Mixdown Degradation

elly-d

elly-d

Member
hi,

i have been using an old version of cubase for a long time, vst/32 i cant remember the version. on pc. its really easy to use and its been kind to me, anyway i find its quality on mixdown to be poor though. even exporting a song recorded at 48kHz 24bit at the same spec, there is a noticable quality drop. and when exporting at 44.1 16bit for cd the sound is awful.

so i was wondering has it all been sorted on newer DAWs? im not upto date with the technology, i am more into analogue but i want to mixdown to a DAW and master digitally. (dont tell the 'analog only' people i was here)

can anyone shed any light or recommend a good easy to use DAW? i tried logic, pro tools and cubase back in the day and i prefered cubase, i use it only for audio recording, no midi ever!

cheers.
 
I have no idea whether Cubase has any specific problems (Sonar here) but just to rule out a few things first- Have you tried a) bouncing your mix to a new track in the project, b) make sure the playback of this mix track is on a bus that's completely clean and zeroed' (or the master buss is zereoed out for playback so you don't get the master's settings and effects applied twice.)

In this way you can do direct comparisons between the rendered mix and your working live play mix.
From what I see -(hear) here- :rolleyes: :D - there should be no difference, nada. :D
Wayne Smith
___________
Monitoring just fine at CathouseSound SP Tech Continuum AD
 
Also make sure you're not mixing it down as a low bitrate MP3. When I first started using Cubase I did that and couldn't figure out for the life of me what was going on.
 
i haven't been using any effects at all, its a clean session recorded before mixing. this is how i have noticed it more than normal. also i am exporting to a clean new song (file) at the same quality so no degrading of quality should happen? its definatley WAV. at 48kHz and 24bit (i have even tried it with 96kHZ) but when i mixdown a 20 odd track song to stereo it definatley looses something. i guess its just the problems of digital then? i understand people will try and defend digital recording here, i am not against it, just a little put off it lately. so have DAWs not improved there file conversion quality?
 
I doubt it's anything to do with digital vs analog. I use Cubase SX3 and my mixdowns sound the same as my project mixes.

What do you mean by degredation of quality? Could you describe specifically what the differences are? Do you mean it's not as loud as you expected? A lot of people equate quality and perceived volume to each other. The first time I mixed down a tune I couldn't for the life of me figure out why it was so quiet until I came here to find out more about it.
 
It looks like a mixture of questions -or just misunderstandings.

elly-d said:
i haven't been using any effects at all, its a clean session recorded before mixing.
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..An export of the session before mixing?

..so have DAWs not improved there file conversion quality?
Click to expand...
File conversion? Do you mean conversion quality exporting or going to a different format than what the project is recorded/playing in or the quality of your mix?

... also i am exporting to a clean new song (file) at the same quality
Click to expand...
A clean new song file? A new file is generated at each export.

..so no degrading of quality should happen?
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Right. This is why I asked if you have bounced the mix to a new track in the session to do a direct comparison.

but when i mixdown a 20 odd track song to stereo it definable looses something. i guess its just the problems of digital then?
Click to expand...
Sorry if this simply sounds like a mixing issue. There is definitely a give and take, loss and gain in mix compromises. -Personally I love the really rough/dry/raw first quickie' mixes. In that respect every step in 'polish' kills that. :D
From what I see, the DAW 'mixes' exactly what I put into it -good or bad, it bounces the mix down to a track in the session that sounds the same as the live play, and/or exports the same, and bit depth reduction/dither do what they do.
So, still not sure if the issue is that the export does not sound like the live play mix... or that you don't like the mix - or both?
 
hey mixsit,

it seems i am confusing people, my fault as im not using the correct terminology. sorry. when i said mixdown i just meant exporting a full song (un-effected) as a stereo file. and opening a new song/arrangement to play it. i will try it as a direct comparison next time im in the studio, although most of the time i export a 20 track song as stereo file into a new arrangement because my computer cant handle any more tracks.
i am pretty sure its not just volume that is the difference because i would just adjust it and be happy. but it is hard for me to describe, obviously if noone else has had a problem then i guess it must just be my imagination or faulty old software. it seems on listening to a 'bounce' (export) of the same quality (noticable especially when many tracks are involved) that some clarity is lost, the seperate parts (guitars, drums, cymbals) are harder to make out, everything seems a little 'squashed'?

'So, still not sure if the issue is that the export does not sound like the live play mix... or that you don't like the mix - or both?'

export quality is exactly what i am worried about, i should have voiced it exactly like that. :)


i think i will just get a demo of a more recent DAW and give it a go, SX3 is probably a good one for me.
 
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