24 bits is not floating point, it is integer. So this is not at odds with Katz.

Regards,
Mike

-----Original Message-----
>From: Jim Bates 
>Sent: Oct 10, 2008 8:54 PM
>To: csound-devel@lists.sourceforge.net
>Subject: [Cs-dev] Truncation in Csound5
>
>My earlier post regarding the dither problem in Csound5 was started  
>before I found out there is no dither currently in Csound5. While it  
>has been implied that dither is not needed on a floating point  
>system, that viewpoint is at odds with the following from the  
>renowned mastering engineer Bob Katz:
>
>"But one programming mistake, or a few cost-saving shortcuts, can  
>ruin ether fixed or floating point work, especially if shortcuts are  
>taken at the most critical time, when the final output number is  
>converted to fixed point 24 bit at the end. If those numbers are not  
>converted (and properly dithered to 24 bits) at that time, then the  
>sound of the entire system can be compromised."
>		  Bob Katz "Fixed versus Floating Point Notation" (an answer to a  
>question on his Audio FAQ)
>
>"When feeding processors, DAWs or digital mixers to your recording  
>unit, dither the output of the processor to a 24-bit word. Dithering  
>always sounds better than truncation without dither."
>		Bob Katz' article "Dither"  Full article at:  http://www.digido.com
>
>So the real problem is more accurately a truncation problem.
>
>As the contention is about dithering floating point, I e-mailed Bob  
>Katz with the following question:
>
>Do you know of any current (or past) algorithm for dithering floating  
>point audio files?
>
>Here is his reply:
>
>
>Floating point is not the ideal medium for dithering as you don't  
>know where the reference level is, it's "floating" :-).  Some people  
>argue (probably correctly) that dithering makes no sense with  
>floating point. So most algorithm designers convert to fixed point  
>and then dither.  Does that answer your question?
>
>
>Best wishes,
>
>Bob
>-- 
>Bob Katz 407-831-0233 DIGITAL DOMAIN | "There are two kinds of fools,
>Recording, Mastering, Manufacturing  | One says-this is old and  
>therefore good.
>Informative **CD MASTERING WEBSITE** | The other says-this is new and  
>therefore
>http://www.digido.com                | better."
>
>No trees were killed in the sending of this message. However a large  
>number
>of electrons were terribly inconvenienced.
>
>
>Another reference regarding that confirms this can be found here:   
>http://www.cadenzarecording.com/images/FloatingDither.pdf
>
>
>This is as clear as I know how to put it.
>
>I would appreciate some feedback on this from those who actually  
>develop Csound, like Anthony Kozar, Michael Goggins, Andres Cabrera,  
>Steven Yi, Victor Lazzarini, John ffitch, etc.
>
>All the Best,
>Jim Bates
>




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