Most effective way to mix down?

  • Thread starter Thread starter CanopuS
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CanopuS

Amateur music since 1847
Sorry if this is an over-asked question, but I'm having real problems retaining anything LIKE the original sound quality when I mix down. I've been using the dreaded "Export Audio" (to .wav) in Cakewalk, but it makes my music sound much harsher, scratchy almost. I've been trying to think of a way around this, so I can get it onto a CD pretty much how it was in Cakewalk. I've thought about doing a live stereo mix recording into another program (like Sound Recorder or similar), but that hasn't seemed to have helped. Can anyone help me out here? Thanks :)
 
CanopuS said:
Sorry if this is an over-asked question, but I'm having real problems retaining anything LIKE the original sound quality when I mix down. I've been using the dreaded "Export Audio" (to .wav) in Cakewalk, but it makes my music sound much harsher, scratchy almost. I've been trying to think of a way around this, so I can get it onto a CD pretty much how it was in Cakewalk. I've thought about doing a live stereo mix recording into another program (like Sound Recorder or similar), but that hasn't seemed to have helped. Can anyone help me out here? Thanks :)
Click to expand...

It's been a while since I used Cakewalk, but I'm assuming the original tracks are 24 bit, while the bouncedown is 16 bit?

You are going to hear a slight degradation in quality when doing this no matter what software you use, make certain that you are properly dithering the signal when reducing the wordlength.
 
Thanks. I have come to expect a difference, but not in this league. With dithering, it still produces a horrible sound. Is there any other technique other than Export Audio I can use? Thanks
 
CanopuS said:
Thanks. I have come to expect a difference, but not in this league. With dithering, it still produces a horrible sound. Is there any other technique other than Export Audio I can use? Thanks
Click to expand...

If you're happy with the sound coming directly from the board using Cakewalk, try mixing to a DAT machine or tape deck. You had mentioned that recording to another DAW didn't seem to do the trick, could be because the A/D converters that you are using aren't what you would like them to be? If that's the case, maybe the DAT would be a better avenue. Once recorded to DAT, perform a digital copy using SPDIF or AES back to the DAW and burn CDs from them.

With a tape machine you'll still need to get a good A/D converter to the DAW, but at least you can hold off your decision until you can rent or borrow.
 
Just a curious question here. What's your master fader set at?
(We've been around this block a few times so I'm sort of collecting samples when I get a chance.:D )
Wayne
 
I've noticed some oddities when I render to MP3 in Acid before. I had better luck rendering to wav and using Soundforge to convert it to MP3. Perhaps you could render at the same bit rate you're recording at and use another program like soundforge to change it to 16 bit 44.1k wav files.
 
Master fader is not changed, still at 0db. Anyway, I'm afraid I've just sorted it out, so I'm sorry for this thread now! :)
 
CanopuS said:
Master fader is not changed, still at 0db. Anyway, I'm afraid I've just sorted it out, so I'm sorry for this thread now! :)
Click to expand...

and it was...?:D
 
Do your individual tracks sound good before you export?
 
Damn :( Thought I could get away without making myself look stupid :D

Basically, it was obviously some problem with the bit rate in Cakewalk. I don't think those early versions (Pro Audio 8) can handle exporting 24bit files, so I mixed it down into a stereo track at 16bit, and then exported that. Now it sounds fine :)
 
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