Precision redithering…the missing links between distortion and definition
Your Sound, Your Way
Sharing the same user interface, MAAT’s two channel and multichannel LIN family are your final link between production and delivery. Offering optional word length reduction and seven noise shaping spectra tailored to both analog and digital delivery of assets, LIN is highly adjustable to help create your own signature “sound.” In addition to TPD and weighted TPD, LINpro and LINSurround feature four newly developed fifth, eighth and ninth order psychoacoustic noise shaping choices. As with all dithering mechanisms, LIN must be the very last plug–in instance, just prior to converting to the final, fixed–point format.
LINpro and LINSurround incorporate the latest advances in auditory and psychoacoustic research. Older, outdated dithering engines rely on decades–old approaches to the problem. We at MAAT evaluated our original LINearise engine and realized that we could “do it” even better, implementing a more accurate, mathematically superior approach plus new thinking on both the User Experience (UX) and how you want your master to sound. Whether you’re delivering a 16 bit Red Book dupe master, a 24 bit “high res” 88.2k file to today’s higher fidelity streaming services, or multichannel 48k stems for video and motion picture surround work, the LIN family will take you there with the best sounding tracks obtainable.
Need More?
LINpro has it. As you’d expect, automatic muting and variable bit depth, 16 or 24 bits, but also a choice of 8 bit output to instantly hear how your current choice “sounds.” In addition to Triangular Probability Density Function (TPDF) and High Passed TPDF, rectangular dither is also available for educational or experimental exploration.
Rounding performs fundamental linearization, what can be thought of as very low amplitude distortion reduction, by representing all former least significant bits with one single LSB in the resulting word length–reduced version. On the other hand, truncation does not preserve any of that low amplitude information. Instead, it’s just thrown away. LINpro is one of the only redithering products available that offers a choice between rounding and truncation.
Eyes On It
LINpro brings visual certainty to the arcane art of dithering. We’ve included real world plots of each noise shape for your viewing pleasure. These are not MATLAB simulations, they are actual plots generated by LINpro’s optimized dither engine. Notice that the -100dBFS input signal, that spike at the left side of the plot, is preserved even though the word length has been reduced to 16 bits. A 16–bit word can only encode or store 96dB of dynamic range. Any information quieter than -96dBFS should be lost when reducing the word length to 16 bits. With LIN, up to the 19th bit of the input signal is preserved, embedded in the resulting 16–bit word.
Dither is a fundamental aspect of today’s DAWs. Although not usually thought of as such, re-dithering is important DSP (Digital Signal Processing). In the distant past, much of the pioneering research on dither was performed at Bell Labs. According to information theory, you should add a pinch of noise to your digital audio every time you alter it to keep it distortion–free and to preserve program content by embedding it in the noise floor. That’s dither. Use it to make your digital audio less…“digital!”
Redithering…On Your Terms
LINpro works with either mono or stereo tracks, while LINSurround is channel count–agnostic. With LINSurround, up to 128 channels are supported.
requirements:
mac:
ram: 2
version: macOS 10.9 and newer
internet required: yes
support:
64_bit
plugins:
VST-2
VST-3
AU
AAX
windows:
ram: 2
version: Windows 7 and newer
internet required: yes
support:
32_bit
64_bit
plugins:
VST-2
VST-3
AAX
trial: yes
notes:
feature: Word Length Reduction – Significant Bits: 24, 16, 8
Word Length Reduction – Round or Truncate
Spectrum & Weighting – 1st Order Noise Shaping
Spectrum & Weighting – 2nd Order Noise Shaping
Spectrum & Weighting – 3rd Order Noise Shaping
Spectrum & Weighting – 5th Order Noise Shaping (improved E-weighting)
Spectrum & Weighting – 8th Order Noise Shaping (modified ITU 486)
Spectrum & Weighting – 8th Order Noise Shaping (modified UEN)
Spectrum & Weighting – 9th Order Noise Shaping (F-weighting)
Redithering – Triangular, High Passed Triangular, Rectangular
Redithering – Noise Shaping Bypass/Defeat
Redithering – Auto–Blanking
licensing methods:
computer
cloud
platforms: mac
windows
1414-1012
