Ableton Forum

this is a massive problem I've had since starting with ableton. i export my tracks as WAV then convert them into mp3 using audacity, or 'switch sound file converter' when i play the 320kbps mp3s on my phone or mp3 player, there is a horrible distortion in the left speaker of my headphones, earphones, or stereo speakers. it sounds okay on my computer because i have a focusrite audio driver, but when the mp3 is played on another device, the problem occurs. one note, i cannot simply get my tracks mastered because i simply do not have the money. please help

post the tune.

my guess is that the bass is too loud. some devices filter it out, some don't.

people on here will mix your tunes for $10-$20, you can afford that. contact Tarekith or Rave. some would do it for free just for practice.

Tone Deft wrote:post the tune.

my guess is that the bass is too loud. some devices filter it out, some don't.

people on here will mix your tunes for $10-$20, you can afford that. contact Tarekith or Rave. some would do it for free just for practice.

how could i post it?

a lot of people use SoundCloud. post it there then post a link here. this site doesn't host files.

Tone Deft wrote:a lot of people use SoundCloud. post it there then post a link here. this site doesn't host files.

theyre already on, theres 5 tracks, here they are... http://soundcloud.com/ayrtonhood00/sets/lizard-ep/

pretty good stuff too. they sound OK on my earbuds here at work. later I might download them and look at them in Spectrum. you do exercise the low end a lot. the production is pretty clear, I think you're doing everything right you can probably just put a high pass filter at ~50Hz and fix the issue. hopefully others will chime in.

thanks, i really appreciate your help with this, I've been lost for about 9 months now! i will have a look and see what i can when i get back round to it, but you clearly know more than me, so any help you could provide is much better than what i can acheive...

keep lurking the site, there are lots of people that know a lot of stuff. for general guidance on production this guy's writeups are often referenced and discussed on this forum:

http://tarekith.com/tutorials-and-reviews/

he's an active Live user and produces tracks for a very modest fee. your stuff is mostly there, he could definitely give them that extra shine and teach you how he did what he did and why. toss a few bucks his way, it'd be a great learning experience for you.

i'd love to.. how could i pay though? no credit card!

Sell him your soul!

Muhahahahaaaaaaaa

Does this happen when you convert any .wav file? How about any .wav file of the same bit depth/sample resolution as your Live exports?

no its just the ones from ableton that do it.

Tone Deft wrote:post the tune.

my guess is that the bass is too loud. some devices filter it out, some don't.

people on here will mix your tunes for $10-$20, you can afford that. contact Tarekith or Rave. some would do it for free just for practice.

tried it, just the same problem still i don't know what to do!

post your export settings.

How much headroom are you leaving? To get zero distortion for all digital to analog converters you need to have your maximum signal no higher than -0.3dB. -0.2dB is usually acceptable. For mp3's the technical amount is -1.3dB, but the distortion typically isn't noticeable on most tracks that have -0.2 or -0.3dB maximums. Yes, virtually all mp3's out there have clipping on them due to this problem.