Audio Exporting

Cubase
#1

Hi All,
When exporting in MP3 format, will Cubase automatically dither down to 16 bits or is it imperative that I use a vst like UV22HR to do so?
In either case, I don’t notice a big difference except that dithering to 16 with UV slightly knocks down the high end.
When making MP3s for my car, I no longer burn CDs, I just drag them onto a flash drive and plug it in. Maybe for that matter, I don’t need to dither at all? I would export Flac or Wav but I believe my deck only reads MP3s.
Your thoughts?

Thanks
Will

#2

Yes, this is a very old question that has been debated for many years.
Personally, I’ve given up worrying about it and on the very rare occasion that I need an mp3 render I just let Cubase handle the conversion to 16bit from a 24 bit project.
There will probably be some purists on here that will tell you otherwise so it’s a good idea to try both and see if you can tell the difference. I certainly can’t :wink:

Russ Shaw
ps. AFAIK Cubase does not apply dither internally.

#3

Thanks for the hit Russ.
With that said, I have done some further research and found out that I do not have to convert from 24 bits to 16 bits to encode an MP3.
Reason being is that an MP3 is neither 24 or 16 bits. It is a floating point representation. The mp3 encoder takes the whole 24 bit audio sample and converts it to a new, entirely different compressed audio representation. An mp3 encoder meeting the IEC standard will not simply truncate the input audio down to 16bits and then do mp3 encoding.

Now on the other hand, there’s been an ongoing argument as to whether the original sample being encoded would be better as a 24 bit source as opposed to a 16. Each side has their compelling reasons and stand by their convictions. :slight_smile: