Dither to Hardware Outputs

WaveLab
1

In the Montage I have 1 Audio Track and 2 Reference Tracks. Each of these 3 Track outputs is assigned to 3 different inputs to my hardware interface / D-A converter.

Does WL automatically dither to 24 bit when feeding each of these hardware outputs (some DAWs do this automatically)?

Or do I need to dither to 24 prior to any hardware output in each Track?

bob weston

2

Does WL automatically dither to 24 bit when feeding each of these hardware outputs (some DAWs do this automatically)?

WaveLab does not. And I doubt some DAW do it “automatically”. Indeed, how the DAW knows if a given hardware output addresses some analog or digital device (eg. some digital effect or recorder)?

From the DAW point of view, the DAW send samples to a driver, and does now know what is beyond.

And are you sure your D/A converter does not dither itself?
see also:

3

Can the drivers in OSX and Windows 10 accept 32 bit and 64 bit audio from a DAW? And hand it off at that bit depth to the audio interface (PCI, Firewire, USB, Thunderbolt device) that will then turn it into an AES digital audio stream?

Or do the drivers expect to receive 24 bit audio?

Thanks,
bob

4

Can the drivers in OSX and Windows 10 accept 32 bit and 64 bit audio from a DAW? And hand it off at that bit depth to the audio interface (PCI, Firewire, USB, Thunderbolt device) that will then turn it into an AES digital audio stream?

It depends on the drivers. Most can receive 24 bit, but some can receive 32 bit float or even 32 bit PCM (translated from 64 bit float).
But yes, they convert the samples to whatever bit format they need.
If they apply dithering or not, this is a question to ask them, as there is no standard.

5

Just put a dither (to 24) plugin before external fx out (but don’t touch the out level).

j,