Operating instructions

OPERATING INSTRUCTIONS FOR GAMBIT ADC2 24Bit / 192kHz A/D CONVERTER OPERATION
Daniel Weiss Engineering Ltd., Florastr. 42, CH-8610 Uster Page 8
 [phone]  [phone]  http://www.weiss. ch [e-mail]
Why dither?
If the 24bit digital signal is not dithered when
recording to 16bit media (e.g. DAT, CD-R etc), it is
truncated instead, which leads to quantization
distortion (similar to clipping distortion). Fig. 7 shows a
24bit sine wave at –85dBFS truncated to 16bit.
Fig. 7 1kHz Sine wave truncated to 16bit
If the same sine wave is dithered instead of quantized,
the quantization distortion disappears and is replaced
by wide band shaped noise, which is more pleasing to
the human ear (Fig. 8).
Fig. 8 1kHz sine wave dithered to 16bit
To view the frequency characteristics of the three
POW-r algorithms, refer to POW-R Noise Spectrum on
p. 15.
For more information on dithering in general, view the
article “The Secrets of Dither” at www.digido.com .
For more POW-r information, please visit
www.weiss.ch/pow-r/pow-r.html .