8.0

Audio Effects
Insert Effects
245
Adding Insert Effects to Busses
You can add insert effects to busses. The easiest way to add insert effects is the
Channel settings window.
If you add insert effects to an output bus, all audio routed to that bus is affected.
Dithering (Cubase Elements only)
Dithering is a method for controlling the noise produced by quantization errors in
digital recordings. The theory behind this is that during low level passages, only a
few bits are used to represent the signal, which leads to quantization errors and
hence distortion.
For example, when “truncating bits”, as a result of moving from 24 to 16 bit
resolution, quantization errors are added to an otherwise immaculate recording. By
adding a special kind of noise at an extremely low level, the effect of these errors is
minimized. The added noise could be perceived as a very low-level hiss under
exacting listening conditions. However, this is hardly noticeable and much preferred
to the distortion that otherwise occurs.
When should I use dithering?
• Consider dithering when you mix down to a lower resolution, either in realtime
(during playback) or with the Export Audio Mixdown function.
A typical example is when you mix down a project to a 16-bit stereo audio file
for audio CD burning.
What is a “lower resolution” then? Well, Cubase uses 32-bit float resolution
internally, which means that all integer resolutions (16
bit, 24 bit, etc.) are lower.
The negative effects of truncation (no dithering) are most noticeable when mixing
down to 8
bit, 16 bit and 20 bit format; whether to dither when mixing down to
24
bits is a matter of taste.
Applying Dithering
PROCEDURE
1. Open the Channel Settings window for the output channel by clicking its Edit
button in the MixConsole.
2. Open the effect selector for slot 7 or 8.
The two last Insert effect slots (for all channels) are post-fader, which is crucial for a
dithering plug-in. The reason is that any master gain change applied after dithering
would bring the signal back to the internal 32
bit float domain, rendering the dithering
settings useless.
3. Select the included UV22HR plug-in from the selector.