Ableton Forum

Hello
So I just finished recording 3 songs.
I exported the 3 songs with my external souncard (focusrite Scarlett 2i2) connected,
And when I play them on Windows media player (soundcard still connected) they sound perfect, just how they sound in ableton.

However when i disconnect the external soundcard, the quality of the songs is worse than when connected.
How do i solve this problem? I want to send these songs to Some people, and they probably dont have a external soundcard so i want them to sound good on every headphobes/speakers.

Thank you!

This makes no sense. The only point where the sound card should influence the final sound is when recording (and even there the influence is much smaller than the mic you use)

For output there should be no difference.
Could it be that you have a different listening environment when you run the audio through the sound card than when you use the regular audio output with winamp?!

Space-echo93 wrote:Hello :)
So I just finished recording 3 songs.
I exported the 3 songs with my external souncard (focusrite Scarlett 2i2) connected,
And when I play them on Windows media player (soundcard still connected) they sound perfect, just how they sound in ableton.

However when i disconnect the external soundcard, the quality of the songs is worse than when connected.
How do i solve this problem? I want to send these songs to Some people, and they probably dont have a external soundcard so i want them to sound good on every headphobes/speakers.

You need to research "how can I make my mixes translate?".

antic604 wrote: As usual, more detail would be welcome, but usually with those 1st-post-ever-on-the-forum guys we won't get any follow up

Yeah seriously, what is that about?!

They care enough about their issue to find the forum, sign up and write a post, but not enough to actually check the answers?!

Attention span to short to remember?

Anything?!

Usually their questions didn't even get a good answer yet, with the little information that they gave.

Easy easy easy guys,
I know its my first post, give me Some time

So Yes i play it on the same speakers and same headphones, but still when the external soundcard is connected it sounds perfect but without the panning is not so good (for example i put the vocals to the far left and when i listen to it without soundcard they move more to the middle) The whole sound just gets a bit plain and dull. I used a master plug-in for the master track to make it punchier, could that be a problem?
Or could it be something in the mix?

It sounds like your internal sound card is playing in mono then.

I assume when you say "you export with your ext sound card then play from your int sound card" you are unplugging an audio cable from your ext sound card then to the audio output from your actual PC? I think this is where your issue will lie. What kind of connection do you have (3.5mm plug)?

It could be a sound card setting or you just are not inserting your 3.5mm plug in far enough (or there is a fault with your port).

Why not take a different approach. If it's fine when you play from your ext sound card i'd trust the actual file itself is just fine. Have you tried to play the file on an MP3 player, car stereo, anything that can play your file to compare? Also, what about playing another sound file from your internal sound card. Does it sound normal. Finally, what does the windows sound test tell you. If you do a sound test it should ding Left/Right channels separately. Does this happen of is it always in mono?

Thanks a lot, i'll try it this evening

antic604 wrote:

Stromkraft wrote:You need to research "how can I make my mixes translate?".

Does he? It sounds more like he's having a really crappy internal soundcard, or maybe has some default effects "improving" the sound coming from it, like EQ, SRS-Surround, automatic gain control, etc.

Yeah, right. And then tell everyone that are going to listen to this track to do the same?

The internal audio is simply another playback system. If the mix doesn't translate to that, it won't translate well to other crappy systems either, or even good ones.

Of course, if the hardware connection is done erroneously the results from that alone have less value as feedback.

So I played the tracks on a different Laptop and on my Phone and they sound fine.
that means it's the soundcard in my laptop or some settings in my laptop that ruin the sound I think.

So im gonna check where the problem is in my laptop

Anyways...... Thanks a lot guys, you really helped me out!

And sorry for my noobness

No need to apologize, this is why we have the forum

antic604 wrote:

Stromkraft wrote:The internal audio is simply another playback system. If the mix doesn't translate to that, it won't translate well to other crappy systems either, or even good ones.

Is it really? If you're playing music through exactly the same speakers (or headphones) connected to either your interface or to internal sound card, then I'd imagine the difference to be really negligible (assuming it's not something terribly cheap and doesn't come with bunch of effects "improving" the sound). I'm familiar with the notion of checking your mix on laptop/tablet/phone speakers, car audio, TV, hi-fi, etc. but it's a first I see someone suggests checking different sound cards. I'm genuinely curious if there is a tangible difference.

Yes, really. In this case the OP believed there was a striking difference between the two (enough to react anyway). While there's nothing wrong investigating whether there are actual errors in the set up, once you've exhausted that and have verified other music sounds good with the internal sound card you can choose to be open to that for some reason what you're doing with your mix doesn't hold up with this built-in audio. This would be true for example if you were inter-sample clipping in a way that your main audio interface tolerates, but not the internal. Which may not be the case here, but I've heard different consumer audio cards do other strange stuff like dropping elements all together when these were clearly heard in others. Quite mind-boggling.

If this was true and if these outputs were deemed all-right otherwise, as suggested previously, then your mix wouldn't be translating to a possibly common audio system of lower quality.

The difference here is that I suggest ruling out errors instead of "improving sound" with other means. Of course getting rid of errors in itself does improve sound, so I'm not against that.

antic604 wrote:

Stromkraft wrote:The difference here is that I suggest ruling out errors instead of "improving sound" with other means. Of course getting rid of errors in itself does improve sound, so I'm not against that.

Where did I advised him to "improve the sound with other means"? I was suggesting exactly the same thing - to check if his internal sound card doesn't introduce additional processing, which would alter the sound - while playing it over the same speakers - as compared to the interface. Only just now the OP confirmed that it sounds fine on different laptop & a phone, so there's indeed something 'wrong' with the sound card.

No, you're right. You asked the OP to check if there was something adding "improved sound" not suggesting to add it. I misread that crunching the text. I'm sorry about that.

But I maintain that any variation on the same system can inform you about your mixes. Therefore I find it fruitful to view all audio playback systems, also faulty ones, as likely representations of where my music may be played back. That's not to say I mix for such systems, but I listen and learn.

For example, if some PCs or specific popular playback software add "improved sound" as default then you have to face the reality that is how some consumers will listen to your music. And there's nothing you can do about this beyond listening and learn as much as you can from the experience.

Stromkraft wrote: For example, if some PCs or specific popular playback software add "improved sound" as default then you have to face the reality that is how some consumers will listen to your music. And there's nothing you can do about this beyond listening and learn as much as you can from the experience.

I guess I'm an elitist snob, but I refuse to cater to people that can't be assed to get a decent listening environment (be that a nice stereo or decent headphones) to listen to my music that I worked so hard to make and gave up so much for.

But I don't aim for becoming a star either. So there's that.

TomKern wrote:

Stromkraft wrote: For example, if some PCs or specific popular playback software add "improved sound" as default then you have to face the reality that is how some consumers will listen to your music. And there's nothing you can do about this beyond listening and learn as much as you can from the experience.

I guess I'm an elitist snob, but I refuse to cater to people that can't be assed to get a decent listening environment (be that a nice stereo or decent headphones) to listen to my music that I worked so hard to make and gave up so much for.

It's not about that. It is, as always, abut serving your song/track and learning from feedback. You can only grow as a producer with that mentality as I see it.

Save your elitism for your compositional choices instead. Break every rule. Then makes sure the piece translates.

Stromkraft wrote:

TomKern wrote:

Stromkraft wrote: For example, if some PCs or specific popular playback software add "improved sound" as default then you have to face the reality that is how some consumers will listen to your music. And there's nothing you can do about this beyond listening and learn as much as you can from the experience.

I guess I'm an elitist snob, but I refuse to cater to people that can't be assed to get a decent listening environment (be that a nice stereo or decent headphones) to listen to my music that I worked so hard to make and gave up so much for.

It's not about that. It is, as always, abut serving your song/track and learning from feedback. You can only grow as a producer with that mentality as I see it.

Save your elitism for your compositional choices instead. Break every rule. Then makes sure the piece translates.

What is there to learn from people who choose to listen to music through phone speakers for instance?!

I'm not gonna waste precious bass energy just to balance my mix so that these barbarians get a slightly less subpar representation of what my music actually is supposed to sound like.

And in the sort of music I make the sound IS the music.

And really if these people don't like that, they are free to stream someone else's music on the free tier of Spotify.