I'm at a last fuse, collaborating has been a pain in the ass because of this.
 
If I export a track and import it back in there is a small lag from the imported track???
 
blob:https%3A//mail.google.com/985ff846-b11f-45d2-b69c-09ddfb6a9f84
 
UPDATE:It seems to be only when I do it with mp3? Another observation is that any track I import seems to have a slightly different wav line at the very start(~30ms)
 
Need help
 
Regards,
 
Cian

What format are you exporting as? ie mp3, wav...? and what format are you getting back to import?

Since I am the one collaborating with Cian, any response would be appreciated !

Update:
If I export the file in wav and return in wav it is fine, if export in mp3 and return in mp3 there is about a 50ms lag present.
 
Another observation, if i import any song into my DAW there is a slight difference in the baseline of the wav at the very start like 30ms or so, has anyone seen this?
 
Cian
 
 

That is the nature of mp3
http://lame.sourceforge.net/tech-FAQ.txt
 

Thanks,that makes sense ,how does everybody else collaborate,everyone else wav those files instead of mp3? lots of  people collaboarate here
 
Cian

I use wav

use WAV or FLAC.
Increasing the MP3 bitrate to the point where I would want to work with it makes the MP3 not that much smaller than FLAC.
I have not however, exported then imported a FLAC file. It may be that any encoding/decoding causes timing offsets. (which makes sense for MP3...not sure about FLAC).
If I collaborate with another Sonar user, I simply zip the project and share that. For collaboration with non-Sonar users or to move to/from Cubase for example, I use broadcast WAVs.
 

thanks fellas, important
 
Cian

As mentioned above, mp3 file encoding leads to variations in start time. If using mp3 (which is enticing for its size), it is best to put a well-defined transient on the lead of stems/tracks as applicable. This still requires alignment and a lead on the song, but I also use loop markers on the song (or sections I want) to not rewind to zero (i.e. rewind to loop start).
 
Broadcast wavs are best, but size may be problematic with free services that only allow finite bandwidth usage.