final Audio sucks on the cd

  • Thread starter Thread starter spooky008in
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spooky008in

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HI guys

Gear what i have

Audio interface: Motu 828 mkll
Pc Amd Asus .
Cubase SX and Nuendo
couple of plugins and vst
Monitors Yamaha Msp 5


I recorded and programed one theme instrumental on cubase sx .Than
took all the wave files to nuendo for mixing and started mixing sounds really
hot mix but the real problem is the meter on nuendo show peaks
and 828 mains dont show peaks. than i go by the ears till its not distorting.

But when the mix is exported at 16 bit 44000 it sounds great on pc monitors but when burnt on the cd as audio it sounds crap and muffuled.

even i opened the file in sound forge there also the meters are clipping.

is there any way i could caliberate my whole setup to give me exact judgement for balancing coz diffrent meters show diffrent levels

the levels of nuendo and 828 has to be same right.
i treid diffrent ways but was not able to judge which way to mix.
what will b my final output coz as earlier i said sounds great till its there on the nuendo.but once burned on the cd it sucks.

which levels /meters should i follow for judgement.

i mean digital sound should sound good as every thing i have is digital.
good audio card all internal vst and plugins.

becoz of this my broadcast work or album work suffers.

Guys help me out Hope there is a solution to this.

thanks in advance

Spooky :(
 
Just a couple of thoughts that may or may not be of any use:

You say it sounds good on the PC monitors, but not once burned to CD. Are you playing that CD back through the same monitors? If not, you're listening station could be misleading you.

Are you looking at the individual track meters, and assuming that because they're not clipping, you're mix as a whole is not? If that's what you're doing, seek out the main bus, or main mix meter in your software, and make sure it's not clipping. Its also possible that you're looking at a pre-fx bus which is not clipping, while the mix as a whole is.

If I were you, I wouldn't be going for a balance between the clipping point on your interface and your software (not sure from you description if that's what you're doing or not...) - I would make sure it isn't clipping in either one. You don't need to record at the clipping edge to get good resolution.

Finally, I don't think its safe to assume that the clipping indicators will be the same on your hardware and software. I fairly certain there's deviation in the engineering of clipping LEDs - for example, one might come on only when you're 3dB from clipping for at least 2ms, another might come on only when you're at least 1.5dB from clipping for at least 5ms. I don't know if those numbers are realistic, but I'm quite certain there's variation between meters.
 
Where did you premaster your mixdown? You should have seen the clipping at that stage. If it was clipping before you premastered, that means your mix levels were too high. If it was clipping only after you premastered, that means your mastering pushed it too hot.

Or did you skip that stage altogther? Did you just make a rough mix that sounded good while in the mixing software and directly burn the mixdown? If so, there's your problem.

The metering on the 828 is irrelevant once you're mixing inside the PC. If mixing in Nuendo, use Nuendo's metering. If premastering in Nuendo, use Nuendo's metering. If premastering in Sound Forge, use Sound Forge's metering.

But most of all, you'll never get a satisfactory sounding CD if you don't at least put your mixdown thourgh (pre)mastering first.

G.
 
Cubase SX - AND - Nuendo?!?

They're the same program as far as audio is concerned... Why would you do this?
 
Burning on the fly is a good way to make coasters, so I always write to a stereo file first. I generally don't put anything on the stereo buss during mixdown, and print a stereo mix file that has no stereo buss eq, dynamics, etc., and no attempt to make it loud or to do any fades. I analyze that file to check for clipping or dropouts, making sure that it represents the best, cleanest, fully dynamic mix file I'm gonna get. Then I create various pre-masters of that stereo mix file (never overwriting the original mix file), doing any EQ, Dynamics, loudness maximizing, Fades, etc.....refining the process till I have the gold pre-master for that song. When that's done for every song in the project, I assemble the songs in final sequence, checking and adjusting the transitions and the balance and continuity of the project, going back a stage when necessary, occassionally going all the way back to the mix and working downstream again, and when all is well I write the final burn file, again analyzing the file afterward for level, and any clips or dropouts. Now I'm ready to burn, and any problems in that process are isolated to that process alone, as was the case with the preceeding processes.
-RD
 
Massive Master said:
They're the same program as far as audio is concerned... Why would you do this?
Click to expand...
I wan't going to go down that road, but since you already opened the toll gate :) ... because they were both on the same crack disc.

G.
 
I was thinking the exact same thing glen was, kids and their pc's.
 
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