recorded at 16bit - mix/master at 24bit or is that worthless?

R

Russtopher

New member
(if this belongs in the noob forum just let me know :-))

All of my audio was recorded at 16 bit. This is my first experience at "mastering" something, and I know that it's recommended to master at 24bit and then dither once all processing is complete. Given that I've recorded everything at 16 bit, is it worth exporting the 2 track mix at 24 bit, "mastering" by giving a final eq, light compression, light reverb, limiting, and then dithering back to 16 bit?

I bring this up because when listening to my mixes at the DAW, they sound great at all volumes. Then when I mix down to a 16 bit .wav in Cubase LE and burn the songs to disc to listen to in the car to check levels and whatnot, I notice what sounds almost like a "flabby distortion" when I turn the volume up. Not to blasting levels, just a slight increase in volume results in what almost sounds like distortion. I don't *think* it's an EQ level, nothing sounds muddy or out of whack, and on my M-Audio DX4 monitors it sounds great. The mixed down .wav comes nowhere near 0dbs, it's usually -6 to -3 at peak.

TIA all!
 
Sounds like either your monitors or your room (acoustics) is off to me. Mastering a 16bit mix at 24 isn't gonna solve any problems because it's not the cause of it.

I think this has everything to do with your monitoring environment...
 
It would be slightly better to mix/master at 24 bit. Even with 16 bit files.

You have a translation problem. Do a search. Read. Then read some more.....
 
To be clearer, I think the distortion is something in the mix that you're not hearing in your room.

Perhaps someone else has a better suggestion but this is what it looks like to me.
 
Trell Blaze said:
To be clearer, I think the distortion is something in the mix that you're not hearing in your room.

Perhaps someone else has a better suggestion but this is what it looks like to me.
Click to expand...

That was my original thought too... I went back, EQ'd out all the low end and mud from the guitars, made sure nothing sounded harsh (especially cymbals), and I'm still hearing the flabby tones. I'll keep at the mix though and see if I can make it work.
 
Is the flab in the kick? Bass? Try soloing each track to identify the source. If your monitors can't be trusted, find your best set of headphones and give it a check.

It could be something that was recorded. If there was distortion in a recorded track then obviously your only solution is to re-record it.
 
Russtopher said:
That was my original thought too... I went back, EQ'd out all the low end and mud from the guitars, made sure nothing sounded harsh (especially cymbals), and I'm still hearing the flabby tones. I'll keep at the mix though and see if I can make it work.
Click to expand...

You have some severe room nodes going on.

I listened to "Tonight" - it's all over the map. There is a complete absence of low mids, and the bass is totally boomy. You need to work on your mixing environment.
 
NL5 said:
You have some severe room nodes going on.

I listened to "Tonight" - it's all over the map. There is a complete absence of low mids, and the bass is totally boomy. You need to work on your mixing environment.
Click to expand...

Oh geez, if you're listening to the MySpace song, that mix is horrible :-) That was a quick demo mix from a month ago, sounds nothing like it does now. That mix was done with cans. I didn't even think to put in a disclaimer :-)

The last round of mixes from 2 nights ago can be found at http://www.creeveycrisis.com/mixes
 
Russtopher said:
Oh geez, if you're listening to the MySpace song, that mix is horrible :-) That was a quick demo mix from a month ago, sounds nothing like it does now. That mix was done with cans. I didn't even think to put in a disclaimer :-)

The last round of mixes from 2 nights ago can be found at http://www.creeveycrisis.com/mixes
Click to expand...

Different nodes, but same problems.

Going by what you describe, you have a translation problem. Going by what I hear, you have a translation problem. Going by what the other respondent told you, you have a translation problem. Seeing a trend here? :D
 
NL5 said:
Different nodes, but same problems.

Going by what you describe, you have a translation problem. Going by what I hear, you have a translation problem. Going by what the other respondent told you, you have a translation problem. Seeing a trend here? :D
Click to expand...

Yup :-) Time for me to do some more research and more tweaking.

Much thanks for the time and advice, it's appreciated!
 
Put some 4" thick OC 703 bass traps in each corner, a couple diffusers on the rear wall, move the monitors from the corners if they are close, and have them pointing towards the longest part of the room.

Just the bass traps alone would make a great deal of difference. The diffusers or other absorbers can be moved around however they need to for your room.

The Studio Building & Display forum on this site is probably where you'll want to look through and ask questions.

And this is probably the first thing they'll tell you to read :rolleyes::
http://www.ethanwiner.com/acoustics.html
 
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