HELP! Dubble trouble (losing bass from WAV to anything e

ghast · Post by **ghast** » Thu Jul 28, 2005 2:22 am

Oh no! I've spent months trying to figure this out and experimenting with different ideas, but haven't got anywhere at all. I've got the bass sound I want! It's warm and pushy, like a big cushion. It also has a very nice smooth background hiss. That's when it's as a WAV file and it's playing direct off the soundcard. However, whenever I try to convert to another medium, it starts to sound tacky, electronic and cheap cheap cheap. It loses all its hot breathiness and pushiness, and becomes grungy and most unlike a cushion. Burning the WAV direct to CD loses a lot of the bass's appeal. I stopped converting to lossy MP3 because it lost all the bass's appeal. So I tried to record to CASSETTE TAPE, with a very very hot signal with disproportionately large bass, and despite all this I'm still losing that ace bass factor! I just can't believe it. I think I'm losing my mind here, although cassette tape has been the least crap (for low-end) so far. You know what I mean about the bass being "pushy"? Like it's powering itself along willingly, rather than pushing a reluctant speaker? That's what I'm losing. Where am I going wrong?

Post by **interruptor** » Thu Jul 28, 2005 6:18 pm

that's strange.. i heard people complaining here before about loosing the quality of bass when recording though! when copying to a cd did you listen to the cd also on your pc? if you play it on a different system (different speakers) it's not surprising the sound is different of course..

ghast · Post by **ghast** » Thu Jul 28, 2005 10:44 pm

Yes I keep losing specialness when burning to CD. Some of the tangible bass feel is from a certain VST effect and I'm able to master it to a WAV file no problem. But burning to CD it loses a lot of its energy. The loudness of the bass isn't lost - it's a kind of tapelike niceness and punchiness (non-violent, but self-energised) that I keep losing. It is definitely losing something. What I tried doing was doubling the bass additive and mastering another WAV, but doing this resulted in the bass becoming boomy (in a bad way, like a cheap boombox) and all the other frequencies sounding very electro, cheap and scratchy. It is very strange. I can obtain a very smooth-textured breathy bass without rough bits (held together by a quiet and nice complimentary hiss) which makes you chill out - I just can't transfer it to another medium (on same computer, with same amp and monitors, it's lost). Maybe my studio application is adding something to my WAV files which Windows Media Player isn't, or which WMP is taking out (stopped using Winamp because it's a hall of mirrors with the skins).

Post by **interruptor** » Fri Jul 29, 2005 9:32 am

humm.. <IMG SRC="http://www.interruptor.ch/cgi-bin/discu ... /think.gif"> what is your studio application? you could maybe try to play your wav file with another application apart from WMP. you say the good sound comes from a certain vst effect. are you sure that vst effect was really applied to the wav file which you export to another application? maybe you actually exported the untreated wavefile? when you play the wav inside the audio application the vst may be applied "live".

ghast · Post by **ghast** » Fri Jul 29, 2005 2:12 pm

It DOES sound MUCH MUCH better in Winamp. It is definitely possible that the WMP preamp (some kind of programming) isn't reproducing the lower frequencies properly in playback. Some time ago I stopped using Winamp on principle because I thought the skins were seriously messing with my perception of the sound - the beginnings of schizophrenia. For instance, Mike Zee's Winamp skins make everything sound good - better than it really is? The light and colours have a colouring effect on the sound. I might switch to doing techno for a bit - see if it makes me a more objective listener. Thanks for the sane help Dan

Post by **interruptor** » Fri Jul 29, 2005 2:20 pm

WMP has a built in equalizer which can be hidden. Maybe you changed the equalization once and then forgot about it? just an idea..

ghast · Post by **ghast** » Fri Jul 29, 2005 9:23 pm

I may be a wally but not to that extent! No it's definitely something different with the preamp in WMP. If you play one of your dubs in WMP, with a neutral EQ, then move up the low-end EQ switches a notch or 2 you will immediately you will hear MOSFETish odd-order disharmonic distortion. It's muddy (lowered resolution) and crunchy white noise. Now try the same track and the same experiment in Winamp. You have to really max out the bass levels before you hear the same level of distortion you heard with less drastic EQ fiddling in WMP. There is a definite difference between the software preamps. Playing LSP tracks in one then the other (both with neutral EQ) also reveals a difference in sound quality. As my "dub" is mostly just a bass and a drum sound (and effects coming off them) the difference is magnified.

DELETED · Post by **DELETED** » Sat Jul 08, 2006 7:07 am

DELETED

DELETED · Post by **DELETED** » Sun Jul 16, 2006 6:08 pm

DELETED

DELETED · Post by **DELETED** » Mon Jul 17, 2006 5:03 am

DELETED

DELETED · Post by **DELETED** » Tue Jul 18, 2006 1:12 am

DELETED

DELETED · Post by **DELETED** » Tue Jul 18, 2006 1:19 am

DELETED