OT: Playback in QT is quieter than in DAW

[dominicperry]

I did a quick n dirty extract from a long stereo audio track with a single Metric Halo Channel Strip on the Master Bus - comp, EQ and limiter all engaged - and checked the resulting file in QuickTime. It was quieter, so I tried again with the same Channel strip on each of the two channels (two tracks - one is left channel, one is right). Again, output in QT was quieter than inside PT.
I assumed I was doing something wrong, so I went to Studio One, and did the same thing - imported the left and right wav files onto two tracks, added a MH Channel Strip on the Master, made the comp, EQ and limiter adjustments, exported the file - and playback was quieter in QT than Studio One. (Master Fader set at zero in all cases).

So I went back and imported the "exported file" as a new stereo track inside PT, muted the original - and the new imported stereo track is as loud as it should be inside PT, and quieter when played back in QT. I tried different bit depths (32/24/16) and none of it made any difference. So what is going on here - can someone please check whether a straight stereo WAV plays louder in PT than in QT please? The difference was slight but easily identifiable, every time.
The only oddity is this half-a-stereo-waveform in each of two tracks, so I wondered if pan-law was part of the problem, but if the SAME file plays louder inside PT (and Studio One) than when playing with QT, then that points to a fault with QT.

Ventura 13.6.4, PT 2023.12.1, QuickTime Player 10.5 (1154.4.2)
I was using the RME Babyface Pro fs as output device in all cases.

Dominic

[JoeTools1963]

That does seem odd.

That having been said, I would try check your level with an LUFS meter in PT and then use an external version of the same LUFS meter to check the file externally.

Perceived loudness is all relative if that makes any sense. Hope that helps.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[take77]

Is the QT volume slider set to 100%?

I sometimes forget that my media player gets set to different levels depending on what I was listening to last.

[dominicperry]

Originally Posted by take77

Is the QT volume slider set to 100%?

I sometimes forget that my media player gets set to different levels depending on what I was listening to last.

Yup, the QT volume slider is pretty big these days, and it's all the way up.

So it's not that!

Dominic

[dominicperry]

Originally Posted by JoeTools1963

That does seem odd.

That having been said, I would try check your level with an LUFS meter in PT and then use an external version of the same LUFS meter to check the file externally.

Perceived loudness is all relative if that makes any sense. Hope that helps.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I don't know how to run a LUFS meter against something being played in QT. It's the same file in the DAW as being played back in QT, so I'm either doing something stupid with Master Fader or post master fader FX, or there's a real difference in the way PT (and S1) plays back compared to QT.

This isn't a "perceived difference" - it's a real difference in audio volume with the SAME file, but I'm perfectly happy to discover that I'm making a mistake somewhere, I just don't know where.

If someone could try a straight test - stereo file in PT and the same stereo file from QT, using Ventura, that would at least eliminate one thing.
Dominic

[its2loud]

I do this every day without any issue.

1. Have you checked the Mac volume level?
2. Have you checked the RME Total Mix level for Mac playback?
3. Remove the plugins from the equation
4. Check your panning and the bus your choosing for the bounce compared to your monitoring output from Pro Tools.

If the file you’re importing from Quicktime matches the levels of the original file then there’s most likely some human error.

[smurfyou]

Volume matches here with a stereo file in PT and QT.

Ventura and an RME Fireface. TotalMix shows the same level on PT and the Mac channels.

I actually keep my Mac sound a little lower but set the fader to 0 to test.

[dominicperry]

Originally Posted by smurfyou

Volume matches here with a stereo file in PT and QT.

Ventura and an RME Fireface. TotalMix shows the same level on PT and the Mac channels.

I actually keep my Mac sound a little lower but set the fader to 0 to test.

Thanks Will. Much appreciated.

Dominic

[dominicperry]

Originally Posted by its2loud

I do this every day without any issue.

1. Have you checked the Mac volume level?
2. Have you checked the RME Total Mix level for Mac playback?
3. Remove the plugins from the equation
4. Check your panning and the bus your choosing for the bounce compared to your monitoring output from Pro Tools.

If the file you’re importing from Quicktime matches the levels of the original file then there’s most likely some human error.

1. and 2. don't change because they are the same for both.
3. and 4. I will check again.

Thanks

Dominic

[smurfyou]

Also have you tried any other software like a wave editor? Something other than QT in case its a weird pan/channel thing Apple did.


EDIT: NM you said S1 and I forgot.