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That would allow the subject to easily tell the difference between the two samples by looking to see which had all 0's in the 4 lowest bits.

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This makes no sense to me. Please explain. The difference between 24 and 16 is 8, not 4 for one.

Are you saying the "16-bit" sample files actually had noise added to the least significant 4 (8?) bits? This is not dithering. Dithering is adding noise BEFORE truncation. A dithered 16 bit rendering of 24 bit audio will only be 16 bit. An undithered 16 bit rendering of 24 bit audio will also only be 16 bit.

I think the GP is basically saying, how would you propose to run an internet survey asking anonymous audiophiles to blindly A/B (no peeking at the bits) full and truncated files? The dithering is probably the least questionable part of the methodology.

Dithering is known to increase the perceived dynamic range of music. As an example try listening to a song in foobar in 8bit output mode then 8bit dithered.

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