Songs Sound Different When Exported

[farrantch]

I can get my mix sounding fantastic when playing it in pro tools, however whenever i export it, it sounds nothing close to what was just coming through the SAME speakers when i play the song through iTunes or Wmp.

I've exported the song in just about everyother way possible but still to no luck. Whether it be bouncing to disk, or rerouting and capturing the Wave file for export. No difference..As for now, I've rerouted the signal coming from Pro Tools back into my computer and I'm recording the now, 'analog signal' with Audacity.

Surely I'm Missing Something. There must be something you can do in Pro tools to either export the song 'As Is'..or to either not boost the quality of sound so its the exact same to what it is exporting.

..and how could it sound different anyways? Whats the point of making it sound good when it sounds nothing like it when exported?

[jmitchell1532]

Well, if they are the same speakers, and your speakers are great, than it may be an acoustical problem in your room.

If your equalizer is turned on i Itunes, that will definitely effect playback.

[farrantch]

lol I'm not changing rooms. I'm playing the song through the exact same equipment and in the exact same spot. Its the exporting it through Pro Tools that changes the sound.

I did check the eq's in both iTunes and Wmp and they were fine. Good idea though.

[Greg M]

farrantch,

Just a couple of questions. First, are you using a master fader with the fader left at 0 DBFS on your sessions, and second, what exactly is different? Is it the volume, eq, etc.? Are you doing any mastering, and if so, what plug-ins are you using?

Let us know a little more and maybe we can help.

Greg

[Premo]

First, what sample rate and bit depth is your session at and what sample rate and bit depth are you bouncing out as?
one idea would be that your going from 24bit session to 16 bit file.

Another is that the summing of bounce to disk out of Pro Tools someone colors the sound. Again, if you're changing bit depths here then the file would be dithered and you're hearing that change as well.

If you reimport that track into the same session and play it back and compare it to your session does it sound different?

What if you flip the phase? If it was bounced correctly with no changes it should cancel. Trim plug-in can flip phase for testing

[farrantch]

Im not positive when you say master fader, cause I do have everything routed to a Master Output/Fader via Bussing..and yes the level is exactly flat at 0 decibels so i think were good there. But ya, its not really a volume problem but its just the overall quality.

It sounds as if my middle frequencies are a little soft cause the outer frequencies are fairly prominent and its overall pretty muddy. It's just lost the clarity that it had when in Pro Tools. Also i think the panning of sound isnt the same and the reverb is more obvious than I had originally put on there.

Premo let me go through and double check all my settings and see what how it turns out.

[endling09]

HEADLINE: CHECK YOUR INTERFACE!!!!

I have been posting up on a bunch of forums about this, because I just had this issue, and it was driving me nuts. Like, literally crazy. I would love to save someone else the trouble if at all possible. I'm finishing up a project and have been in the mixdown phase. The only thing more disheartening than your exported mix not sounding right is your 50th exported mix not sounding right after your 50th attempt to fix the issue to no avail. I was on the verge of quitting, ready to just go back to hard disk recording and say screw DAW recording. I had had other substantial issues before, too, so after a certain number of rounds of doing more tinkering with the software than recording, you start to lose it a little.

I'll cut to the chase- it was my interface. I've been using an Audient iD14 interface for use with the DAW for the last few years. I had had some other issues- crackling, sound cutting out, etc. and kept trying to figure out what it was. Then I tried exporting the mix of this latest project out, and it sounded like the bass was practically gone, and the mids were seriously compromised too. The mix sounded high and tinny- on the same headphones I had just used to mix in the DAW. I tried everything to fix it- I checked my sample and bit rate (setting them to 44.1 kHz and 16 bits), turning the dithering on and off, turning the plugins off and just exporting the raw files, exporting with real-time processing, uninstalling the DAW and reinstalling, uninstalling and reinstalling my interface drivers- I tried basically everything. Nothing worked, and I was hitting the wall after something like 12 hours of banging my face up against it.

I went into Guitar Center and spoke to a very nice associate and fellow engineer Miguel, who told me that my interface and its drivers might be outdated. I bought a new interface from him then and there, took it home, plugged it in, and guys- I am so happy haha. My mix sounds exactly as it should when exported, the same as it does in the DAW.

Don't lose heart! If you can, try replacing your interface, even temporarily with an inexpensive one if need be. If that's not the issue, try some of the other things that I did and that have been mentioned in this thread and see if they work.

Cheers, and the best of recording to you!

[albee1952]

Also, a complete description of how everything is connected might turn up some possible problems. Describe everything in great detail(its impossible to give too much info). Maybe lay it out in a block diagram, upload that to some photo hosting site and link to it(sometimes screen captures get shrunk and become tough to decipher)

FWIW, I hear no difference between a mix from a PT session and the final bounced file played thru WMP, but, here is how audio is routed:
From Pro Tools: 192 interface>SPDIF out to Presonus Central Station>powered skprs.
From Windows)WMP): optical SPDIF out to Presonus Central Station