Well, I am slowly getting used to Reaper - new question - when rendering to a WAV file, my volume is greatly reduced from what it was before - I have checked and double checked all settings in Media Player when I play it back, and volumes are at max - I also burned to a CD and compared it to a benchmark CD I have (that I use to initially "gauge" my final output so it is somewhat consistent) and again, greatly reduced from what it was from before rendering. Any ideas?? Thanks
Reduced Volume when rendering
- Thread starter JHudson
- Start date
VomitHatSteve
Hat STYLE. Not contents.
What does it sound like when you open the rendered file again in Reaper? If it sounds like the original, than I'd guess it's just a matter of Reaper having a louder playback volume than your other stuff.
What does the reference disc sound like when played through Reaper? Is it still way louder than your mix?
What does the reference disc sound like when played through Reaper? Is it still way louder than your mix?
Thanks for the replies - The rendered file when opened back up in Reaper is quieter than the original (peaking more in the -6 range or so) - the reference disc(s) I use are the same volume as my mix when loaded into reaper, but once the WAV is burned to a CD, it is a good bit softer than the original. I set my levels when recording where they are at max without clipping, and routing to the Master seems to be correct - also have done this with and without panning just to make sure pan law is not some of the issue.
VomitHatSteve
Hat STYLE. Not contents.
That is weird. I have no idea what could cause that issue, and my 30 seconds of Googling revealed nothing new.
R
RAMI
Guest
This has nothing to do with solving the specific problem you're asking about, but you're recording and mixing way too hot. You shouldn't be going for "as loud as possible without clipping", that's way too hot. Bring your peaks down to -6db at the most, even -12db. Your mix shouldn't be as loud as your final master.
True, but if you record at too low volume, you would get annoying noise when you gain up, depending on equipment etc. But the chances for higher noise is bigger.
Over to the thread. I got the same problem when I was mixing a live-recording last week. I tried searching without answers. I gained it so the peaks are 0dB and it's very loud. But the output file is way lower, actually lower than the regular music and other sounds I got on the pc. Hope we/you/us/etc could solve this. Might be a bug in Reaper? Doubt it, but could it be?
R
RAMI
Guest
That's in-correct. You're getting the same amount of noise. Recording digitally, you should not be peaking anywhere past -6db. There is no such thing as recording too low in 24bit digital recording. You're recording too hot.
If by "rendering" you mean taking a single edited & processed session track and saving it as a wav file that can then be imported into any DAW program, your problem may be with where you have that track panned. Try panning up the center before rendering to end up with the save level "as recorded." I have to do the same in Audition.
For instance, if you have a cheap Behringer AD converter. The noise level, true, will not in/decrease, but is natural high. The signal on the other hand will effect the balance between noise and signal. If you have higher signal, you'll cover up the noises much better, than if the noise is higher than the signal. So when the audio is processing analog, it should be loud, but not so loud it starting to peak. That's way you will cover up the noises much better. As for the digital processing it's true that it can't be too low (relative).
bouldersoundguy
Well-known member
The above is only true when the noise is added after the gain stage. Any noise added with (or before) the gain stage rises and falls with the gain, and the ratio to the signal being amplified is fixed. In other words, turning up the gain just turns up the noise with it, so you might as well optimize your levels for the later phases of the process. Besides, it's been decades since noisy gear was such a problem that you had to drive everything nearly to clip to minimize the noise.
0dBVU generally lines up to -18dBFS or so. When you are getting digital levels with peaks above -6dBFS your analog gear might be running above its optimal level.
R
RAMI
Guest
Well, Boulder tried explaining it to you, so I'm not going to repeat what I and others have corrected people on over and over.
I'll try to be helpful, though. This is a great artcile by a regular member here. It explains things a lot better than I can:
http://www.massivemastering.com/blog/index_files/Proper_Audio_Recording_Levels.php
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VomitHatSteve
Hat STYLE. Not contents.
Thank you for that explanation! I've wondered about that.
I feel like there are probably limits to this though. I once A/B recorded with a Fastrack Pro and cheap Beri Eurorack. But I set the FastTrack levels too low. When I matched the levels, the noise floor for the FT was way higher.
So here is what I have found - some of which is part of the learning process, some of which was a silly error on my part, but I will share in hopes that it will help someone else.
Problem one, and the main point of my confusion - I had two discs that I was using as a reference, BOTH of which were recorded a good bit hotter than your "average" recordings, not sure why, but they were. These were commercially available and all, but just recorded a good bit hotter than normal. This explained why my disc sounded much softer on other players than my "reference".
Problem 2 - when playing back through the PC - I had my PC output going into input 11 of my Tascam1800 - which has no gain control, and yields a lower gain that normal, thus why it sounded WAY quieter when played back on the PC. The reason I had it routed this way (temporarily) was that I was using a PC Drummer to produce my click track. (using click, snare, and hi-hat, makes a nice click by the way.)
Problem 3, and more subtle, but still an issue - Normalize!! did not do this, and yes it made a difference. Purely my oversight.
With all of the above corrected, I am now very, very happy with my results. Hope this helps someone else.
Problem one, and the main point of my confusion - I had two discs that I was using as a reference, BOTH of which were recorded a good bit hotter than your "average" recordings, not sure why, but they were. These were commercially available and all, but just recorded a good bit hotter than normal. This explained why my disc sounded much softer on other players than my "reference".
Problem 2 - when playing back through the PC - I had my PC output going into input 11 of my Tascam1800 - which has no gain control, and yields a lower gain that normal, thus why it sounded WAY quieter when played back on the PC. The reason I had it routed this way (temporarily) was that I was using a PC Drummer to produce my click track. (using click, snare, and hi-hat, makes a nice click by the way.)
Problem 3, and more subtle, but still an issue - Normalize!! did not do this, and yes it made a difference. Purely my oversight.
With all of the above corrected, I am now very, very happy with my results. Hope this helps someone else.
R
RAMI
Guest
The commercial CD's you're talking about weren't RECORDED louder than the average CD. They were probably recorded even lower than you're recording yours. The volume comes in the mastering stage, not in the recording or mixing stage.
Do not Normalize. Learn about mixing and mastering.
Do not Normalize. Learn about mixing and mastering.
R
RAMI
Guest
It's not the same. I'm trying to help you, believe it or not. The reason I'm telling you that the volume wasn't attained during recording is so that you don't do something dumb like normalize or record too loud trying to match that volume.
But whatever....if you think it's all the same, knock yourself out.....