WTF!! Mix sounds fine in Sonar, but like shit when I mixdown.

  • Thread starter Thread starter Swede
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Swede

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Aargh!

All of you who uses Sonar 2, how do you do when you export your songs to a stereo track?

When I listen to my project in sonar it sounds fine (to my very amateurish ears that is). There is space definition and clarity etc, but when I export to wave and open the project in mediaplayer it seems like all of that is gone. The mix now sounds muddy, narrow and bass heavy. WTF!! I've done a/b comparisons listening to sonar and then to the wavefile and the difference is quite apparent.

Are any of you having the same problems? If so, how do you work around it?

If you want you can listen to the wavefile of the song i'm talking about here:


It sounds like shit, but I didn't think it did in Sonar. I'm getting really mad at this.
 
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I am assuming that you meant Windows Media Player. Did you try playing the file in another media player (Real, Winamp, etc) if that is the case?

Also, the link provided is invalid.

-SR
 
What file type and bit depth are U using when exporting???
 
I'm exporting to RIFF wave and I've tried both 16 and 24 bit. While it does sound a bit better with 24 bit it still doesn't sound nearly as good as it did in sonar. And I tried the song in winamp and it's still the same.
 
Now I've edited the link.

It's a rough mix and there shure are some problems with it. For example that background guitar sounds like shit and is to loud. I have alot of work to do on it.
It's just that i find it so annoying that the recording sounds so much worse when I've exported it to stereo tracks.
 
The mp3 sounds good to me - did you listen to the MP3 on another computer to verify that it was the MP3 that is the issue??

A similiar event happened to me before: a project I have created sounded ok in HS2002 but didn't sound good in Windows Media Player (OS was WinME at the time). I heard the same MP3 I have made from the project with Windows Media Player on another computer and it sounded ok. Long story short, I now have WinXP OS with WMP ver.9 that came with it and no sound issues.

You might also want to try defragment of your system; this may not be the problem, but it wouldn't hurt.

-SR
 
just curious, since I`m a rookie too. Are you bouncing your tracks to a stereo track in, and then exporting that stereo track to Riff wav?
That is the point where I find most my issues. I usually have to make slight some eq adjustments at that point, right before the export to wav. Or, it sometimes takes deleting the stereo track and going back to the track mix for adjustment and tweaking , then bounce again.
 
Toki987 said:
Are you bouncing your tracks to a stereo track in, and then exporting that stereo track to Riff wav?
That is the point where I find most my issues. I usually have to make slight some eq adjustments at that point, right before the export to wav. Or, it sometimes takes deleting the stereo track and going back to the track mix for adjustment and tweaking , then bounce again.
Click to expand...

No, I've been exporing the files directly to a RIFF wave without bouncing it first, maybe I could try that
 
Toki987 said:
Are you bouncing your tracks to a stereo track in, and then exporting that stereo track to Riff wav?
Click to expand...
Forgive me but I have to ask: Why the hell do this? It's basically the same operation performed twice! :confused:
 
what do you use to monitor with?

I don't use Sonar but this kind of problem happens with many different types of system. It sounds great until it's mixed down.

I think a lot of the problem could be that your mix isn't as optimal as you may have thought it was. Thats why I asked what you're monitoring with.

I could be wrong...I am also a rookie
 
The stereo track is still in the box at that point and as a track it is still readily availible for such as automation, additional bounce, and subject to any routing of effects on the busses. Does that make sense?
I quit using any external wav editors. I just do it all in Sonar before it leaves and seems to work better for me.
 
I use Tannoy Reveals to monitor with.

Yeah of course the mix isn't optimal. I don't have the ears or the gear to do that;) The point is that it sounds much better when it's still in sonar than it does when I've exported it. When I listen to the wavefile side to side with the project in sonar. The sonar version is much clearer, deeper and just sounds better. I guess I just have to work around it by tweaking it with an editor after I've exported it.
 
If you're using Sonar 2 most likely you're mix is clipping before the output fader, one way to fix it is to start again with your mix keeping the track volumes down, the pther and easier way is to upgrade to Sonar 3.
 
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