Question re Dithered Mixer in ProTools HD

[mps]

If I switch from the default mixer to the dithered mixer, do I lose existing mix parameters (pan, eq, level, plug-ins, etc)?

[Bob Olhsson]

As far as I understand the total number of plug-in instances is reduced but not functionality.

It only is used by PTHD 10 and earlier. If you are running a native, HDX or version later than 10 it does nothing.

[mps]

To clarify what I'm asking:

Suppose I have an existing ProTools session using the default mixer and I've already mixed. The session contains settings for levels, pans, plug-ins etc. If I now switch to the dithered mixer, do I lose those settings and have to mix all over again? Or do the settings stay where they are?

[JFreak]

Welcome to the forum.

No, you won't lose anything. Please do yourself a favor and google what dithering means. As far as PT is concerned, it was the trick that made TDM mixer sound "not so digital".

[dtmprod]

I run dithered mixer all the time, don't see any diff as far as automation, levels, etc. Like previous poster mentioned, its takes a bit more DSP, so if you're pushing your system to the max, you might see a few plugins saying there's not enough DSP available.
To be on the safe side, make copy of the session & try it on that. That way you're not doing any possible changes/harm to the original session. You might find that things sound a bit differently with dither, so who knows, you might end up making some subtle changes to compensate. Then you can compare & see what you prefer.

[Bob Olhsson]

I've asked mastering clients to re-bounce using the dithered mixer and there were no problems with the settings changing in Pro Tools HD 7. I don't know about later versions but I can't imaging them allowing it to change.

[Rich Breen]

you can switch freely between them.

[mps]

Thanks everyone! Just wanted to make sure there'd be no surprises.