Tonight I was mixing down a demo track, and once again realized something that has been bugging me for quite some time: Is it just me, or is the sound that you hear in garage band somewhat inferior to the sound of the final product? When I listen to the final track in iTunes, everything sounds so clear compared to the way it sounds in garage band, and the mix is ever so slightly different. It may be just me and the fact that I'm a ridiculously picky and perfectionistic (if that's even a word) person.
If anyone else has noticed this let me know. Or if its supposed to be like this, let me know too. Thanks GB forum pals.
Normally people complain about the opposite: the mixdown being inferior to the GB sound (due to clippings and the fact that GB uses more bits internally). So no, I haven't noticed that if I don't use an extra filter like a compressor which I might not be able to listen to in GB due to CPU load.
Are you sure you don't have your EQ in iTunes turned "ON"? If so, of course it's going to sound different. Turn it off, and it should sound about the same.
Although, i have a slight hunch that GB automatically adds some slight compression when importing to iTunes (maybe just for a novice sake). I could be wrong, but it sure seems like it.
hey, thanks for the input. It took me forever to check this again because apparently the forums were down last night, then today I was in class all day. I do have my EQ in iTunes turned on, but I've just noticed the overall crispness of the sound recording seems to be enhanced, everything sounds slightly tighter in mixdowns. I think GB does add some compression of its own to the files, I also use compressors on most things, usually just for the sake of taking care of sound wave spikes and such things.
I'm pretty sure you're right about the automatic compression thing though.
iTunes also has the "Sound Enhancer" setting, which seems to be kind of an aural exciter type of processing. This could also contribute to the difference you hear.