"I really dig the 16 bit Naturalize. It has made me wonder in surprise if I like the reduced version better than the 24 bit original."-Andrew Levine, Blumlein Records
Ditherbox is a universal binary AU plugin supplying a wide range of unbeatable dithers! You get the traditional flat/TPDF plus High Gloss, Vinyl, Spatialize and Naturalize. Ditherbox is $49.99.
Rather than do more audio files, in this case download the low-res demo to hear the actual software you'll be buying, only doctored so that the noise floor is much louder (roughly two bit and six bit quantization levels). Also available in normal form in the demo package...
First, you get raw truncation, flat and TPDF. TPDF is always 'correct' and with the demo you can shoot it out against the other ones, use it as a reference to what dither is normally like. Also investigate truncation- you'll find crazy things happen at very faint levels, you get a snarling raspy hypercompressed version of the audio until it sputters out entirely.
High Gloss comes from experiments trying to make a more regular noise source. It's designed to combine the noise floor with that hypercompressed effect truncation has, but tailor that into a more usable sound that draws attention to the textures of sounds. I see this as being suitable for some electronic music- not so much acoustic or hi-fi.
Vinyl is a seriously unique dither. It's more CPU hungry, which can't be helped (still nothing too outrageous though). This dither literally tries to suppress the actual noise floor, particularly in the highs, resulting in a sort of sputtery crackly effect that's actually quieter than TPDF is, as well as being a lot more like record surface noise. It's phenomenal at 16 or 24 bit- very pleasing listening.
Spatialize was originally Contingent Dither- i've named it Spatialize as that's what it's good at compared to the others. It throws a really detailed soundstage and is one of the top hi-fi picks. It's unchanged from the original Contingent Dither, and because this is Airwindows, the original buyers of Contingent Dither get the new plugin free.
Naturalize is something a little special. It uses a type of statistical analysis to control the way it quantizes- and what this does is, it tends to decouple the quantization noise from the musical content. It lets you hear through the noise floor better, and gives a far more convincing sound picture and sense of realness. I think for many types of music this is by FAR the best wordlength reducer I've done.
Try the demo of this by downloading the demo collection! You're not allowed to use the demo for actual work. It politely mutes itself briefly every couple minutes, and that's the only thing it does to spite you. It won't expire or do anything to you, and when you get the actual plugin, throw away the demo and put the real version in its place and most software should replace saved instances of the demo with the real thing seamlessly, retaining any settings. Please support my cooperative, unhostile demos with sales of the real software.
