Re: 24-bit to 16-bit dithering

Here is a quick lesson: The standard resolution for CD playback is 16bit/44.1Hz. However, when recording, the higher the bit depth means a better representation of the audio. So, if you record at 24 or 32 bit you have to export the mix down to 16 bit for playback on CD. Now, what happens to the extra bits when exporting to 16 bit? The extra bits, without dither, are discarded thus lowering the quality of audio representation. That's where dithering comes in. When exporting 24 bits down to 16 bits, instead of just throwing the extra bits away, dithering (in a way) prevents degrading of the audio representation (although 24 bits are being shorten to 16 bits). During mastering in Cubase, the Dither plugin should be the last plugin on the output channel before export.

Hope this helps.