Hiss after consolidating tracks (merging)

[Jcalla]

Ever since I've used the merge option on Logic Pro and now Consolidate on Pro Tools, I get a hiss. A very small but noticeable hiss after having cut an unwanted part from one track and merging the resulting two. Can anyone tell me how to fix this?

Thank you

James

[JFreak]

I have never heard of this issue.

Can you verify that the waveform is a straight line where you cut it? Because if it's digital silence, there is no hiss in the waveform and if you hear hiss it must come from somewhere else. If you cut the silence, does the hiss go away? If you consolidate again, does it come back?

Are you also hearing the same hiss if you record silence (using an input that doesn't have a preamp) perhaps, or playback an empty session? If so, there might be some hiss on your cabling and you hear the same hiss whenever there is silence.

Do you hear the hiss if you bounce that consolidated track and listen to it somewhere outside Pro Tools? Or is it within Pro Tools only?

[Drew Mazurek]

Sounds like Dither.

[JFreak]

Originally Posted by Drew Mazurek

Sounds like Dither.

Audible, really? From consolidate-created digital silence?

[Jcalla]

The waveform was not straight where I cut it, I needed to shorten the clip in order to fix a timing error I did while recoding without having to play the whole thing again after several takes. I checked it again today and it wasn't exactly a hiss, but more of a noise, close to the one that happens when you plug in earphones or speakers and get that quick distorted sound (without the popping noise). The noise in the track is very brief, but it's there.

Once the noises are there, they don't go away, they stay no matter how many exports I make (as I mentioned I have been facing this issue before I even started using Pro Tools, I was using Logic Pro back then and I've encountered the same problem several times). I've used different cables over the years, even changed apartments but the phenomenon still happens as if it's a normal thing in editing. The weird thing is sometimes it's that distorted noise, other times it's a small pop even if there aren't any plugins on the track yet.

If by digital silence you mean a part of a track with no playing (what you meant by straight line) I tried cutting and consolidating a digitally silenced track, nothing happened, clear as it was before.

One thing I should mention is yesterday, I undid the shortening of the clip, returning it to its original state and the noise disappeared, redid it (Redo from Edit) again and the same noise appeared at the same time, unfortunately I saved the modified one by mistake and can't recover the original anymore. I'd really like a way to fix this annoying issue for the future though.

[MMcCraryNJ]

Are you trying to consolidate clips with any form of real-time Elastic Audio enabled? I've been finding that when I do that, noise artifacts get introduced into the waveform that weren't there before the consolidation. If so, try rendering out the Elastic Audio changes and disable Elastic Audio on the track before consolidating.

[Jcalla]

Not at all, it's just a regular track, but what did you mean try rendering out...? How do you render an audio clip in Pro Tools?

[JFreak]

Originally Posted by Jcalla

The waveform was not straight where I cut it, I needed to shorten the clip in order to fix a timing error I did while recoding without having to play the whole thing again after several takes. I checked it again today and it wasn't exactly a hiss, but more of a noise, close to the one that happens when you plug in earphones or speakers and get that quick distorted sound (without the popping noise). The noise in the track is very brief, but it's there.

It is probably because you cut it wrong. Zoom in very deep where you cut it and take a look if the waveform is zeroing or not. If it isn't zeroing (and has a hard edge), it will make a popping noise. You can fix it by making a fast fadeout (which will eventually zero the waveform) and consolidate again.

[Jcalla]

After I zoomed in quite a bit it turns out there was in fact a very small zeroing before the second note kicked in. The noise/pop is happening after the second note plays. I tried automating out the noise but it just wouldn't happen no matter how far (in time) I made it. When the note starts playing, a noise will appear... Honestly I'm just thinking of keeping it as it was. This is the kind of crap that I only see happening with me but no one else seems to be complaining about. Thanks for your help anyway.