto4417]

Best video ever

[@nickcarter4006]

FINALLY, I understand how dithering works. Thank you: SUBSCRIBED!

[@CounternoiseMusic]

Insightful as ever, thanks Dan.

[@fortheoneswhocare]

best video about dither I've seen well done! spot on!

[@nickmarkham3743]

Really appreciate all of the thought and work that goes into making these Dan. I actually never knew that MP3 and other lossy encoded formats were encoded at 32 bit float, and decoded by the player. That was really cool. :) . . . My DAW doesn't even allow you to select Dither when rendering a 24 bit wav file. :P Never really noticed that before either.

[@DanWorrall]

I don't know if that's true of all lossy formats, but certainly MP3 and I'm pretty sure AAC also.

So, if I understand this correctly, the much criticized and sneered upon MP3 can store a much greater dynamic range than a 16 bit WAV?

[@DanWorrall]

@ greater than 24 bit wav in theory. But only if encoded from AND decoded to floating point, which seems to be far from guaranteed.