Hello, Renoise users:
I just finished a 10 question Q & A with mastering engineer Greg Reierson.
http://recording.songstuff.com/articles.php?selected=154
Hope something here is interesting or useful.
Nice interview, good insight, thanks for sharing.
Thank you for this great interview. Nice insight indeed.
Thanks for sharing. 
Interesting that he was bashing ‘third tier’ mastering operations… Gee whiz how else are we going to get experience without being part of the clique?
Otherwise, he’s saying all the right things.
Thanks for reading and commenting, everyone!
Foo, I don’t think he was bashing third-tier mastering operations. What he was saying, in effect was, mastering at a mixing studio is fine for demos. They can do good work, too. But if you are serious about your work, you need a specialist. I don’t know of any mixing engineers who do their own mastering so why would you use a mixing engineer to master for you. I think it’s great that people are expanding and providing more service. Not everyone can afford a mastering house. But it’s also a caveat that just because they use the term “mastering” doesn’t mean that it’s the same quality. The same could be said about anything in the music chain. A bad mixing engineer still mixes – but they’re not all the same.
I just found, from participating on music boards for several years, that there was a lot of questions and misinformation about the actual process, what to expect, etc. So I contacted Greg, who I recently worked with and found very personable, if he would like to participate. I was very pleased that he took it seriously and spent a lot of time on it. I did not compensate him in any way, so all the information, as it were, is freely given and off the books.
Interesting article thanks.
Question tho about “Dithering / 16,24 and 32 bits sound”.
Normally i make music on ASIO setting with 16bits 44khz Stereo and i also Render it like this.
But whats actually the best setting when making / rendering music in Renoise. Should i only use a higher bit like 24 or 32bits or only higher khz setting? or both?
And afterwards downscale it to 44khz 16bit stereo in my sample editor (Adobe Audition Pro CS3) for best results?
Mix/master in 32bit float. Dithering to 16bit should be the absolute last step. Completely and utterly last step.
Ok, i can render to WAV in 32bit float, no problem there.
But the bitrate cannot be set in Renoise itself? in preferences -> Audio? OnlySample Rate in HZ can be set.
I have Sound Blaster X-Fi Elite Pro, should be capable right? No matter if i choose ASIO / Directsound.
Is this a Soundcard limitation or Renoise limitation?
Nice reading, thanks for sharing smueske!
Renoise internal processing is always 32bit float. Soundcard output/input can never actually be 32bit float.
I see.
If i go for example to Adobe Audition and i load a 16bit wav and convert it to 32bit, i can still hit the play button, does it then mean it actually plays at 32bit? (Just tested this) Or the wav is 32bit but actually still plays on 16bit mode?
The processing is done in 32bit to preserve as much audio data as possible, but Renoise plays 16-bit cubic interpolation.
Nice read!
Ok, i try to understand. bit confusing these bit-thingies.
So basically with soundcards / pc’s in general, most of them can process 32bit (that part i understand) but can they actually play 32bit (input / output).
Hmmz, sorry, Renoise plays 32 bit if your soundcard supports it (i was a bit going too low under the curb), but it uses cubic interpolation when playing.
Most soundcards support 32-bit, they are not specifically expensive either.
Renoise supports Arguru Sinc interpolation rendering, but does not use this interpolation for playback.