Distortion on playback of iTunes music

pianoman1976

pianoman1976

New member
Hi,

I've got a brand new pair of KRK Rokit 6 monitors connected to an recent model iMac via a Apogee One interface and a Mackie 1402-VLZ3 mixer.

I'm not a sound guy, but I find it strange and very un-cool to be getting some mild, crackly, static-like faint distortion when I play back certain tracks on iTunes at a reasonable volume. It seems to be in the mid range frequencies when it happens - but I'm not certain.

So I'm assuming I've either got faulty speakers or some other sort of hardware problem, until I discover that certain tracks just don't distort. An AAC audio file of Dave Grusin at 256 kbps, 44.100 kHz distorts, but a AAC audio file of another artist at only 192 kbps 44.100 kHz doesn't distort. The latter artist's recording was made at Sheffield Lab. Nothing from Sheffield Lab distorts, yet I have tracks from huge artists that do.

I'm confused.
 
Is the monitor output of your Apogee louder than 0.0 dB in the settings on your computer? If so, that would mean that Sheffield Lab masters their songs at a lower volume which wouldn't cause digital clipping when played back at a higher gain output (more than 0.0 dB). On the other hand, "huge artists" probably master their songs louder.
 
guitarplayr82 said:
Is the monitor output of your Apogee louder than 0.0 dB in the settings on your computer? If so, that would mean that Sheffield Lab masters their songs at a lower volume which wouldn't cause digital clipping when played back at a higher gain output (more than 0.0 dB). On the other hand, "huge artists" probably master their songs louder.
Click to expand...

The output of the ONE seems to be the same as the computers main volume output - unless I'm missing something. If I decrease this output level either from the ONE itself, or by hitting the "volume down" key on my computer - down to -5 dB, all the distortion goes away. I just need to increase the levels a bit on the mixer or on the monitors to make up for the loss of volume.

Thank you!
 
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