Hello, I'm fairly new to ableton. Whenever I export my tracks, they sound bad when compared to just playing them in ableton before they have been exported. I think it may be to do with my export settings.
I did a test and played the exported version within ableton live and it still sounded lower quality. I solo'd the channel for the exported version of a track and compared it to a grouped version of my whole track. Ideally they should sound the same but they dont, the exported version is far quieter and lacks good low and high frequencies.
I ran the spectrum feature on it to monitor its gain against frequency and noticed the non exported version of my track had twice a gain when compared to the exported version (See attachments 1 and 2 ).
1 - https://ibb.co/hX94YpK
2 - https://ibb.co/Lzz46Kj
My export settings are set to a sample rate of 44100kHz at 16 bits. I also tried exporting it at 32 bits and it still had half a gain reduction when compared to playing it in ableton. My In/Out sample rate within my preferences is set to 44100. See attachments for my preferences and export settings. See attachments 3 and 4 for my settings.
My master output is set at -9dB for headroom when it comes to mastering. But I dont see how that would make both versions sound different when both exported and non exported track are both set to -9dB.
3- https://ibb.co/2sd3LFj[/img]
4- https://ibb.co/ZgN9K5m
Exported audio sounds quiet, half volume of what it should be.
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markbrennan968
- Posts: 2
- Joined: Mon Dec 02, 2019 5:35 pm
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markbrennan968
- Posts: 2
- Joined: Mon Dec 02, 2019 5:35 pm
Re: Exported audio sounds quiet, half volume of what it should be.
how? please share your solution.
Re: Exported audio sounds quiet, half volume of what it should be.
+1 Wondering how. This is pretty annoying on such a high end product
Re: Exported audio sounds quiet, half volume of what it should be.
If you export an unmaximized mix, for listening chances are it will sound wimpy compared to commercial tracks even if your song is well mixed.
The easiest way to fix this is to put a limiter on the final stage of your master bus and limit track to where you are getting a couple of db of gain reduction (generally, you your ears, amount of gain reduction needed varies. It could be none, it could be several db).
The more appropriate solution is to master your track (which is a whole skillset in itself which is why many pay someone who specializes in this field).
Re: Exported audio sounds quiet, half volume of what it should be.
jlgrimes wrote: ↑Tue Jun 30, 2020 1:46 amIf you export an unmaximized mix, for listening chances are it will sound wimpy compared to commercial tracks even if your song is well mixed. This is normal.
The easiest way to fix this is to put a limiter on the final stage of your master bus and limit track to where you are getting a couple of db of gain reduction (generally, you your ears, amount of gain reduction needed varies. It could be none, it could be several db).
The more appropriate solution is to master your track (which is a whole skillset in itself which is why many pay someone who specializes in this field).
Re: Exported audio sounds quiet, half volume of what it should be.
Will try that, but i am wondering why you can put one of those commercial tracks through ableton, with no effects and it comes out the other end quieter. Have experienced this making remixes and mixes.
Re: Exported audio sounds quiet, half volume of what it should be.
I dont have this issue. But I would check the following:
1. Audio track volume fader is at 0 db.
2. Audio clip volume fader is at 0 db.
3. Master track fader is at 0 db.
4. Turn off warping.
Bypass all effects.
Following this scenario if you export a wave file, audio file should be identical to your original audio track.
Re: Exported audio sounds quiet, half volume of what it should be.
One thing that can cause such volume loss (and more) is if you have a calibration plugin on your master track that you forgot to deactivate while exporting. 
Re: Exported audio sounds quiet, half volume of what it should be.
Everything is at 0 but I was using warping. I don't know why warping could compromise the output. Do you?jlgrimes wrote: ↑Tue Jul 07, 2020 4:19 pmI dont have this issue. But I would check the following:
1. Audio track volume fader is at 0 db.
2. Audio clip volume fader is at 0 db.
3. Master track fader is at 0 db.
4. Turn off warping.
Bypass all effects.
Following this scenario if you export a wave file, audio file should be identical to your original audio track.
Re: Exported audio sounds quiet, half volume of what it should be.
Maybe check this?
Ableton Forum Moderator
Re: Exported audio sounds quiet, half volume of what it should be.
This just happened to me. I exported to both wav and mp3 and the sound was dull. My sound output was on computer speakers. Even though Ableton's tracks were sounding good. the exported files did not. I switched to ASIO and monitor speakers and all the quality I expected from the tracks was present in the exported file. So it really wasn't Ableton in this case.