Sonar 3.0 - Sound Quality and Demo Files

Qwerty

New member
Apologies to ChristopherM who has already got a dose of what I am going to bleat on about here.........

Anybody played the two large demo files that come with Sonar 3.0 PE? One hip-hop thing and another hard rock thing.... They both sound pretty well put together and the reverb use in the hip hop song sounds pretty good.

Take a straight dump of these tracks and burn 'em to CD and they sound crappy as all get out. Far below what I have been given from really basic studios as a quick mixdown at the end of a 12 hour lockout.

They both have a characteristic "telephoney" or "boxy" quality which sounds like an over-emphasis around 200-900Hz.

So - are these just poorly executed demo tracks?

I started going down this path when working on a recent song. In frustration, I dumped each individual track out and burnt them as seperate tracks to CD. I followed that with both of the demo tracks.

To my ears, every single one has that same telephonic, AM radio bias -- both source tracks, either close-miked, DI'ed or even samples and the dumped demo files.

So - are these just poorly executed demo tracks and how can all of the discrete sound sources I have been recording suffer from the exact same EQ discrepancy when there was no consistency in pre-amp or mic selection?

Now, who wants to be the first to call me a stupid bastard if I therefore suggest that the summing architecture still isn't all it could be?

Go on - it's good for your post count......

:) Q.
 
Q,

I have only messed around with Sonar 3 on my computer, haven't exported anything off it yet. Who was it that did the whole session in Sonar? wouldn't mind getting his input on this!

Porter
 
I don't hear a difference between my exported projects and the projects in Sonar.... :confused:
 
Nor do I.

They both have a slight signature to the exported sound which I am calling telephonic for want of a better term.

Q.
 
OK - I think it's just the quality of the demo tracks.

I dumped a file from three different CD's - Audioslave, Pink Floyd and Simon and Garfunkel.

Took each into Sonar and exported it as a new file.

Burnt all six files to a CD. Went and listened.

--------------------------------->

To be honest it sounds like there is a loss of air and depth in the dumped file from Sonar. This is so small as to be almost insignificant.

On my monitors I can hear a loss of clarity in the snare's reverbed ring and seemingly shorter sustains on held guitar notes and chords. This loss seems up high in the "air" section of the spectrum..... Maybe this is caused by an over-representation of frequencies somewhere else.

On the crappy Sony all-in-one CD player downstairs you would be hard pressed to pick it in blind tests.

Doing a file compare between the pairs of files shows quite a lot of differences. Looking at the wave forms in an audio editor shows a slightly fatter shape in the Sonar exported file.

What worries me is that this is only one track being exported from Sonar.

What happens when there is more than one track => just how noticeable does that build up become....

Not happy Jan, not happy.

:( Q.
 
moskus said:
I don't hear a difference between my exported projects and the projects in Sonar.... :confused:

yeah, but I saw those videos of your "clients" in the Cave a few days ago.... ALL YOUR STUFF SOUNDS LIKE CRAP!!!:D ;) :p :D
 
Ahhh! Funny guy! :D


You're just jealous that I actually have clients and you record your friends over and over and over and over again... :eek: :rolleyes: ;) :D :D :D
 
hmmm... I'll pass. I work in a government building where taht is what everyone looks like, except that they are all losing their hair and have big guts
 
Maybe there are other things contributing.

Not all burners and CDs are great for audio.

Did you leave the CD audio at 16 bits?

Ken
 
moskus said:
Ahhh! Funny guy! :D


You're just jealous that I actually have clients and you record your friends over and over and over and over again... :eek: :rolleyes: ;) :D :D :D

You just call your friends 'clients'....you sick norwegian skinny boy!. :)
 
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