Mix dropping out

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4tracker

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During a guitar solo where I automated two guitars, there seems to be a "dropping out" of the signal at times. Not completely, but it gets noticeably lower. I did automate the fader during this section because some notes are shrill. Would this cause dropping out?

Another weird thing: I can't hear it in headphones when mixing, but I hear it on playback on the laptop speakers.
 
It sounds like your automation is the cause for reduced signal . . . it's kind of what you might expect.

Are you using an interface?

Are your headphones plugged into the interface?
 
Do you have one guitar panned left and one right? Put the master output on mono (while using headphones) and see if the problem happens. If so its a phase issue.
 
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gecko zzed said:
It sounds like your automation is the cause for reduced signal . . . it's kind of what you might expect.

Are you using an interface?

Are your headphones plugged into the interface?
Click to expand...

Yes they're plugged into the Scarlett interface while mixing. Then I used the laptop speakers to a/b and hear it on those, since that's how many people listen. I automation is slight, like +/- 1db, but the drop sounds enormous. What a bummer because there are two guitars and I wanted to ride the fader up and down during each guitar's best parts.

mjb, they are panned right and left but not hard. i'll have to check the setting, but i think l25 and r25. they were recorded as overdubs, so i don't think it can be phase, but i'll see.
 
So if your DAW is sending the audio to lap top speakers, it means it is not sending the audio to the interface. And if you have headphones in the interface, they won't be getting anything for you to listen to.
 
gecko zzed said:
So if your DAW is sending the audio to lap top speakers, it means it is not sending the audio to the interface. And if you have headphones in the interface, they won't be getting anything for you to listen to.
Click to expand...

I mixed in headphones because I have neighbors and a small apartment, and frankly I just don't want to invest in speakers since I do this as a hobby. So I use headphones. Those are plugged into the Scarlett when mixing.

The dropout occurs when I mix down a 44/24 and export it for playback on the laptop speakers. This doesn't go through the audio interface, just the laptop speakers. It's just a wav file. When I playback this wav (which has all the automation, etc written to it), two or three spots drop out. I can't figure out why, because looking at the automation, it is not extreme db changes.
 
Did you try the mono output mehtod yet to check for phase issues? Maybe its your laptop speakers/internal audiocard with issues?
 
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