I updated to Audacity version 2.0.5 from version 2.0.2. I’ve noticed that the options under quality under preferences are different. Could someone please explain these new options and tell me what the recommended settings are? Also, should I turn dither on for realtime conversion even if it is set to shaped under HQ conversion? Currently, realtime conversion dither is set to none, but I don’t know if that’s the default. Thanks.
Useful tip: The images in the manual show the default settings for just about everything.
These are the defaults (and recommended settings) for the conversion settings: http://manual.audacityteam.org/o/man/quality_preferences.html
Thanks Steve. Could you please explain the differences between the conversion options in version 2.0.2 and the ones in 2.0.5? Thanks.
“Resampling” is when digital audio is converted from one sampling rate to another. This might happen if, for example, you have a project that you have imported several files into and the files do not all have the same sample rate. Audacity plays and exports audio at the “Project Rate” (bottom left of the main Audacity window), so if you have a file with a 44100 Hz sample rate and the project is 48000 Hz sample rate, then to play or export that track it needs to be converted to 48000 Hz sample rate (to match the project setting).
For playback, the dither and quality settings are set for speed. To get smooth playback the conversion needs to be done quickly.
For exporting, the dither and quality settings are for best quality. Speed is less important here.
Between 2.0.2 and 2.0.5, the code that performs these conversions was upgraded. The new resampling library is both faster and higher sound quality than the old code. The name changes are part of the new code.
Thanks for the explanation, Steve.