Volume loss after bouncing to disk

[MaryJane]

This has always been a problem but it's just takin the piss now...

I have Pro Tools LE 6.7 with an MBox and my tracks sound great through the headphones and the speakers I plug into the MBox. When it's bounced and playing through any software, like iTunes or VLC, the sound is incredibly quiet. I have no idea what's going on.

I contacted support on the digidesign website and they said that OS 10.3.9 is incompatible with Pro Tools. WHAT. I have had this system for nearly four years, why was I never told? Anyway, I was advised to reinstall QuickTime 6.5.2. I tried, but there is no reinstaller if you have a version after 7.0.1... I have 7.5 and I have no idea how to properly uninstall it... all I did was delete it but the installer for 6.5.2 says I still have a newer version. HELP ME!!!

Regardless, I still need to know other possible reasons for the volume loss if I can't manage to reinstall 6.5.2. I don't have a master fader in the file because I don't know how to rig one up... or at least I don't remember how. I really want to fix this problem soon because I'm doin a recording for my parents for Christmas and I'd really like them to be able to HEAR the track...

Any help is very much appreciated. :)

[John Link]

Here are three things to do in iTunes:

1) In the upper left-hand corner move the volume slider all the way to the right.

2) Go to iTunes >Preferences > Playback and make sure that the box for Sound Check is not checked.

3) Highlight the song and then go to File > Get Info and make sure that the Volume Adjustment is set to None.

John Link

[MaryJane]

Hey. Thanks for your response, but all those things are set up already like you suggested. What now?

[John Link]

The following might help to diagnose the problem:

Create a new PT session with a single stereo track with the left channel panned hard left and the right channel panned hard right. Import into that session one of the songs in your iTunes library and bounce the song from PT. Compare how loud the following are:

1) The original song played in iTunes

2) The original song played in PT

3) The bounced song played in iTunes

If everything is working correctly, the volume ought to be the same in all three options. Based on what you have written, I suspect that option 2 will be louder than option 3. I'm curious whether that will be the case, and how option 1 will compare to options 2 and 3.

[John Link]

By the way, it probably would have been more appropriate to have started a thread here: http://duc.digidesign.com/forumdisplay.php?f=15

[trickypig]

You could check the level of your mix by doing the following when bouncing:
Select Format - Multiple mono

Tick "Import After Bounce"

Select New Track option when bounce completes

A/B compare bounce to mix levels

Alternatively use Audiosuite>Other>Gain and measure peak/rms

If the levels are the same then definately your settings elsewhere need to be altered.