above 0dB but no clipping?

N

NationalSandwic

New member
hi

this is something that i've been battling with. i've done recordings in CEP or imported them from elsewhere. When recording in CEP i can keep the signal out of the red, but when i bring in tracks from other software (eg Pro Tools) it is often the case that those tracks exceed 0dB, when in the original software they weren't hitting red.

what's more perplexing is that the tracks don't SOUND clipped in CEP, but when exported/mixed-down and heard on another system, they do clip. this won't do... any advice?

does this make sense? am i misunderstanding something about clip & digital levels?

thanks
NS
 
I've noticed the same thing in Adobe Audition 1.5, which makes sense being basically the same program as CEP, where I import other songs from CDs and they don't sound clipped at all, but clearly look to be clipping. I haven't yet tried exporting them to other programs to see if they clip in those programs though. perhaps this is just a bug in CEP that followed over into Audition?
 
When importing from CD and you see flat tops on waveforms, then the audio is overcompressed. It was done to make the cd sound louder.

Why it doesn't register as "over" is that is was first clipped in software (with more than 16bit range). Then the level was normalised to a tad below the 16bit 0dB level. So if it is played back, it won't hit the 0dB and it sounds reasonable if not overdone.

When bringing in from other soft I guess it is a question of filetype/bitdepth. I never encountered this, so I would get in further.
 
the waves i import are not ripped off cd's.

for example:
- i recorded some double bass in pro tools at a studio.
- i brought those wavs (or aiffs, can't recall) home to edit in CEP.
- at the studio, levels were fine, nothing in the red.
- without amplifying or altering the file in any way, i continued to edit and there was no clipping.
- after dumping the final track out of CEP, the music was played back on a computer, on a normal hi-fi, and on a powerful surround system, and it clipped.
- going back to CEP, i noticed that the imported bass track was indeed triggering the clip light, and was over the 0dB line, but NOT clipping on playback - this is why i didn't pick up the problem; it sounded OK, so i just continued.

i only deal with wavs and aiffs. sample rate differences shouldn't change volume, right? besides, if the sample rates were different, i'd have noticed the problem because the pitch & length of the imported audio would have been altered.

is it possible that a different piece of software, or a different DAW, can handle different clip levels so that it clips on one and not the other? doesn't make sense to me...
 
I've noticed this too. I think the reason for it is that at 0 db, Cool Edit "peaks," and the clip meter goes off, even though it hasn't really clipped.

One thing I've read about dithering within the Cool Edit manual is that when you go from 24-bit to 16-bit, you have to bring down the volume just a little bit because 16-bit isn't as loud. The manual recommended normalizing at 98% before dithering.

Hope that helps somewhat,
-MD
 
I don't know anything about CEP, but 24 bit and 16 bit have the same 0db. The extra bits are at the other end. It sounds like CEP has some sort of metering problem.
 
I don't know if this is meaningful, but I notice the wav files in the Edit Window of CEP 2 come off as louder than the same files in the Multitrack Window. I don't know what that might have to do with this, but there y'are.
 
i have noticed this as well...when importing other audio files that ARENT clipped originally, they clearly go off the screen and over the 0 db in cool edit. weird.
 
Well, do any of you guys notice: Does a corrective volume change in Cool Edit affect the volume back in your sequencer, or whatever app you may be working from?

This would apply, right, if you're using Cool Edit as an assigned Editor from n-Track, or Sonar...
 
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