Why do garageband exports sound so "tinny"?

Question

Level 1

34 points

Why do garageband exports sound so "tinny"?

Using garageband 10.1.0, if I import a song from itunes, then export the track as an .mp3, the .mp3 always sounds "tinny" or hollow. Forget about recordings! This is on a macbook pro retina. I've tried a lot of suggestions already, like keeping the volume levels so they don't register into the yellow or red. I also tried disabling the "export at full loudness" option. I would expect the sound to be better for a commercial song imported into GB from itunes.

So I guess the questions really is, how do I export an .mp3 and make it sound good? Or is this as good as it gets?

MacBook Pro

Posted on Aug 15, 2015 8:53 PM

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Answer 1

Aug 15, 2015 11:07 PM in response to zBernie2

Are you saying, when you play back the Song in GarageBand it sound ok but once it is exported to mp3 it sounds tinny?

Try to use the Export to Disk command in the Share menu and export it once as mp3 (with the highes setting 256) as aiff and ACC. You shouldn't here a big difference (if at all)

THen try to use the Song to iTunes and also try the 256 mp3 version and then the uncompresed option (which is AIFF) and compare them

Hope that helps

Edgar Rothermich - LogicProGEM.com

(Author of the "Graphically Enhanced Manuals")

http://DingDingMusic.com/Manuals/

'I may receive some form of compensation, financial or otherwise, from my recommendation or link.'

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Answer 2

zBernie2 Author

Level 1

34 points

Aug 16, 2015 8:10 PM in response to EdgarRothermich

Well, I'm not sure exactly what the problem was, but I was able to take a song from iTunes, add my guitar track which I copied from the tinny sounding project, and it sounds great! One thing I did was adjust the output on the MIDI control in the Apple Utilities folder. Another thing that was different, I did not have my guitar connected to the USB port of my Macbook this time. At least I know I can get a decent mp3 output.

Thanks again.

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Answer 3

zBernie2 Author

Level 1

34 points

Aug 16, 2015 11:00 AM in response to EdgarRothermich

Thanks for your help.

I tried exporting the same song using the same export settings on my iMac, and the resultant mp3 sounds fine. Again, all I did was add a song to my GarageBand project from iTunes, then export it as an mp3 with the highest settings. When I export the same song from iTunes on my Macbook, it sounds very "tinny". I'm not sure what the difference is, except on the iMac my output is two Behringer MS16 speakers connected to the audio line out, and the output on my Macbook are the small Macbook speakers. But the mp3 exported on my Macbook even sounds crappy when playing it on my iMac.

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Answer 4

Aug 16, 2015 3:13 PM in response to zBernie2

Did you try the testing I described before?

Comparing the MacBook to the iMac just tells you that your MacBook exports sound bad. Now you have to do the trouble shooting on the MacBook to find out why?

Le me know what the results are on the various exports I described

Hope that helps

Edgar Rothermich - LogicProGEM.com

(Author of the "Graphically Enhanced Manuals")

http://DingDingMusic.com/Manuals/

'I may receive some form of compensation, financial or otherwise, from my recommendation or link.'

Reply