@NateHigs
Fair enough.
I am too lazy to make my own samples so I used the ones that I found on Audacity's website.
Dither:
foo_abx 2.0.6d report
foobar2000 v1.6.6
2021-06-26 19:57:33
File A: 32-bit.wav
SHA1: b8a9914360d2b8e9c4e28a967e27a5c3689742a2
File B: dither.wav
SHA1: a6b060c3ecb82c1676f9187783675b89e1699132
Output:
WASAPI (event) : Speakers (ASUS Xonar DGX Audio Device), 32-bit
Crossfading: NO
19:57:33 : Test started.
19:57:40 : 01/01
19:57:43 : 02/02
19:57:45 : 03/03
19:57:47 : 04/04
19:57:50 : 05/05
19:57:51 : 06/06
19:57:54 : 07/07
19:57:56 : 08/08
19:58:00 : 09/09
19:58:02 : 10/10
19:58:02 : Test finished.
----------
Total: 10/10
p-value: 0.001 (0.1%)
-- signature --
2c6651cb087ed65586befcd3fb5b79ddea880669
No dither:
foo_abx 2.0.6d report
foobar2000 v1.6.6
2021-06-26 19:58:39
File A: 32-bit.wav
SHA1: b8a9914360d2b8e9c4e28a967e27a5c3689742a2
File B: no dither.wav
SHA1: 32a01d80750ef929de382a743950701c899427c9
Output:
WASAPI (event) : Speakers (ASUS Xonar DGX Audio Device), 32-bit
Crossfading: NO
19:58:39 : Test started.
19:58:45 : 01/01
19:58:47 : 02/02
19:58:49 : 03/03
19:58:51 : 04/04
19:58:52 : 05/05
19:58:54 : 06/06
19:58:56 : 07/07
19:58:58 : 08/08
19:59:00 : 09/09
19:59:02 : 10/10
19:59:02 : Test finished.
----------
Total: 10/10
p-value: 0.001 (0.1%)
-- signature --
933554a7ba3ad271012fb6da30ebb7f35ef0b849
What now? 16-bit is not transparent to me but my signature clearly says that everything above 16-bit is scam. Is there something wrong with my brain/hearing?
Porcus gave you great explanation above why we use dithering.