why does my rendered audio suck?

[tom_jg]

Heya, I am having issues with the sound quality of the .mp4 in my own song cover videos. The quality seems to really worsen once I render the video with DaVinci Resolve, and it doesn't get better when I upload it (view YouTube video "Dreams ...").

 

For the video down below I recorded my voice and the piano as one stereo track simultaneously. My exact procedure was as follows:

1. Record stereo audio with cakewalk

2. Duplicate audio track and split it into two mono tracks.

3. Apply reverb (little too much here, I admit) and slight gain correction

4. Render to two .wmv (view attachment: dreamsvoice.mp3 and dreamspiano.mp3)

5. Increase volume til the point it does not clip (red),  add compressor for high passages

6. Render to mp4, with AAC codec, 192 Kb/s, 16 Bit Depth, Stereo

I also was having issues with splitting up my stereo track to two monos in Cakewalk (never done it before), so I had to erase the other track's remains in Davinci.

 

The mp3 I rendered in Davinci, for comparing it to the mp4, sounds just fine to me (view attachment: "dreams video audio only.mp3"), but also some of the louder parts start to sound odd. I too had a similar kind of problem with solo piano recordings where I just could not get it loud and clear at the same time.

 

My microphon is the Audio Technica P48, the piano the Yamaha P-45.

This is really bugging me. Is my recording quality faulty? Does it happen because of the failed stereo to mono conversion or is there a render issue?

 

 

Dreamspiano 1.mp3 Dreamsvoice 1.mp3 Dreams video audio only.mp3

[Alan Tubbs]

Why stereo recording of mono tracks?
 

you should have two tracks of mono WAV files that you MIX together in real-time to a stereo wav file.  Then render that mix to whatever spec you need, wav, mp3 etc.   you can then append that to video.  FYI I don’t work with video in sonar.

[tom_jg]

I did a stereo recording because I recorded two Inputs at the same time, the piano left and my vocals right. Me splitting that stereo into two monos was not very clean I assume. Is there a clean way to do this?

Edited April 5, 2023 by tom_jg

[Alan Tubbs]

Yes.  Change your piano track to track one and recorded in mono.  Track two (mono) should be the vocals.  Now you can treat the two instruments separately with eq, vol automation, panning etc.  OF Course there will be bleed as the piano will overpower the vox at times.  Same with your vox over the music.

but unless your room is treated your are likely not recording a great signal, which muddies the soundstage.

there is a lot to recording, esp acoustic instruments.  As said above, it is like learning a new instrument.  Keep at it and you will get better.

as to the recoding, the vox seems to have much more reverb, while the piano doesn’t.  That sounds unnatural.  But not bad for an early recording.

 Stevie Nicks only had to worry about singing in a million dollar room with a million dollar’s worth of equipment and a million dollars with recording talent.  Think about it that way.

Edited April 5, 2023 by Alan Tubbs

[tom_jg]

Thanks for your help so far!

I am not sure how to change the recording to output two monos. Is this an option within Cakewalk or regulated via my audio interface?

[reginaldStjohn]

It depends on your interface, but most interfaces will present their inputs either as grouped stereo or separate mono inputs. If you using just a built in audio card then you may not have this option.

Driver stereo (1 - 2)

Driver 1

Driver 2

 

[Alan Tubbs]

ASIO drivers organize the outs in stereo.  Just the way it is. 

[tom_jg]

Hey guys, I found out how to select the L and R track of my audio interface seperately. When I select both tracks with the recording symbol I'm able to record them both at the same time, should have thought about this earlier ... I hope this also solves my audio problem in future recordings.

Thank you for your help!

[Alan Tubbs]

Glad you found a solution.