Bounces are epicly distorted

[Julianbassk]

So my bounces from logic (logic pro 8.0.2) always end up distorted. The songs sound good in logic but horrid on itunes--overblown, clipped. If you want an example of what one sounds like here's a link: http://gundrop.bandcamp.com/track/hot-wine-disgusting-version . What I have to do to correct this is audio normalize tracks when I bounce them. Here's the same track as before audionormalized:

. The sound quality is about what it is in logic although the song isn't loud enough unless played at full volume which I never see in professional songs. It might be psychological but the song also doesn't seem as full bodied and well mixed as it sounds in logic.

 

The bounce settings can't be the problem. I've tried realtime, offline, PCM, MP3, best encoding, highest quality and VBR- basically all the settings.

 

As far as the song levels in the actual song, they are a bit extreme. The notes that are getting the most overblown in this particular song are sine waves from a Roland Electric Piano that are made to sound like bass hits. I exported them as audio files and programmed them into the "drag and drop samples" setting of ultrabeat. I then made a beat out of that. I think the sound quality is a little bit compromised when sounds are passed through ultrabeat but it shouldn't be enough to account for the problem. The sounds show in the red in the volume meter (sorry for my unspecific terminology. I'm new to logic) but don't sound clipped. I tried compressing the tracks to make them louder and then turning down the overall volume although that didn't work either.

 

It seems to me counterintuitive that a song would sound different on itunes than it does in logic. Isn't the whole point of mixing that the song will sound like however you're mixing it? Should I just get used to factoring in post-bounce sound distortion while I'm mixing my songs?

 

I apologize if I didn't give enough relevant information or if I gave too much irrelevant information. If you want computer stats and chip type or whatever tell me. If you need the original file I'll supply that too. Thanks in advance!

-Julian

[David Nahmani]

The bounce settings can't be the problem. I've tried realtime, offline, PCM, MP3, best encoding, highest quality and VBR- basically all the settings.

 

What about your "Normalize" setting? It should be set to "Off" so what you hear when you press play is what you get in your bounced file.

 

PS: I actually dig your "disgusting" version.

[Jordi Torres]

iTunes is not the ultimate place to listen to your bounces, especially if you're not aware of its "sound-enhancing" features. How does it sound if you preview your un-normalized version in Quicktime or Quicklook?

 

J.

[Julianbassk]

David: Yeah, when I turn it off that's when I get the ear crunching distortion like what you heard. I basically use it as a last resort once I've exhausted other options. Glad you liked it though!

 

And to Jordito: The thing is I don't really care how it sounds in itunes. I just want to get the files up to soundcloud or bandcamp sounding decent. I have turned of the "audio enhance" feature in itunes though. Opening the audio file in quicktime doesn't change how it will sound online does it?

[camillo jr]

That's a strange one. When you're playing the song, does Stereo Out 1-2 show any overs? Do you have any plugs on the output? I'm also wondering if you've accidentally moved the Master fader up. If that were the case, even if you had a limiter on Out 1-2, you could still be getting distortion at the Master channel strip.

[Matt Mayfield]

Your best bet to have the audio file sound like you hear the mix in Logic:

 

1. Set the Master and Output faders to 0.0 dB.

2. Make sure the Output fader's meter never goes over 0 into the red.

 

If you are not using any plugins on the Output channel, it's OK to turn down the Output to get the result under 0. I suggest leaving the Master at 0, always.

[lookatthisguy]

And to Jordito: The thing is I don't really care how it sounds in itunes. I just want to get the files up to soundcloud or bandcamp sounding decent. I have turned of the "audio enhance" feature in itunes though. Opening the audio file in quicktime doesn't change how it will sound online does it?

 

What Jordito is saying is iTunes has those features, many times people preview their music in iTunes not knowing those features are enabled, so when it does affect their bounce they come over here and ask why Logic isn't working. But if you preview your bounce in QuickTime or QuickLook, those features are guaranteed to not be present.

[Eriksimon]

Hi Julian,

 

You Normalize to get the level down, so you are clipping the main outputs. You should lower the main output fader until it no longer shows any value over -0 dB.

The main output should never clip.

 

Logics mixer is able to handle up to + 1500 dB of headroom because it operates in 32 bit floating point, so whatever amount you have In the red in your output channel strip is fatal for a bounce, since that is a socalled fixed point file, where anything over 0 dB is going to be clipped.

Don't clip the main output.

That is why you should never clip your main output(s) channel strip.

Just don't clip your main output. Don't.

http://documentation.apple.com/en/logicpro/usermanual/index.html#chapter=27%26section=9%26tasks=true

 

Note: It is not a problem if individual channel strips show evidence of clipping, as long as the output channel strip (which is the summed level of all channel strips in the signal flow) does not indicate clipping.

[Julianbassk]

ok thanks everybody!

So to make sure the output never goes into the red and clips, I pretty much have to lower it to -20db which seems somewhat extreme. I guess this is what audionormalize does automatically anyways.

But you know, there's nothing essentially wrong with quiet songs. That's what the volume knob is for.

[Jordi Torres]

So to make sure the output never goes into the red and clips, I pretty much have to lower it to -20db.

 

You should definitely check out Lagerfeldt's:

 

Guide to Levels in Digital Audio

 

J.