Song goes really quite after export

  • Thread starter Thread starter Lakiscy
  • Start date Start date
L

Lakiscy

New member
Hello,
I have this problem that bothers me for days. When i export a song in Reason it gets really low quiet, at least 3 dbs. I cant level up my song using cubase or other software cause it gets clips.

I first thought that this was a problem of the compressors i used but then i export with out any use of them and still got the same results. I even recorded a single piano and then after export it was still lower level.

Now a friend of mine point me that it was a matter of normalisation. So i open the song in wave lab and noticed that i have some points that are touching the 0 dbs so it drops the rest of the song to lower dbs (see screen shot)

wave.jpg


Im not sure if thats the problem.
I know that this might need high mastering techniques to get solved, i dont want a solution but I really need to find out what the problem is. I dont know if its Reason it self or my mastering techniques or my sound card or whatever.

Thanks in advance.
 
Lakiscy said:
Now a friend of mine point me that it was a matter of normalization. So i open the song in wave lab and noticed that i have some points that are touching the 0 dbs so it drops the rest of the song to lower dbs (see screen shot)
Click to expand...
Normalizing a song will not get it to the levels that you are probably expecting.

If you use a brick wall limiter, you will increase your average level a bit more dramatically. Listen for any artifacts, distortion, loss of punch and smearing of transients when using a limiter as these are the usual side effects.
 
Lakiscy said:
Now a friend of mine point me that it was a matter of normalization. So i open the song in wave lab and noticed that i have some points that are touching the 0 dbs so it drops the rest of the song to lower dbs (see screen shot)
Click to expand...
Normalizing a song will not get it to the levels that you are probably expecting.

If you use a brick wall limiter, you will increase your average level a bit more dramatically. Listen for any added artifacts, distortion, loss of definition, punch and smearing of transients when using a limiter as these are the usual side effects.
 
This is probably the third most-asked question on these forums after "What should I buy?" and "How do I use all this stuff I just bought?" A search would have turned up dozens of answers to your question.

Anyway, first I'll ask the mostly rhetorical question, how do you know it's quieter? How are you listening to the finished mix?

Most likely you will still end up wanting more volume, so apply a limiter as Waltz suggests, but be aware that you trade away some dynamics for the increased level. Any fast enough limiter will get it done in some fashion, but a dedicated mastering limiter may be more appropriate. And now that you're doing this you need to go study up on digital ballistics. It's entirely possible to make some DACs clip with a signal processed with a limiter.
 
Dude i know, i study too much and i read many topics about this.
What i cannot understand is why this happen after the export? I mean why cant i just "get what i hear"?

I know its quiet cause i play it in media player or cubase simulatly with reason. The difference is so high that i can understand it with the ear. If i try raise the volume using cubase i get clips, so thats not a solution.

There is no distortion, no clips(even before mastering), i have nothing enqued above +-3dbs. I did not over use compressors or limiters or any advance dynamics techniques. Everything sound very smooth and loud before and after mastering inside reason. Everything sound nice also after export instead of the volume

Also, as i wrote before i used a single "subtractor" inside reason to record a couple of piano notes and then after export ...dang the result is 3dbs lower than i hear it in reason. THats why i suspect that this might be a reason or my sound cart problem.
 
All I know is Cubase and on that if I had some automation going on it could result in that.

On Cubase you could be unaware that you were recording some fader movements, but you were, and when you export it those fader movements would be included in the export.

Also, in Cubase if I ran the whole song and looked the mixers the faders would move at those points.

It could also be some other process like compressing or eq that had got automated by mistake. Either way, if that eq or compressor was open when the mistake was happening you could see it.

If you can't figure it out, you might be able to take the recording, chop out the low parts and boost them up and then save the recording that way.
 
I was intreagued by this as I have had problems like it. are you talking about the export volume, as in you listen to it as a project and it is as you want it, and after doing nothing more then clicking "export" when you listen to theixed down track in a player withot changing the volume on your speakers, the volume appears to be significantly lower as a whole? or just in parts? if the former I would enjoy to know how exporting the mixdown naturaly lowers the over all volume from a former satisfactory level. If it is in select places only I would agree with dinty saying it is likly to be automation based.
 
Lakiscy said:
I know its quiet cause i play it in media player or cubase simulatly with reason. The difference is so high that i can understand it with the ear. If i try raise the volume using cubase i get clips, so thats not a solution.
Click to expand...

Those are two different signal paths. Who knows what the media player is doing to the signal. There's no good basis for comparison between the DAW's output and the player's output.

Instead, try comparing your mix to other music you like, using the player. If your mix is quieter than that other music go back to the DAW and apply a mastering limiter to bring the average level up at the expense of the dynamics. Repeat, adjusting the limiter until it's as loud in the player as the stuff you want to sound like.
 
guys im sorry im not a mastering noob after all but im a total noob in general lol.
I dont believe it i spent so many hours trying to figure out what im doing wrong and finaly i realized that the problem was my settings in windows sound.

For some reason the soundcard sound it was set up at 42% instead of 100. Its unbelievable i raise it to 100 and now everything is ok.

Thank you so much
 
Lakiscy said:
guys im sorry im not a mastering noob after all but im a total noob in general lol.
I dont believe it i spent so many hours trying to figure out what im doing wrong and finaly i realized that the problem was my settings in windows sound.

For some reason the soundcard sound it was set up at 42% instead of 100. Its unbelievable i raise it to 100 and now everything is ok.

Thank you so much
Click to expand...

That's okay. I had a feeling it might be something like that.

Thanks for posting the solution so others might learn from this.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top