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[Trumpetguy]

I could use some advice on how to set the best dither options. I have MC feeding a Lynx DAC (LynxTwoB PCI coupled with a Lynx Aurora8) using Internal Volume. The ASIO driver includes a software mixer. On the mixer it is possible to dither each channel and choose between "triangular" and "rectangular" methods.

So far I have disabled dither in MC, and activated dither on the Lynx mixer. Is this the best option? Or should dither be on both in MC and Lynx mixer? Or only in MC?

If dither should be on in the Lynx mixer, what would be preferred, "triangular" or "rectangular"?

[Trumpetguy]

Regarding the dither options in the Lynx driver, this is quoted from Lynx FAQ pages:

-----------------
DITHER TYPES

None - Dither is disabled.  Volume processing utilizes rounding prior to truncation.

Triangular - Enables the addition of triangular probability density dither. This type of dither is free of data-dependent noise modulation effects, but decreases signal-to-noise ratio by 4.8 dB. Triangular is the preferred dither type in most cases.

Shaped Triangular - Enables the addition of shaped triangular probability density dither. This type of dither is essentially high-pass filtered triangular dither that places most of the dither energy at higher frequencies making it less audible to the human ear. Shaped triangular dither also decreases signal-to-noise by 4.8 dB.

Rectangular - Enables the addition of rectangular probability density dither. This type of dither decreases the signal-to-ratio by 3 dB (less than triangular), but is less desirable because of its noise modulation effects.
-----------------

So I guess Triangular would be preferred?

[Hendrik]

Triangular or Shaped Triangular are probably what you want to use, yes.
Shaped Dither can have some advantages, but we're probably talking about differences so low in volume that its rather irrelevant.

[Trumpetguy]

Good, thanks. And where to dither? In MC, the driver or both?

[Hendrik]

If you use any of the drivers mixing or volume features, you need to dither there. If you don't, you could probably get by with only dithering in MC.

[Trumpetguy]

If you use any of the drivers mixing or volume features, you need to dither there. If you don't, you could probably get by with only dithering in MC.

I only use the mixer for channel routing, volume set to max for all channels. This means I should dither in MC only to avoid the additional reduction in SNR by dithering two times in series?

[ferday]

You shouldn't dither twice (it's not just SNR, it's the noise inside that noise floor...)

The debate is there whether or not double dither is audible, but no one thinks that double is better.  I've never passed a single vs double dither blind test myself, but why do it when you don't have to.