Trust who? DAW or music players?

[lordtech]

i have this problem whenever i finished my audio works.

The mixing and mastering sounds awesome when i checked my audio thru my DAW (Sonar 7). But when i test it again with other players in my pc or even in my car speakers, it sounds different. Ive tried VLC, WM player, etc... they all gave different outcomes. What can i do to fix this?

Can anyone help me with this matter?

thanx

 

[NickL]

I've noticed that audio files always sound best when imported to a DAW... seems like the programming must be a lot more detailed, and for good reason.

 

[ahjteam]

try to import the bounce back into your daw, if it still sounds the same, there is nothing wrong with it.

 

[outoftune]

Ive tried VLC, WM player, etc... they all gave different outcomes. What can i do to fix this?

Most tools have automatic capabilities to make up for badly delivered audio, that is probably why it will mess with the stuff you feed it with. I'd go for what your DAW sounds like and use a variety of speaker with it.

 

[lordtech]

what i mean is i used the playback from my DAW to play my overall work before i export it to wave. And it sounds good there too. Playback using other players is the main problem. Sumtimes it needs to be eq to get the sound like in the DAW.

hmm...

 

[botus99]

stereo panning laws might also be a factor

 

[Trevoire520]

check for any stereo widening, bass boosts and other effects that are on in your music players, these will mess with your sound pretty drastically.
also if theres a volume difference then it'll sound different compared to your DAW

 

[cobhc]

what i mean is i used the playback from my DAW to play my overall work before i export it to wave. And it sounds good there too. Playback using other players is the main problem. Sumtimes it needs to be eq to get the sound like in the DAW.

hmm...

After you export it to a wav file, have you tried importing that back into your DAW again to see if that sounds ok? If that sounds fine, then there's obviously some eq/sound effect shit going off in all your media players.

 

[006]

Most all media players (WMP, WinAMP, iTunes, etc.) have an exciter running almost by default. iTunes has "Sound Enhancer" and it boosts the treble and bass to give anything it plays back a more hi-fi sound, which most listeners enjoy. However, all it does is destroy the integrity of any mix that is put through it. As others have said, import the bounced mix back into your DAW and see if it sounds the same, I'm willing to bet that you are just hearing the exciters in the media players fucking with your mix.

~006

 

[mpigott]

Don't underestimate the difference speakers and room coloration make. It could be as simple as the setup of your DAW, and the positioning of your speakers. Make sure your other stereos are playing with flat EQs. Certainly re-import it into your DAW to see if there is a problem in the export process. Check your export settings for what dither algorithm you're using because that can also greatly effect the playback. The difference between 24 and 16 bit can play with your head.

 

[lordtech]

thnx for the replies guys. i will try exporting it back to my DAW and have a listen to it again. Mine is always out for the 24bit.

 

[wolfhalen]

Yeah I've experienced the same thing. Also when exporting to 16 bit and mp3 and the like, is a dramatic upset when you've spent a lot of time on something.

Try asking some friends opinion as well, our psyche gets really involved with our music/mixes. Nothing is ever good enough, if you know what I mean.

 

[cobhc]

I always use to get fucked up mixes whenever I used Waves stuff for mastering, don't ask me why but the bass and drums always used to come up really loud when exporting it to an mp3, however since I switched to the Timeworks Mastering Compressor, it sounds the same in Cubase, as it does in WMP when I play both back to back.