Ableton exporting distorted / squashed / clipped .wav files?

[VooDooGenic]

hi all,

newbie to music production here. i've searched the forums, but i haven't come across anything recently that mirrors my problems.

i have a couple of PC's running Windows 10 / 11 and they are both fairly strong - i7 1100K and i7 9800.
i'm running Ableton 11.2.10 Suite on one PC and Ableton 11.2.10 Lite on the other, but the problem appears to be universal.

I have a dead-simple project that's running four tracks of Ableton native patches like Grand Piano, etc. no other plugins, etc. Sounds perfectly fine during playback.

i do gain staging, setting the levels by using the Ableton Utility tool. the project peaks around -6 or so.

i then export to .wav using 44100 / 24 bit / Triangle dithering. the exported .wav file sounds fine.

i then bring the .wav file into another Ableton session so that i can Master the project, and here's where the problems start. the .wav file that sounds fine when played in Windows sounds like it's being completely squashed / clipped (or whatever the terminology is), even though there appears to be plenty of headroom. this is *before* i apply any Mastering plugins. the Piano part appears to be hit the hardest, but maybe it's just the most obvious sound.

i'm at my wit's end, and would appreciate any and all help. thanks in advance.

[RobrechtV]

Check if Warp is enabled on the imported clip. If so, disable it.

Warp timestretches the imported .wav to make it fit the tempo of the current project. Extreme timestretching can sound a little like distortion/clipping.

There's a setting in the options you can disable if you don't want Live to automatically warp long imported audio files.

[VooDooGenic]

sweet baby Jesus - not sure if my elation and gratitude go beyond my shame, lol.

thank you so very much. i hope you enjoy a terrific day.

[RobrechtV]

Oh don't worry, you're not the first one to be bewildered by the automatic warp thing!

[Yearofthegoat]

Yep - got me too. Thanks to this post I'm all sorted for warping! Nice one!