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Topic: What is the best tool to resample a couple of files? Sox via foobar2000? (Read 549 times) previous topic - next topic
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What is the best tool to resample a couple of files? Sox via foobar2000?

Hi,

I need to resample a couple of high res files from 192khz to 96khz. What is the right way to do it? I read about foobar2000 + sox but some people say there may be a problem with dither...

Thanks

Re: What is the best tool to resample a couple of files? Sox via foobar2000?

Reply #1 –
Depends.
If you leave the bit depth unchanged (24) we talk about bit 24. This is at -144 dBFS. No playback chain can resolve this.
If you reduce bit depth to 16, you must dither: https://hydrogenaud.io/index.php/topic,117191.0.html
TheWellTemperedComputer.com

Re: What is the best tool to resample a couple of files? Sox via foobar2000?

Reply #2 –
Quote from: MusicLover on
What is the right way to do it? I read about foobar2000 + sox but some people say there may be a problem with dither...
Foobar with the SoX component is a great way to do it. The SoX component itself doesn't include dither, however. So if you want to dither, you'll have to do it with either Foobar's own dither or with another component, or externally...

Re: What is the best tool to resample a couple of files? Sox via foobar2000?

Reply #3 –
Quote from: Roseval on
Depends.
If you leave the bit depth unchanged (24) we talk about bit 24. This is at -144 dBFS. No playback chain can resolve this.
If you reduce bit depth to 16, you must dither: https://hydrogenaud.io/index.php/topic,117191.0.html
oh, didn't realise that bit depth is interdpendant with sampling rate when converting with resamlpling...

Re: What is the best tool to resample a couple of files? Sox via foobar2000?

Reply #4 –
Quote
oh, didn't realise that bit depth is interdpendant with sampling rate when converting with resamlpling...
You're supposed to dither when you reduce the bit depth.*    If everything is 24 bits it's not necessary.   And since dither is added noise it could theoretically make the sound worse.  

In reality, you can't hear the effects of dither (or the lack of dither) under normal-reasonable listening conditions at 16-bits, much less at 24-bits. ;)  

I wouldn't loose sleep about your resampling tool/method...    I don't do much with high definition but sometimes I resample from CD (44.1kHz) and 48kHz for video, or the other way around.   I've never noticed any difference no matter what software I was using.  (I never bothered with careful ABX tests and there was no choice anyway.)    Usually the video was using Dolby Digital (lossy) and I still wasn't noticing any difference. 



* Somebody on the Audacity forum was making 8-bit files.    At 8-bits you CAN hear quantization noise and/or the dither.   Dither is supposed to sound better than raw quantization noise but this person preferred it without dither.

Re: What is the best tool to resample a couple of files? Sox via foobar2000?

Reply #6 –
When audio is dithered the audible "hiss" is generally less audible because correctly dithered audio presses the noise into the uppermost frequencies and reduces the noise at frequencies we most hear yielding an apparent increase in signal to noise ratio.