How do you apply dither when bouncing from 24-bit to 16-bit?

How do you apply dither when bouncing from 24-bit to 16-bit?

• A. Use an external dither plugin after bouncing
• B. Dithering is not required when bouncing to 16-bit
• C. In the Bounce dialog, enable Dither and choose 16-bit
• D. Dither is automatically applied when exporting audio

Answer: (C)

Dithering is used when you lower the bit depth to minimize quantization distortion. By adding a tiny, carefully shaped amount of noise at the moment of conversion, the lost detail from truncating the extra bits is masked so the noise floor doesn’t produce harsh distortions or correlation with the signal. In Pro Tools, apply dither during the bounce itself. Open the Bounce dialog, enable Dither, and choose 16-bit as the target depth. This ensures the 24-bit audio is converted to 16-bit with dithering applied as part of that conversion, preserving as much perceived quality as possible. Using a dither plugin after bouncing wouldn’t affect the conversion to 16-bit, since the bit-depth change has already happened. Dithering isn’t automatic in all export paths, so enabling it in the Bounce dialog is the correct, reliable method.

Dithering is used when you lower the bit depth to minimize quantization distortion. By adding a tiny, carefully shaped amount of noise at the moment of conversion, the lost detail from truncating the extra bits is masked so the noise floor doesn’t produce harsh distortions or correlation with the signal.

In Pro Tools, apply dither during the bounce itself. Open the Bounce dialog, enable Dither, and choose 16-bit as the target depth. This ensures the 24-bit audio is converted to 16-bit with dithering applied as part of that conversion, preserving as much perceived quality as possible.

Using a dither plugin after bouncing wouldn’t affect the conversion to 16-bit, since the bit-depth change has already happened. Dithering isn’t automatic in all export paths, so enabling it in the Bounce dialog is the correct, reliable method.