Audio sounds completly different when exported!

[Angramme]

I'm trying to export my audio as a file and listen to it back in Microsoft Groove Music ( I'm trying to export it as a final consumer format not for mastering or anything ). And I expected that it will be the simplest part of the whole music creation process, you know just select 16 bit depth that every player supports, Stereo, 44100 Sample Rate, Master Bus as the audio source, every option in mix enables except from audible bounce, live input, and 64-bit Engine ( btw I tried with those enabled separetly and it still did not work ), no Dithering ( but I tried with triangular just in case ), And I tried Wave, wav, flac, mp3 and some other that I don't remember. And guess what, It did not work

   PS: there is nothing wrong with my "Groove Music" because it works no problem with music I download online. And second thing is that files exported from Cakewalk can be imported back inside the DAW and sound completly normal when played back there ( Yes even with all those crazy options I put above ) ( And no I'm not putting the same file in over and over because when I play it back in "Groove Music" the errors sound different depending on options I use. )

And I also tried ( from desperation ) every bit depth combination ( and what even is this "extra encoding options / sub format" this makes no sense! why have to audio formats in one file! ) But anyway I tried it all, and I still can't make the export sound the same as when i'm playing it back in the DAW itself. I'm surely doing something wrong here.

Please help, I beg you, I can't work it out by myself. And if you want to make it painless, just give me options that work as consumer formats that I can play in a standard player like "Groove Music". But if you have time please also explain what is this "sub format" in "extra encoding options" (that btw disapears when I enable dithering).

Thanks in advance for help  I'm kinda new to this thing.

Edited April 24, 2019 by Angramme

[Angramme]

Go to this thread for answer:

 

[msmcleod]

FWIW, I've noticed that Groove Music plays things louder than other players (e.g. VLC). It's almost as if it's got some sort of automatic volume control built in to try to make every track the same volume.

This post seems to support this theory:

https://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/musicandvideo/forum/all/groove-music-very-heavy-sound-distortion-and/665bdf56-5438-4cf2-aae7-fb7afd671c6b

 

 

[Angramme]

Thanks for answer msmcleod!  But I forgot to say that I've also tried to load the audio files into Audacity, and got the same results so it's not Groove Music's fault  . Thanks for your input anyways.

EDIT:

I just tried it with VLC, and got the same results .

Edited April 25, 2019 by Angramme

[slartabartfast]

So the problem is that "it did not work," "I still can't make the export sound the same,"  "the music sounds completely different," and "the errors sound different depending...."  A bit more detail about the nature of different and errors might help. 

I would suspect there is something about the routing in the DAW that is affecting the file loaded and played back there that differs from the players and audio editor. If you automatically load a project with a template, then re-loading the same audio file in the DAW may put it through the same effects or routing issue again, even though you seem to be loading it into a new project. Be sure that you are hearing the output (which in best practice should be connecting your mains outs to your audio interface after being sure that every signal path eventually gets to the mains) and not tapping your output through some bypass route to your audio interface.

[Angramme]

Thank you for reply, so when I try to export it to 16 bit depth with stereo and using the master bus as an output it somewhat amplifies everything and turns all my (kinda low) hi-hats to clicks, and my kicks to snares guitar sounds muffled and the rest is just weird. when I use anything higher than 24 bit depth (sub format) its just pure harsh noise. Also could you explain what the sub format is ( the one that appears after the main export menu and why there are two) I'm talking about the sub-format in this instance. the one in the main export menu doesn't change anything.

For the second part of your post, I don't have an audio interface, I'm using just my headphones. I don't see how this would change anything but meaby I just don't know how these work. Also if there is some error in the routing, then passing audio back through again shouldn't necessarily fix it as you are saying when I'm loading my file back in the DAW to listen to it. 

Now what you are suggesting if I understand correctly is that my audio that I hear in the DAW (that I play back from the file) is not sounding like in reality (due to the routing), but wouldn't that also change the sound of all my samples that btw sound just like they sound in the demos online.

Meaby I didn't understand you fully there, in this case could you please reformulate. If I did however please submit your other ideas for the solution.

Thanks again for the reply.

EDIT:

reading it back this stuff makes no sense to me. Could you please reformulate and tell me clearly (because I'm a dummy) what I have to do and check for?

 

[Angramme]

UPDATE:

I looked around in the bus FX, and I found a compressor that I don't hear normally when I'm playing it in the DAW but that was for some reason showing itself in exports, turning it off, it certainly sounds closer to the original but still sounds weird

Edited May 6, 2019 by Angramme

[johnny alberto meira cordeiro]

i got the same trouble. My mixing sounds perfect at program, but the export get a some distortion at low freq. I try hear In other sound players...

[Brian Frame]

I have a similar issue during mixdown.

Audio interface is a focusrite - use headphones to listen to the mix and Adam Audio speakers connected to the focusrite. 

Mix sounds great on headphones and the speakers - then I export to a wave file using 44100 - 24bit (same as project) - entire mix and listen during mixdown using the render in realtime and audible bounce.

The I playback the mixed wave file on windows media player and the sound appears to have lost some the the reverb and stereo ambience. (sounds flat).

Brian

[Byron Dickens]

It is not a Cakewalk issue.

[Brian Frame]

In relation to my post Oct 26. I re-imported my project's exported mix into a new cakewalk project using only a stereo track. The track plays exactly as I expect with panned instruments giving the stereo effect I expected, the vocal has the right amount of reverb etc.

I am listening to the original project mix and then the new imported project mix and they are identical within cakewalk using my scarlett 18i20 (outputs via headset and speakers ADAM Audios.) I specifically listened to the intro which has strings and piano panned left in the song.

Once I play the exported file on various media players, groove clip, windows media player, VLC using the focusrite audio interface -  the panned imstruments are in the center and the stereo effect on the vocal gone.

I am using an ACER predator i9-8950HK CPU 2.90GHz - 24gig ram - on windows 10  

bdickens can you elaborate on your quote above in relation to the exported mix? Any help greatly appreciated.

[Byron Dickens]

What's to elaborate?

You created a song, mixed it & got it sounding how you want. You exported it as a WAV file and it plays back in mono in various media players. You brought your exported WAV back into CW and it sounds identical to the original project.

Think about it for a minute; its kinda obvious.

Edited November 10, 2021 by bdickens

[Brian Frame]

Thanks for the guidance bdickens as further investigation of the windows 10 software gave a simple answer.

In relation to my post Nov 10 2021, it was a windows 10 setting playing my audio in mono and not stereo in case anyone else has a similar issue.

 

Turn off Mono Audio

Step 1: Right-click on the speaker icon on the bottom right corner of the Taskbar. Click on Open Sound

Step 2: In the Settings window, on the right-side of the pane, scroll down and under Related Settings, click on Ease of Access audio settings.

Step 3: In the next window, on the right side of the pane, scroll down a bit, and turn off the slider under the Turn on mono audio section.