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Song volume way too low after exporting

I have been working with Logic for about a year now and I have come across a problem with one priticular song I made.


I listen to it within logic and the volume levels are fine but when I export it to iTunes, or as a standalone file the volume becomes way too low compared to other songs in my iTunes library (not made by me) I haven't had this problem before in Logic, I have messed with logic's settings as well as iTunes but nothing seems to work.


thanks

Posted on Nov 23, 2015 6:39 PM

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Posted on Mar 20, 2017 4:48 PM

It's not just a matter of turning off the 'normalise' setting. Make sure your songs are correctly mastered and mixed well. There's a reason commercial songs are so loud - they're mixed and mastered by professionals with years of experience in their respective fields. Both Logic and GarageBand record at higher bit depths than what they export at. This could be a cause of the drop in volume that is apparent when exporting audio from both GB and Logic. You can change the quality of recorded and exported audio in GarageBand preferences (and I think you can do it in Logic as well). You want to be recording at the same quality your song will export at.


If you do turn off the normalise setting, you will have to really pay attention while listening to your final mix. Make sure you hear no clipping and that the red LEDs at beside the meters don't light up. If they do, your song will sound horrible and distorted when it is exported. The correct way to produce music is that you must export the mixdown without normalisation. And make sure you're leaving plenty of headroom for the master. If you see orange (or sometimes even yellow) on the master's meter, then your level for the final mixdown is too high. Create a fresh project then import the uncompressed mixdown into the fresh project. This is your master. Apply effects until your master sounds good, increasing the volume, EQs compression and what not. Make sure you are recording at the same bit depth that the DAW exports at. For example, don't record at 24 bit then export at 16. You'll lose dynamics and I think it makes the overall project quieter when exported.

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Mar 20, 2017 4:48 PM in response to lightning1239

It's not just a matter of turning off the 'normalise' setting. Make sure your songs are correctly mastered and mixed well. There's a reason commercial songs are so loud - they're mixed and mastered by professionals with years of experience in their respective fields. Both Logic and GarageBand record at higher bit depths than what they export at. This could be a cause of the drop in volume that is apparent when exporting audio from both GB and Logic. You can change the quality of recorded and exported audio in GarageBand preferences (and I think you can do it in Logic as well). You want to be recording at the same quality your song will export at.


If you do turn off the normalise setting, you will have to really pay attention while listening to your final mix. Make sure you hear no clipping and that the red LEDs at beside the meters don't light up. If they do, your song will sound horrible and distorted when it is exported. The correct way to produce music is that you must export the mixdown without normalisation. And make sure you're leaving plenty of headroom for the master. If you see orange (or sometimes even yellow) on the master's meter, then your level for the final mixdown is too high. Create a fresh project then import the uncompressed mixdown into the fresh project. This is your master. Apply effects until your master sounds good, increasing the volume, EQs compression and what not. Make sure you are recording at the same bit depth that the DAW exports at. For example, don't record at 24 bit then export at 16. You'll lose dynamics and I think it makes the overall project quieter when exported.

Mar 21, 2017 11:09 AM in response to NerdyGuitarist

1. The change in bit depth will NOT cause a level drop.

2. As long as the OUTPUT does not go over zero, your mix will be ok to master. The individual channel strips have a ton of headroom and going into the red on an individual channel will not be a problem.

3. There is no real need to run your master output completely out of the yellow on the meter in order to have your track mastered correctly. As long as it is not going over zero, the mastering engineer can lower the gain to have whatever headroom is needed for mastering.

4. You will not lose any level going from 24 to 16 bit resolution. Zero db is the same regardless of the bit depth. You will lose resolution at the very quietest sections, but if you are doing any kind of pop music, there will be very few places that are quiet enough to be a problem.

Mar 21, 2017 11:56 AM in response to Data Stream Studio

I did say "could be the cause of the issue". I have had the same problem in the past using GarageBand but have mostly resolved my low volume issue by recording and exporting at the same bit depth - which is why I bothered to say it. I've heard of people having the same issue and solved them by synchronising the record and export bit depths as this problem messed with the dynamics of their exports. I have noticed individual tracks can go into the red without affecting the output and final export audio too much. I prefer not to allow any of my tracks to go into the red - especially the master bus. As long as the master bus isn't turned up past 0 dB, using a peak limiter will raise the overall volume without having to worry about the audio clipping.


The reason I also mentioned about having sufficient headroom on a final mixdown is because I assumed that the original poster of this thread mastered their own music. Though, I suppose that's counterproductive as anyone that masters their own music would know to leave sufficient headroom for the adjustments one makes while doing the master.


I don't currently use Logic but am looking at getting it in the near future. From what I understand, GB and Logic are rather similar but Logic is more aimed at the professional and does have more and better features.

Song volume way too low after exporting

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