A further dive into oversampling (I'm in the shallow end and probably shouldn't dive ...)

[timboalogo]

Hi all,

Thanks for your answers on how to get it to work. Now I'm lost on what it really means to oversample.

Documentation says that "Plugin oversampling allows you to 2x, 4x, 8x, or 16x upsample any effects or instruments in the project to take advantage of higher sample rate processing without raising the actual project sample rate which can increase CPU load. By upsampling only plugins that benefit from high sample rates, you can keep your CPU load down while taking advantage of any sonic advantages of higher sample rate processing. Plugin oversampling automatically upsamples the data sent to the specified plugins and then downsamples the output back to the project sample rate. You can choose to do this in realtime during playback or only at render time."

In your experience, does this upsampling produce a "hearable" difference in sound? I suppose my question is "what should I expect from using the oversampling"?

Thanks,

Timbo

[mettelus]

Below is a pretty good, quick overview video that is embedded at the top of this page. 

One thing that is not mentioned is that oversampling is by plugin (not the overall DAW), so it allows higher detail processing internally. In many cases this is not overly noticeable, but in situations with older, lower-quality samples going in this can have a very audible result. This also depends on what that plugin is actually processing/doing.

As mentioned, bear in mind that oversampling adds stress to the CPU. Since he showed Melda plugs in that video, I think that most of their plugins now support 1024x oversampling (which is crazy high). I don't think I have ever used anything over 8x, with 4x being the most common choice if used. Many plugin vendors have oversampling embedded into them, so it is certainly not required to put it on the DAW to achieve this.

[T Boog]

  I had been using CbB and recently installed free Sonar. When I uploaded my CbB projects everything sounded pretty close to the same. But one vocal track in particular had more noticeable distortion in a couple of places. It was a vocal with several open, built-in effects on it... including Sonitus gate, VX64, Breverb, Console emulator, tape emulator & 2 compressors. Also, I was pushing pretty close to clipping on it.

I don't know which of those built-in effects use oversampling if any, all I know is the distortion was now noticeable and I hadn't really noticed it on CbB. And I know it wasn't confirmation bias because I had no idea at that time that free Sonar didn't have the oversampling feature. 

Anyway, I can only assume that that was the problem. Btw, I also have been recording at 44.1 since I have a fairly humble PC but from now on I'm gonna step it up to 48. Hopefully that will make up a bit for the lack of oversampling in free Sonar. Cheers

[timboalogo]

Thanks so much, mettelus and t boog.

[Mark Morgon-Shaw]

23 hours ago, timboalogo said:

In your experience, does this upsampling produce a "hearable" difference in sound? I suppose my question is "what should I expect from using the oversampling"?

Thanks,

Timbo

Oversampling is one of those things where the benefit really depends on what the plugin is doing. If it’s a saturator, distortion, limiter, or analog-modelled EQ, then oversampling can absolutely make a noticeable difference — especially up in the high end where aliasing can creep in. Without it, those kinds of plugins can throw out nasty artifacts that sound fizzy or harsh. With it, they tend to sound a bit smoother, more open, and more "expensive" if that makes sense.

If you’re just running a reverb, delay, or basic EQ, oversampling probably won’t do anything other than chew CPU for no reason.

That said, sometimes the difference is subtle — it’s not like switching plugins entirely — but in a full mix it can add up, especially on anything doing aggressive processing.

I usually just enable it on render rather than in realtime unless I really need to hear the difference as I’m working. Saves the CPU hit and still gets the benefit on the final bounce.

Quick test: stick a saturation plugin on a drum bus, turn up the drive, A/B with oversampling on and off. That’s where it’s most obvious.

Hope that helps.
– Mark

[timboalogo]

11 hours ago, mettelus said:

Below is a pretty good, quick overview video that is embedded at the top of this page. 

One thing that is not mentioned is that oversampling is by plugin (not the overall DAW), so it allows higher detail processing internally. In many cases this is not overly noticeable, but in situations with older, lower-quality samples going in this can have a very audible result. This also depends on what that plugin is actually processing/doing.

As mentioned, bear in mind that oversampling adds stress to the CPU. Since he showed Melda plugs in that video, I think that most of their plugins now support 1024x oversampling (which is crazy high). I don't think I have ever used anything over 8x, with 4x being the most common choice if used. Many plugin vendors have oversampling embedded into them, so it is certainly not required to put it on the DAW to achieve this.

The video was particularly useful. Thanks again.