Mixdown questions

B

BriGreentea

New member
Hello, I'm using Adobe Audition Cs6 and doing test runs onto cd. First thing I found out is my recording is in 32 bit and was not able to burn it onto a cd unless it was 24. Maybe someone can explain to me why that is.
Second thing I noticed in the saved settings something called "dithering" which I guess in lam en's terms adds a low level hiss but helps clear some distortion. I saw a page from Adobe showing the differences of Triangular and Gaussian and learned a little about that and tried tests on both of these and each of those have a 'shaped' function which. Then after that I'm lost with the "Noise Shaping" if that should even be selected and the Adaptive mode setting.

Last, I am trying to somewhat master each track this time around on my 2013 demo vs my 2012 demo that pretty much on did everything on the mixdown (Cool Edit Pro at the time) such as a fft filter, compression, eq, hiss reduction then the limter.
I've noticed a huge difference on doing each track with these and when I'm done so I know I did it will color code each track. One other thing I didn't really realize I read about was having the db level not to ever reach past -3. Before it was like...if it isn't in the red then should be fine.

As for the final mixdown I'd like to know what other steps I can do to have the best quality audio. I know about the Mastering function that has a exciter/widener and got a good feel on that. I'm wondering is adding a light amount of even more compression on the mixdown a good idea or not? I know after too much compression then it just sounds squirrly but just wondering. The other things to on the mixdown to use? Hiss reduction and or noise reduction? Fft filter? Lastly, if I have my levels correct from the start and go to the near last step of the hard limiter and I want my cd to sound loud as possible, is limiting to -0.1 preferable with any tweeks to the preset such as boost which is preset to 6 db?

Thanks.
 
It looks to me like you're laboring under several misapprehensions.

Audio CDs are 16 bit, 44.1kHz sampling frequency. You can't burn 32 bit or 24 bit files to an audio CD, but perhaps some burning software is automatically converting the 24 bit files you mentioned and it can't handle 32 bit (probably because it's overkill to export to 32 bit and few people bother).

You will be better off separating the mixing and mastering stages. While recording and mixing leave lots of headroom and don't try to get it loud. Avoid putting any processing on the main mix bus unless you have a really good reason to do it during mixdown rather than in mastering.

Then export your mix using the same bit and sample rate settings as the project (for example if the tracks were recorded at 24/44.1, export at 24/44.1). Master those files, first by adding any necessary processing like eq and dynamics and then using a mastering limiter (Hard Limit probably) to get the final volume however loud you think is necessary. Then resample to 44.1kHz if necessary. Then dither and truncate to 16 bit. Save with a new name or in a new folder so you can go back to the original mix files.
 
Interesting. I've been using Nero to burn cd's so perhaps it is converting it from 24 to 16? Perhaps I should just be saving as 16 in the first place.

My sample rate is at 96000. I wasn't messing around with that and never occurred to me about the sampling frequency. Makes me now wonder what is the file doing without changing the sampling rate like you said...I'm assuming nothing good. Also starting to make sense when I tested the cd on my computer, home stereo and car and keep telling myself how much better it sounded before I burned it to the cd what I was doing. Thanks.
 
If I were you I'd start the next project in 24 bit at 48kHz or 44.1kHz. But with the one at 96kHz you should export the mixes at that setting, and also match the bit depth at which you recorded. Note that many/most DAWs process audio in 32 bit floating point, but you don't need to export mixes in 32 bit.

Assuming there's still a Waveform view or something in Audition like in Cool Edit Pro this would be my sequence:

1. Import the raw mix file to a new project

2. Do all the processing to make it sound how you want it, eq, limiting etc.*

3. Resample

4. Dither for 16 bit

5. Truncate to 16 bit

6. Save the file in a different folder or with a new name.

*I would also have some reference tracks open, commercially recorded music of a similar style to compare with what I was working on. Then I could attempt to match the tone and volume of my track to theirs. I would start by lowering the level of the reference tracks to match mine, match my tone to theirs, raise their levels back to where they started and match my level to theirs.

I assume you have the option to go back to the mix. Sometimes that's the only way to fix things.
 
bouldersoundguy said:
It looks to me like you're laboring under several misapprehensions
Click to expand...

I'm so glad you took the time to address some of them. I read the OP yesterday and saw so much wron/mis-information, I was just too overwhelmed to even think of replying.

I'm not blaming or mocking the OP, we all start and learn somewhere. But posts like this remind how much pure bullshit and false information disguised as useful information is out there on the interwebs.
 
Tips have been helpful and my cd sample I made is far from perfect but is wayyy better now!:thumbs up:

I do have to ask the guy above though this:

3. Resample

- Did that to 44000

4. Dither for 16 bit

- Did both of these and resampled at the same time. I guess I have to ask why should I do it separately by resampling first, save it, then do this if that is what you are referring to?
 
BriGreentea said:
Tips have been helpful and my cd sample I made is far from perfect but is wayyy better now!:thumbs up:

I do have to ask the guy above though this:

3. Resample

- Did that to 44000

4. Dither for 16 bit

- Did both of these and resampled at the same time. I guess I have to ask why should I do it separately by resampling first, save it, then do this if that is what you are referring to?
Click to expand...

Again, I'm not familiar with Audition so my advice may not apply exactly, but it's important to do things in order. If your software operates like an audio editor (I use Sony Sound Forge) then do each step in order and save the file at the end. The old Cool Edit Pro that Audition is based on is an audio editor when in Waveform view.

If you're using a DAW (I use Sony Vegas and Pro Tools) you may need to do steps 1-3 in one project (at 24 bit and the same sample rate as the mix), export the file, open in a new project (at 24/44.1) to apply the dither and then export that at 16 bit. The reason is to be sure that the dither is applied after the resampling and before the truncation.
 
Easier still, Audition CS6 has a CD Edit view which allows you to drag all your mixes in in order, set gaps between tracks, enter meta data like CD title, track title, etc. and automatically do a lot of the formatting.

I'd give that a try. I' m on my phone 120km from my DAW but I'll try to post more detailed instructions when I get home.
 
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