Export sounds different than when played in Ableton

[abreaction]

I've been having issues getting my exported audio (wav) to sound anything like when it is played in Ableton. In Abelton, the songs sounds fresh on both my monitors and headphones but sounds dull and lifeless when I play the exported wav file. At first I thought I still needed to hone my mixing skills (and that may very well be the case) but the same thing happens even I have one track and therefore don't need to mix it with anything. I can even add a little utility, compressor, EQ, and limiter, to the track and it sounds great in Ableton but the export on the other hand is never as loud or lacks general warmth.

Admittedly, I've only been making music in Ableton for a year, but I've read Tarekith's Guide to Mixing and Mastering and I've definitely learned a lot from reading that but I still hear a drastic difference when playing a song in Ableton vs playing the export.

Here is a screenshot of export settings as well:

My question is if the export should always sound like it does in Ableton or this purely still comes down to perfecting my mixing skills.

I appreciate anyone's help in advance. Thanks!

[swishniak]

normalize
?

[H20nly]

are you exporting at a different bit depth and sample rate than when you are mixing?

i'm not sure what you are trying to do with the exported file, but CD quality/typical playback is 44.1/16. you've got 44.1/24

yes, the general idea is that it should sound the same.

[3dot...]

what software do you use to play the exported file ?

[abreaction]

@swishniak - i've tried normalizing but the export still sounds worse than when playing it in Ableton.

@H20nly - perhaps dumb question, but how can I tell if I am exporting at a different bit depth and sample rate that what I am mixing? In my preferences, record is set to 24 bit depth which is also what I am exporting. I tried exporting at 44.1/24 and 44.1/16 and they are both still more dull and flatter than when I play the track in Ableton.

@3dot... - I've tried VLC, winamp, itunes, and media player and in all the export sounds the same but the sound in all players is still more dull and flatter than when I play the track in Ableton.

[3dot...]

hmmm...
in your win control panel sound settings..
is the windows main volume set to 100% ?
also check if your audio interface has some sort of volume control ? check to see that everything is how it should be..

to be extra sure that no degradation is happening..
I would advise you to listen to your exported track inside live with no audio processing and warp disabled.
1 audio track playing the file..route it directly to your 'ext. out' or through the master track to your soundcard
(remember ..no fx.. no warp)
do you hear a difference ?

[bicarbone]

When bouncing offline, some strange things can happen with calculations (plugin with an oversampling feature and such...). Try bouncing in real time: -> add track -> set your in's to resampling -> set monitor to off -> arm track -> record. Now your recorded master's output should sound exactly the same.

[abreaction]

@3dot... - you are a savior! all this time I had been fiddling with Ableton settings and I never thought to check my playback volume through my audio interface via the control panel. My playback volume had been set to 57% for some reason and when I boosted to 100%, the volume in my export was comparable to when played in Ableton.

Thank you so much for making my day and also to everyone else who took the time to respond!

[3dot...]

glad it's sorted..

[hacktheplanet]

Bumping this thread because I ran into the same issue recently.

Here's a test I did:

1. Loaded a 24/44.1 clip into Arrange and Session view, disable loop and warp
2. Rendered the clip at 24/16, normalize off, warp off, etc.
3. Imported the new render into a second track in Session view, disable loop and warp
4. Added a "Phase" Utility
5. Hit play

The Spectrum shows some high frequencies are still coming through. Shouldn't the exported clip and the original clip be identical, and phase canceling each other out?

[snakedogman]

so, what was first "dull" "lifeless" and "lacking warmth" turned out to be in reality just a bit quieter...

[3dot...]

Bumping this thread because I ran into the same issue recently.

Here's a test I did:

1. Loaded a 24/16 clip into Arrange and Session view, disable loop and warp
2. Rendered the clip at 24/16, normalize off, warp off, etc.
3. Imported the new render into a second track in Session view, disable loop and warp
4. Added a "Phase" Utility
5. Hit play

The Spectrum shows some high frequencies are still coming through. Shouldn't the exported clip and the original clip be identical, and phase canceling each other out?

what's a '24/16' ?

[hacktheplanet]

what's a '24/16' ?

I do not know.
(made an edit)

[colin301]

Here's a test I did:

1. Loaded a 24/44.1 clip into Arrange and Session view, disable loop and warp
2. Rendered the clip at 24/16, normalize off, warp off, etc.
3. Imported the new render into a second track in Session view, disable loop and warp
4. Added a "Phase" Utility
5. Hit play

The Spectrum shows some high frequencies are still coming through. Shouldn't the exported clip and the original clip be identical, and phase canceling each other out?

Yes, they should be. I just tried the same test myself; original file and phase reversed render nulled perfectly.

[hacktheplanet]

Yes, they should be. I just tried the same test myself; original file and phase reversed render nulled perfectly.

Thanks for verifying that I'm not crazy. Inconsistent maybe, but not crazy.
Just tried it again and it worked fine! I think I had warp enabled on one of the clips last night.