Audible distortion in car but not in monitors & headphones

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bandic00t
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Joined: Sun Oct 24, 2010 2:40 am

Audible distortion in car but not in monitors & headphones

Post by bandic00t » Wed Oct 10, 2012 9:30 pm

Hi,

I've been listening to a mix of one of my songs everywhere I can and there's this audible crackle/distortion during the first 30 seconds of my song that's audible in my car.

What's killing me is that I can't hear it on my studio monitors or on multiple different studio and normal headphones.

Any idea what could be causing this?

Thanks in advance.

ikeaboy
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Re: Audible distortion in car but not in monitors & headphones

Post by ikeaboy » Wed Oct 10, 2012 9:44 pm

Happened to me before, I bet it's not there on low volume? I'd say its the sub bass being too wild. Try a high pass at 50hrz maybe?

bandic00t
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Re: Audible distortion in car but not in monitors & headphones

Post by bandic00t » Wed Oct 10, 2012 9:49 pm

Already tried :(

I have a high pass on my master at 40 hz, and a hp of 100hz on the two tracks playing during the intro.

I even tried adding a redux on the master channel and playing around with it... but to no avail.

edit: And yes, you're right, it isn't there on low volume.

yur2die4
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Re: Audible distortion in car but not in monitors & headphones

Post by yur2die4 » Wed Oct 10, 2012 10:54 pm

Is your car EQ flat? Remember that there is a whole signal path going on in your car where things can clip

bandic00t
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Re: Audible distortion in car but not in monitors & headphones

Post by bandic00t » Wed Oct 10, 2012 11:20 pm

Yes i believe it is. Although a bit boosted in the bass range. I've compared it with other similar tracks and get 0 distortion. I'm pretty sure the problem is within the mix and not the car. I just don't understand what to fix, because I can't hear it on my headphones or my monitors!

crumhorn
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Re: Audible distortion in car but not in monitors & headphones

Post by crumhorn » Wed Oct 10, 2012 11:25 pm

I recently fixed a similar prpblem by adding a compressor to tame the dynamics of the bass track. Although it didn't sound too loud it contained transients that caused distortion when listening on portable speakers.
"The banjo is the perfect instrument for the antisocial."

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bandic00t
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Re: Audible distortion in car but not in monitors & headphones

Post by bandic00t » Thu Oct 11, 2012 12:18 am

There are hardly any dynamics. I put a limiter on each track. Both tracks are in the high frequency range mostly. I lowered the levels on both tracks and the distortion became hardly noticeable. The problem is both tracks are present throughout the track at much higher volumes, but the distortion is inaudible. Although, they are sidechained for the most part afterwards :)

agent314
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Re: Audible distortion in car but not in monitors & headphones

Post by agent314 » Thu Oct 11, 2012 1:02 am

Are you mastering to 0db, and are you listening to an mp3?

Some systems you may get distortion if you're mixing right up to 0db due to the way the DAC works

Similar can happen with mp3s that are mastered too close to 0db because you get inter-sample peaking (I think that's what it's called - can't remember the exact term) as it rebuilds the audio from the compressed version

bandic00t
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Re: Audible distortion in car but not in monitors & headphones

Post by bandic00t » Thu Oct 11, 2012 1:13 am

I'm listening to it as a direct export from ableton as a .wav.

I have izotope ozone on the master. When it's off, they peak at -9db. When it's
On it's limiting with a gain reduction of max 1 db. I tried activating the option to prvent inter-sample clipping but it doesn't remove the distortion.

Without the limiter, the distortion is inaudible.

agent314
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Re: Audible distortion in car but not in monitors & headphones

Post by agent314 » Thu Oct 11, 2012 6:31 am

So you're peaking at -8db?

In the spots where it's clipping, what's the master peaking at when you look at it in Session view?

If you're that far away from 0db and it's still distorting, try changing the mode you're using in the maximizer in Ozone

agent314
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Re: Audible distortion in car but not in monitors & headphones

Post by agent314 » Thu Oct 11, 2012 6:33 am

And actually, if it's only happening in your car. are you sure it's the sound distorting and not a loose piece of the interior rattling/vibrating at a resonant frequency that your track is hitting?

bandic00t
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Re: Audible distortion in car but not in monitors & headphones

Post by bandic00t » Thu Oct 11, 2012 1:26 pm

I meant it's limiting over 0 db with a gain of +1db (during the intro). But it stays barely under 0 db for the most part of the intro. So I'm actually peaking at 0 db, and the limiter should keep the track from getting distorted when it does clip. Isn't that what limiters are for?

It's electronic music so I'm using fast settings. I tried intelligent 1 and 2, changing the settings from very fast to fast made the distortion barely less audible.

Agent314, i've been thinking about you said and if I don't find a fix, i'll just assume that's exactly the problem.
Thanks

Mint Invader
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Re: Audible distortion in car but not in monitors & headphones

Post by Mint Invader » Thu Oct 11, 2012 1:40 pm

Just a thought,

is it in all car stereos or just your car.



If its just your car, and it sounds fine on the speakers/cans then your in good shape and shouldn't worry.
Because Whatever.

bandic00t
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Re: Audible distortion in car but not in monitors & headphones

Post by bandic00t » Thu Oct 11, 2012 2:12 pm

It may or may not be present. I haven't tried it. I have a top range bose system installed and all songs sound very crisp and clean inside to the point where I wouldn't even trust my car's system to check my mix correctly.

But I'll try listening in a friend's car later on today and we'll see what happens. I'll let you guys know.

bandic00t
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Joined: Sun Oct 24, 2010 2:40 am

Re: Audible distortion in car but not in monitors & headphones

Post by bandic00t » Thu Oct 11, 2012 6:17 pm

Little update : I haven't had a chance to hear it inside another car yet, but I listened to it on a big iPod dock and I can hear the distortion, but only on very high volume. And even at very high volume, the distortion is low in comparison.

I tried eq-ing some frequencies in the 2.70khz region and the distortion becomes less audible, although it removes some character from the sound, which I would like to maintain.

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