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For the Pros out there:

IDR or UV22--which do you prefer (dare I say is better?) and why?

Thanks,

Jim

Comments

jimmy Wed, 08/08/2001 - 07:09

Thanks Brad,

Is this pretty much the prevailing view amongst professional mastering engineers?

I have the same song mastered twice, one using IDR and the other using UV22. Both come from a 32bit source. For the life of me I can’t hear the difference between the two (IDR and UV22). I should say that both sound like 16bit copies of the original, but really they both sound better!(warmer, punchier, more balanced)…perhaps they don’t have as much ‘depth’ as the 32bit mix. But again, between the two dithered versions, I can’t hear the difference…they both sound good!

Anyone?

Jim

Dave McNair Wed, 10/10/2001 - 03:10

Guys,
Do you think dithering with POW-r gives results similar to HDCD? I've only had 1 record I worked on mastered HDCD, and still not sure what I think about it, except I only heard it decoded by one CD player, and it was very dark compared to playback in a non HDCD player. I don't know if that particular player was dark sounding in general.

anonymous Thu, 10/25/2001 - 15:23

Agreed, my vote is for IDR or POW-R, but don't just switch them on, try out different settings when dithereing each project or song - the differences in character are not easily spotted at first, but go for what "feels" best and you should be in the ballpark. (Note that in IDR there is a setting where the dither is of, you don't wanna do this.) My personal preference right now are the POW-R dithers.

I used the UV22 dither for a while about two years ago. At first I liked what I heard, but I got tired of it's sound - it has one.

BTW, can someone explain what on earth the digital/analog switch on the L1/IDR is for?? Sure, the settings sound different but I don't know what they do - anyone? (I'm looking for a tech explanation)

Ben

drumsound Fri, 10/26/2001 - 21:55

Does one always need to dither? I just finished a mastering project and used IDR in the Waves L1+ on 24-bit/44.1k mixes. I found I used different settings on different songs, including some that sounded better without dither and noise shaping. On some I used noise shaping and no dither. On some I used both. I trusted my ears, and the client and I both like the sound.