Cubase/Wavelab..Spectrum analyser lying?

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legionserial

legionserial

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Ok so basically I have problem which seems to make no sense whatsoever...
Making my tnes in cubase and mixing so they sound about riight. Then I'll open them up in Wavelab to work on them. When I look at the spectrum analyser it tells me that everything is coming out the low end (between 20hz and about 500hz) is not registering anything on the high end. So I gradually boost some of the high end on the eq so it registers on the spectrum analyser. What I dont get is that boosting the high end frequencies enough to make it register turns everything super tinny, despite the analyser still telling me that there is still higher proprtion of low end. My ears tell me other wise.
As a little test I arranged the eq to match what an old commercial cd (old as they are less loud), that I had pulled into wavelab. I managed to get it registering perfect on the spectrum but sounding real tinny..despite still registering a a large amount of low end on the sectrum analyser.

My next test was to save it as a wav to test my next problem....

Basically when I play my tunes in winamp, regardless of what I have eq'd it as, the spectrum analyser on winamp registers all low end and no high, despite the analyser in wavelab telling me other wise, an my ears telling me all I can hear is tinnyness. The wav i have just made, with the supposedly right eq (which is a lie) still registers as having that crappy low end and no high.

I don't get it. There appears to be no logic in this. Perhaps theres something technical thats the problem...but I have no idea.

To top it off I looked at my old tunes, made in Acid years ago on a spectrum analyser and they are perfect, despite the fact that when I made the tunes I did not EQ anything at all and just used faders. I have tryed this with my new stuff but still get the same crap.

Anyone have any ideas? I really dont want to go back to using acid on my old pentium 2, after having forked out all this cash on cubase and wavelab to use on my new(ish) uber pc.

Cheers :) / :(
 
Sounds like you have engaged a low-pass filter on your main mix buss or something along those lines... make sure you don't have EQ or other filter plug-in enabled on your main mixdown output.
 
I have a little bit of eq on the mix but its purely adding a bit more high end and to cut out a little bit around 85hz where the problem seems to be.

Is it better to put no eq on the final mix at all and deal with that in wavelab?
 
Check your EQ settings again... if your mix is getting frequencies completely attentuated above 500Hz, then you've got a low-pass filter turned-on on your EQ for the entire mix set at around 500Hz....
 
ok i have checed, checked, and checked again. I am currently listening to a really tinny sounding tune in wavelab, whilst looking at spectruim analyzer telling me that there is more low end than high end.

I'm going back to acid music...it could make 2 tunes a day in that. I have been working on one tune with supposedly 'better' software for 2 months now. I dont have the time for it. Also having spend so long on one tune, I have rinsed and ruined this tune for myself now, and to be honest i really dont want to listen to it again
 
You give up too easy and then to turn around and blame it on the supposedly 'better' software is a bit wimpish. You need to step back and start all over because you missed something when you set up this program. Relax, read the manual and don't be such a downer. Don't be so focused on the destination and enjoy the ride.
 
Can you tell me, in 25 words or less, what a good sounding mix looks like?


Of course there are more lows than highs, lows have more energy. The spectrum analizer is measuring energy. If you listened to an 8k sine wave at 80dbspl, your head would explode. (or you wish it would) not so with an 80Hz sine wave at the same volume.

If you think your stuff sounds good, why would you check it against a spectrum analyser? When you checked your song against an old CD and the CD had the same 'problem' that should have told you that you were doing something right. Trying to eq the commercial CD so that the analyzer looked right to you is silly.

Pay attention to what it sounds like, if you want your projects to look a certain way, take up painting.
 
lol i completely understand your point but i just figure if i can accomplish what i want to accomplish more efficiently using something else, underpowered or not, it makes sense to go down that route. :)


I wouldnt say im giving up lol, i dont know the meaning of the word when it comes to music, i have been persevering with this one thing for 2 months now and will continue to until I get old if needs be, just maybe its time to look at things from a different angle. I guess my main problem is that I'm a songwriter and not producer. The technical side of things always plays second fiddle to art for me. Which means i may or may not be trying to acheive the impossible.

However, I have heard the phrase 'stop picking at it' fom my friends over this more times than i can count. I'm too much of a perfectionist lol.



I only worry about what it looks like cos i am concerned that it may only be my system that makes it sound nice. So I figure if a spec analyser says it has no high end, that may be picked up on other systems.

I think I'm going to work on the same thing in a few different apps and see what i come up with :) It may be that cubase just isnt ideal for what im doing.
 
There was a time, not too long ago when nobody knew what their music looked like. We managed to get by. That is also the same time that people look back on as when we were producing 'warm' sounding recordings that were not compressed to death. Trying to shape the sound of a song into something that looks right on your analyser is just a silly idea. If you don't understand the science behind what the analyser is telling you (and why) you have no logical basis with which to decide what it should look like in the first place.
 
legionserial said:
I only worry about what it looks like cos i am concerned that it may only be my system that makes it sound nice. So I figure if a spec analyser says it has no high end, that may be picked up on other systems.
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If your files are not terribly loud or compressed, the high end won't register on the analyzer. If you don't have any bright instruments, there shouldn't be much up there anyway.
 
I guess your right. I'm getting too bogged down in the science of things rather than just concentrating on the sound.

I lost track of why i was doing what i was doing somewhere. I only really started recording so i could kind of document what i was creating, cos my memory for complex arrangements is so crap. Suddenly its got warped into creating something commercial, which isnt really my plan...


Well, lesson learned i guess.... :D
 
legionserial said:
I only worry about what it looks like cos i am concerned that it may only be my system that makes it sound nice. So I figure if a spec analyser says it has no high end, that may be picked up on other systems.
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Burn a copy of your mix and listen to it on as many different home stereos, car stereos, boomboxs, headphones, speakers, etc. as you can. Seriously, I know it sounds so cliche, but it is the best policy. You will then know wheter or not your system is decieving you, and give you an indication of what needs to be fixed.
 
Analyzers can be extremely handy tools, but you really do need to learn how to use them. There are many factors that can make two things that sound pretty similar look pretty different. I wish I could explain more, but that would take days and pages to accurately describe. My best advice is to continue using your ears to make adjustments, and then see how those adjustments reflect in the analyzer. This will help you to learn how you can better use the analyzer in your environment with your abilities and workflow. Also, continue to check other commercial releases in the analyzer and mess with them a little to help you learn what to and what not to do.
 
Did you address Farview's question - How is the overall level of your mix?

If it is too low in volume you may see very little highs since there is typically more energy in the low end.
 
Basically I've switched the analyzer off. I'm just going by ear, as far as i'm concerned its finished now and it sounds awesome. The levels sound good, there is enough high and low, very little muddiness and the volume is reasonably good. So screw what the anal-yzer says :D
 
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