masterhse wrote on Sun, 15 June 2008 13:47 |
I'm wondering if the WB issue has to do with their processing chain some sort of assumption about dithering and truncation.
Has anyone used a bitscope to see if the last bit is just dropped off? The numbers are an odd coincidence.
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I just took a master that I burned (24b to 16b via POW-r type 1 dither), dragged it to the desktop, loaded it into WB, booted up Spectrafoo and VOILA, the meter shows the full 16 bits.
If it's missing a bit, what's up with that?
Then I decided to try a quick listening test even though I know it isn't really going to be conclusive.
I opened 2 instances of WB. 1 had the copied 16b file off my master disc (POW-r type 1 dither) and the other had the 24 bit file it was made from. Unfortunately, the POW-r dither when enabled in the menu doesn't seem to work in real time (need a bounce) so I inserted a Waves IDR to get it down to 16 bits. Unfortunately, that screws the test even more than having no 2nd operator and the X factor b/c of the 2 different sounding dithers.
I forged ahead anyway and my conclusion was that the 24 bit file with IDR dither played in real time sounded a bit fuller in the bass area but who knows if its b/c of the that particular file responding better to that dither or b/c it hasn't been bounced yet.
OK so now I'm really intrigued. So I burned a disc with the IDR dither and copied it from the CD to the desktop and put it into WB.
Now I have the 24b file with IDR inserted in the region and the copied-from-CD file with no IDR (trks. 1 & 2 respectively in the WB doc).
With a few quick jumps back to the start of each file, now I hear no difference!
BTW, both files show a full 16 bits on the bitscope of Spectrafoo.
Again I apologize for the shallow testing methods. On the other hand, I have been making quick sonic decisions like this for many years (like any experienced ME) and do think that I am qualified to make a reasonably accurate judgement in this case.
All I know is that I heard a difference in the first test but nothing stood out a being different in the second test.
This proves, at least to me, that the masters I put out sound like they should and that if I do replace WB, I will be very careful in my selection and not rush b/c I'm worried about the sound being screwed up.
I'm all for switching to a new system if it is worthwhile to do so but just a reminder of the thousands of CDs that were burned in WB by folks on this board. Does that mean they are not accurate? That they all of a sudden don't sound good? You proofed them and they passed your test. Your clients approve the jobs and told you they sounded great (well, most of the time!) but now the sound of WB is not right? Hmmm...
That's why I didn't jump off WB immediately when the first posts of bit "problems" were posted. Using the logic in the para. above, It just didn't make sense to rush into to something else.
Thanks for inpiring me to do some testing, Tom.