Do I need to apply dither when exporting at lower bit depths?

[davidmcasas]

I have a project set up at 48 khz and 24 bits in Cubase 9.5, and every audio file has been recorded to this setup. If I want to export at 44.1 and 16 for CD, do I need to use the dither plugin UV22HR at the master bus for proper dithering? I remember reading somewhere that Cubase automatically applies dither when you export at a lower bit depth than the project is, but I don’t know how true is that. Thank you.

[svennilenni]

@dmcas

I have a project set up at 48 khz and 24 bits in Cubase 9.5, and every audio file has been recorded to this setup. If I want to export at 44.1 and 16 for CD, do I need to use the dither plugin UV22HR at the master bus for proper dithering? I remember reading somewhere that Cubase automatically applies dither when you export at a lower bit depth than the project is, but I don’t know how true is that. Thank you.

You donˋt need, but you can. And no it is not true that Cubase applies dither automatically.