A PACK encoding - reduction of audio level

Hi all,
I always use the Apack Apple utility to encode all my audio mixes. I'm a professional sound designer and during the mix, i use a properly calibrated equipment.
All files are properly calibrated AND in phase.
Sometime i've find this following problem on my encoded stuff.
When i finish an audio encoding process i recheck the audiovideo playback through my dvdstudiopro 3.0 simulator and in some point in the video i can hear a strange "automatic" reduction of audio level, randomly, not in the part where the audio is hight. This happens also on the mastered file on dvd.
I would like to inform that my mix was controlled before goes to encoding session.
This is not a frequntly finded problem, just in rare case.
This is my setting for apack
Kbs 192 (stereo) 448 (DD)
compression none
Dialog norm -31 db
No low pass
No Rf over modulation
thanks to all
Mark

All those settings look correct for A.Pack. One thing to check, however, is that your files are REALLY set to -31db for DNV. Open them back up in A.Pack and check (there's some option for File Info or somethingorother to display an AC3 file's settings). A.Pack has a very annoying bug where, if you type -31 in the field but you don't press Enter, the change does not happen and your files end up back at -27 (with the resulting "pumping" of audio).

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Audio level higher than needed after encoding

Hi,
I'm editing a film.
Voice over level is set to maximum for most part of it. It sounds as it supposed to sound after encoding.
There are several parts of the film that are supposed to be quiet. They are set as quiet on the timeline and do sound quiet during preview playback.
The problem is after I export the film to mpeg (I've also tried many other formats) the sound level in those quiet parts is automatically raised to very high. Those pieces sound almost as loud as the voice over. Looks like Premiere or Media Encoder have some automated audio level normalization or something like this.
I've tried to find encoding settings that are perhaps responsible for that, and I've also looked up for a solution on Adobe forums -- but I couldn't find anythind appropriate.
I'm using Premiere CS5 on a PC.
Thanks in advance!
This man seems to have the same issue: http://forums.creativecow.net/thread/3/906064

Igor,
Always glad to help, even if not directly.
I use MediaPlayer Classic HC for playback testing on the computer, and it seems to handle my Audio better than WMP, and some others. Do not know KM, so cannot comment on it.
I also edit Audio by ear, with but a glance at dB levels, from time to time.
Now, though you're probably way ahead of it, this ARTICLE gives some tips on Audio Levels, and some different methods of adjusting them.
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Hunt

Low audio level in encoded ac3 file

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I'm glad you mentioned the preset, Silal. I kept meaning to bring that up, but forgot.
Set Preprocessing to None. That will keep high level short duration sounds, like drums, etc., from overtaking your dialog, and crushing it.
The way DIALNORM is intended to work, you set it to the average level of your dialog from your editing app. If you're working in FCP, then that might be something like -12. That setting will cause the player to attenuate the level so dialog is attenuated by 19dB (-31 minus -12 = 19dB of attenuation by the player).
That, in turn, allows the ridiculously loud music and nat sounds in the film soundtrack to sound "more natural", as they blast your ear drums into bits. "More natural" means "much louder than dialog, just like they are in real life".
Bah, humbug! Let me hear what the talent is saying. I don't care if I can hear every nuance of that rock ballad, I just want to be able to follow the story, the plot.
Hey, I'm an old dude, you whippersnappers.
But back to the point, by setting DIALNORM to -31, the player works out the math like this:
-31 minus -31 = 0dB of attenuation
So, your level should be exactly what it was before the compression/conversion. Why it isn't is a mystery, still.

Audio levels go wacky when I export to AIF file?

I am working on a 13 minute multitrack project in Soundtrack Pro. I went through and set all the levels, then I export it to an AIF file and put it back into my Final Cut Pro project. Once I export, there are three scenes in which the audio levels go completely wacky - some places are at a lower level than what I set and other places are at a higher level than I set. I then go back into STP and when I listen back at those scenes these new wacky levels show up in STP. I then close STP and reopen and lo and behold the levels I orginally set (that I was very happy with) are back in place like nothing ever happned.
Some notes on what it might have to do with: All three of these scenes were shot using 2 Lav mics. These were each set into it's own channel on the Handy recorder. In STP, each lav channel is in it's own track. The audio level settings that I like for these two channels are very different (one actor was much quieter than the other). It almost seems as if in the export STP wants to put Channel 2 at the same level I have Channel 1 - which I don't want.
I have been spinning my wheels for hours trying to fix this. Anybody out there have any ideas or solutions or workarounds?
Much obliged for any help!
Michelle

This problem has also been plaguing me today. Here are my specifics and how I solved it (Expanding on what Quentin Holmes mentioned)
CONFIRMED WORK AROUND! The .m4v file gets created while encoding, but Adobe Media Encoder does not re-pack it back into the .mp4 unless you select the "Export Audio" in Adobe Premier export prior to queuing. If you don't want audio, mute the individual tracks and still export audio.
My details:
Just bought a GH4, shooting 4k 25fps MOV, trying to simply trim a few clips and export them as H.264 .mp4 with no audio. (By the way it would be nice if we could export 4k .MOV files from the camera back into .MOV once finished editing, but in premier that frame resolution is not supported)
Specs: Mac Mini, Quad Core i7, 16GB Ram, OSX 10.9.4, Adobe Premier Pro CS6 6.0.5, Adobe Media Encoder 6.0.2.81
Hope that helps anyone with the same prob

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I am using Adobe Media Encoder cs5 version 5.0.1.0 on a Windows XP Service Pack 3 32-bit machine. None of the wmv or avi files I try to encode have the audio track encoded. I have tried encoding with both the "F4V - Match Source Attributes" and "FLV - Web 640 x 480" presets. Neither of these encode the audio output at all. The audio track plays correctly in Windows Media Player. Has anyone else had this problem?

Very interesting data, Wayne. Very interesting.
> I am not sure how to encode to the other formats using AME, so I could not complete these tests.
Sorry, that's my fault. Ignore that test. I didn't realize you are using the Web Premium suite. The other formats I referred to are only available if you have Premiere Pro, After Effects, or the Production Premium suite installed. (I knew this by subconscious deduction, actually, since those products require a 64-bit version of Windows 7 or Vista and you stated that you're on XP 32-bit. It just didn't trickle out to my conscious brain.)
Let's back off for a second and review what we know. Please correct me if I'm wrong about any of these points.
You have WMV and AVI source video files. The audio in the AVI files is encoded as PCM or MP3.
You can hear the audio in these files when you play them in Windows Media Player.
Encoding these files to FLV, F4V, or H.264 appears to complete successfully in AME CS5.
You can not hear the audio of the encoded files in Windows Media Player, Adobe Media Player, or VLC.
Inspecting the encoded files in VLC and Audacity shows both that an audio track exists and that there is a waveform in that track.
Using a different user account on the same machine does not exhibit the problem.
Encoding your source files on a different machine using AME CS4 (your colleague) or AME CS5.5 (my computer, with the sample you posted) does not exhibit the problem.
So, yes, this is most intriguing. The difference in your ability to hear your source files but not the encoded files is most curious.
I do wonder:
If you take one of your encoded files to a different machine, does the audio play? (If you post a sample, I'll try it here.)
Since Audacity shows a waveform for the encoded files, can your hear the audio in that application?
The only thing I can think of that is unique about the formats that you are using AME to encode to (FLV, F4V, and H.264) is that those formats all use compressed audio. MP3 in the FLV format, and AAC in F4V and H.264. (FYI - F4V is simply H.264 insided of a Flash video wrapper.) What could be unique under your user account related to that? I don't know. Possibly if there is a utility on your machine related to compressed audio, that might be intercepting the audio stream in some way. Do you have any software designed for capturing compressed audio from the Internet? Or it could be related to the audio card drivers on your machine.
It might be worth sniffing around the %appdata% folder on your account and temporarily disposing of the folders for other programs. If you can isolate something that way, you may be on the right path.
You might also want to run msconfig (Start > Run > msconfig) to disable background applications and services that could be hijacking the audio. Go to the Startup tab there, clear everything, reboot, and see what happens. If that works, start putting the services back one-by-one until you find the culprit.

Audio levels on an external monitor vary during playback when using HDMI audio

I've been having issues with movie playback using a large 1080p HDMI TV. During playback the audio level will come in strong, go faint, then go strong again, but not on any sort of pattern I could discern. It did this on three seperate movies legally purchased via iTunes. I get audio and video without trouble, its just the audio goes soft when it shouldn't.
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Is this a fault of the system, a DRM gremlin, or something else?

I think you may be onto something with the graphics card concept. The problem I am having only exists when I am working on an HD project. When I switched back to DV-NTSC then the monitor is fine during playback.
Yes, I am routing my external monitor through my DV deck, which is not an HD deck - so again, that could be another weak link in the chain.
This is the first HD project that I am editing, so obviously a few kinks still need to be worked out. My internal hard drive has 1.5 gigs of ram but I am not sure what the specs are on the graphics card.

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Going back a year, or two, one user was convinced that he should mix for the "worst-case scenario," i.e. the little built-in speakers in a TV. My suggestion was to offer two Audio Streams, as one would with PCM and then DTS, and allow the user to choose via a menu. In this case, it would be the mix, and not the encoding of the Audio Tracks. For some reason, he did not want to offer that, but wished to instead mix for the TV and then force the home theater set to suffer, thinking that the TV was the ultimate mix. Oh well.
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Hunt

What are the iTunes digital audio levels in and out

I am having a lot of trouble with finding out and setting the audio levels in and out of iTunes.
Digital audio has 16bits at '1' with an analog signal level of +12dB, 24bit has all'1's at +18dB. Making the overhead capability for CD 16bit 12dB and that for HD 24bit 18dB.
I would like to record (using SoundStudio) a set of standard audio tones from 20-20kHz with digital levels of "all 1's" 16bit, or +12 dB analog level, "all 1's" 24bit ditto, and the same for levels of analog 0dB (-12dB digital) for 16bit and 0dB(-18dB digital) for 24bit.
What I am finding is that if I get Sound Studio to inert a tone at what it calls 0dB, save it as AIFF, then the output it from iTunes I get a much higher level, around +8dB or so!
Any ideas?

As an addition to my first question. I asked the makers of Sound Studio about levels. They tell me that the Mac standard is to have all '1's in the digital stream defined as 0dB.
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Or use a digital output to an external DAC as the iTunes volume control is then disabled. Set Audio MIDI for 24bit output and you are ready to go with HD Audio.

Audio level in DVDSP

Can we adjust the audio levels in DVD Studio Pro?

I think you mean be sure to set it to -31 and not the default -27, don't you?? Especially if you are balancing the audio before encoding and don't want to introduce any attenuation.
The Dialog Normalization setting of -31 ensures no attenuation, whereas -27 will affect the audio levels in the file.

Audio level output too low, even if set to maximum

OS: Windows XP Professional Service Pack 3-Build Lab: 2600.xpsp_sp3_gdr.080814-1236
Audio driver: SoundMAX Integrated Digital HD Audio - Analog Devices - Driver date: 08/02/2008, Driver version: 5.10.1.5520
The audio level output is too low, even if setting the output for all sources to the maximum level.
Does somebody have the same problem?
Need your help to see how to correct this and return to a normal operation!
Thank you very much in advance for your help and answers.

Additional informations:
Tested with the audio driver found at Lenovo's website, without any success.
After this was done, the audio driver was updated also without success too.

7.2 Bug? Audio Levels Normalized to Max on Export - Blown Out Audio

Is anyone else experience an audio level shift upon export from Premiere Pro/Media Encoder CC 7.2? Since updating audio or video files I export (AIFF, WAV, h264, etc.) have the audio levels automatically increased, it appears maybe they are being automatically normalized to 0db. But, the increase results in blown out audio.
Pretty major issue if this is a bug. If it's a 'feature' anyone know how to turn it off?
I'm on a PC using Windows 7 64bit.
Update: The audio levels are not being normalized. The problem has to do with stereo audio tracks that have been imported as mono. I was able to resolve the issue by changing my import audio preferences to import Stereo Media 'Use File' and reimporting my audio files - exporting then worked as expected.
However, exporting from stereo tracks imported to mono tracks the audio is somehow being duplicated on export resulting in levels that are too high. Not sure if this is a bug or just something to do with the conversion of my old project files...
Message was edited by: JesseB

Nick,
Maybe not very useful info here, but an advice...
Being a native user of æ, ø and å when it comes to talking and writing, I have learned long time ago that using such (æ. ø, å) in file names (or in anything purely computer related) is something that causes hick-ups now and then.
PS! "Half" when it comes to sound is -3 or -6 dB (dependent on sound power or sound level)
Dag

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I have used Encore several times and never run into this problem. But I'm making a short DVD using footage from two cameras that I edited in Premiere. Audio sounds fine in the timeline--actually, it's a little too loud.
But when I convert it to DVD using Encore, the audio is significantly lowered. I'm puzzled. There's no audio settings for Encore, so what could I have possibly caused?

dotrat wrote:
I have used Encore several times and never run into this problem. But I'm making a short DVD using footage from two cameras that I edited in Premiere. Audio sounds fine in the timeline--actually, it's a little too loud.
But when I convert it to DVD using Encore, the audio is significantly lowered. I'm puzzled. There's no audio settings for Encore, so what could I have possibly caused?
Did you use Dolby Digital encoding for the audio?
Also, what are your audio levels in Premiere, please?
If we are talking about film encoding I highly recommend getting into LUFS metering - happy to discuss this in greater detail if anyone is interested (let me know) as I suspect the problem is excessively loud audio in premiere and when this is encoded using the consumer tool in Encore, it will be normalizing the audio down to it's internal dialnorm setting (probably -27dB which would give you up to -4dB difference) and further taking into account the possibility of the resulting disc being played over RF connections in mono, and the encoder is set up deliberately to prevent clipping the output.
If you could analyze the audio - pre AC3 encoding - and let us know the levels, this will tell us much

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Hi. I'm compiling a DVD that has clips from various sources. Some of them are old DVD projects that I've had to extract clips from, using MPEGStreamClip.
My problem is getting a uniform volume setting amongst all the clips: Some are low volume, and some are high (or optimal) volume.
Does DVDSP allow for the "regulation" of individual track volumes? This is vexing me to no end.
Thanks

I had to go back and re-encode to get my levels to match. It was a PITA, but I got it done.
This is a feature that Apple needs to put into DVDSP: the ability to change individual track levels or normalize (set all to the same peak level) all tracks.
When doing a compilation of clips, demo reels, etc., one is likely to encounter all variations of audio levels and amounts of audio-hardware-type compression.
Having to convert an ac3 to QT, or some other format and then re-compress it back to ac3 is going to irrevocably degrade the audio quality.
It'd also nice to be able to do audio and video fades withing DVDSP.

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I am having a hard time with the volume of my main menu audio. When I import the track I want to use and drop it in the top menu, I have no way of adjusting the volume. I usually mix all of my audio in final cut to a maximum of -12db.
The volume appears to be fine when I'm authoring the disc. I go from the main menu with sound to the tracks and the audio appears to be at the same level. However, after producing the finished DVD, the menu audio is usually way too loud. I would say it's at least 12 db hotter than the program material. Hence, when you navigate back to the main menu from the tracks, it's way too loud.
Any clues, anyone???
DVDSP 4
Final Cut Suite

David:
That's probably a difference in the encoding of your tracks and menu audio. What audio format are you using for your tracks: AIFF or AC3? Or are you encoding your assets inside DVDSP?
There is no way to adjust the volume inside DVDSP, you must edit your audio level in other app before importing it (FCP, Soundtrack, etc).
Alberto

Menu Audio Levels

Okay, I stink at DVD studio pro. I make the most simple DVD's. I haven't a clue so your help is appreciated.
I've added a song to my menu, but the audio level is hot. Can that be adjusted and how?
Just a note. The audio was hot importing into Final Cut Pro and I simply adjusted the audio. Can I do that for DVD studio pro?
Mucho thanks!

Hi Michelle:
You cannot set audio level inside DVDSP, you must import the audio adjusted to your final level. If you have your audio in FCP, of course you can edit there the level and export again, or you can use SoundTrack or any other audio editor you have.
Are you using AIFF files right into DVDSP? If so, my advice is encode them to Dolby AC3 to avoid bitrate problems in your burned DVDs. AIFF files (uncompressed audio) will take too much of the total bitrate you have available. I use AC3 files for menu backgrounds too.

A PACK encoding - reduction of audio level

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