Sound Quality of Bounced Tracks

K

Knopfler Fan

New member
Okay, I can safely say that I have noticed a difference in the sound quality when tracks are bounced, even with a digital recorder like the MR-8.

Over the weekend, I tracked 4 instruments onto 1 thru 4 and bounced to 5/6. I then erased 1 thru 4 and recorded an additional 2 tracks onto 1 and 2 and then bounced everything to 7/8.

The sound coming through my headphones on track 7/8 definitely sounded muffled compared to the clean, crisp sound on the original bounced track 5/6. I kept the two and compared them side by side and could hear the difference. It's not even subtle!

So, having said that, I think that I should learn to use some of the software mixing programs. Or else, I should record songs with only 4 instruments :eek:

Anyone else have the same observation or am I out in left field (and I can't even play baseball)?!


KF
 
I was wondering about this. I am planning on using N-track, but have not gotten around to it yet. When I bounced a song I did using tracks 1-4 bounced to 7,8 there was a subtle yet noticeble change. Did you use a mastering effect when you bounced? Maybe the "bright" would help? I used "natural".
 
The MR-8 uses data compression in storing the digital audio, at the expense of sound quality, it would be very normal for there to be degradation when you bounce tracks (you lose resolution everytime you bounce - much like you would with an analog recorder!)
 
I used to bounce tracks on the MR-8 but now I use club tracks and I don't think I can ever go back to bouncing on the MR-8 (that sounded like a commercial)


clif
 
Blue Bear Sound said:
The MR-8 uses data compression in storing the digital audio, at the expense of sound quality...
Click to expand...

Can you point me to that in the manual/brochure, etc.?
 
mrx said:
Can you point me to that in the manual/brochure, etc.?
Click to expand...
Well hang me up! I saw the CompactFlash card spec and assumed it was compressed!

But you're right - I just looked more closely - 16-bit, 44.1kHz uncompressed.... while I'm sure the converters won't win awards, there must be another reason for the sound degradation then.... maybe the bouncing occurs post-converter as analog???
 
Bigsnake00 said:
What kinda effects does club tracks support?

b
Click to expand...
Theoretically, it can support all DirectX effects.
I say theoretically only because I haven't tried them all yet....
 
Club Tracks does come with effects Just basic stuff like reverb chorus etc. Nothing fancy, in fact I don't even use them much. I am interested in all thi talk about directx effects that I can use with it but I am not familier with how to obtain them, guess I'll check out the cakewalk page.

clif
 
Blue Bear Sound said:
Well hang me up! I saw the CompactFlash card spec and assumed it was compressed!

But you're right - I just looked more closely - 16-bit, 44.1kHz uncompressed.... while I'm sure the converters won't win awards, there must be another reason for the sound degradation then.... maybe the bouncing occurs post-converter as analog???
Click to expand...

Good point - I also wonder if what you hear while monitoring the mix is not what's getting printed. For example, panning on the MR-8 can be extreme - maybe that's not getting reflected in the mix, etc.
 
Thanks for the responses, but now I think I'm more confused than before.:p

I guess there really isn't a clear answer to all of this. I'll do some more experimenting and see what happens. Perhaps I'll bounce everything dry (no panning, no effects, no mastering) and see whether I still notice the difference in sound quality.

Maybe I should just learn to use Clubtracks!



KF
 
I haven't done any bouncing in the MR8 myself. However, I think some experimenting is in order. A lot of us are waiting for the larger capacity CF cards to come down in price so that we can do more with the MR8 before going to the computer. If it degrades the sound to bounce in the machine then it is a limitation we should explore. I was hoping to have both options available because there will certainly be occasions where we are going to want to mix and master in the MR8 itself.
 
Clifchamb, I'm relieved to hear that. I haven't had time to explore this aspect of the MR8. I hope we get some more replies on this thread to help clear this up. I'll try to make some time this week to see for myself.
 
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