I need some advice on things to try when exporting my Sonar files to RIFF wave, MP3 or AIFF. Currently, I can get a pretty decent sounding mix when playing within the Sonar environment, but my .wav and .mp3 files sound terrible compared to it: somewhat muffled and bass heavy.

I'm using Sonar 3 Producer with Reason 3.0. Basically, I create tracks in Reason, then export as AIFF into Sonar. They sound incredible. Vocals and live inst. are added and sound great. Mix down occurs (export audio) and it sounds nothing like what I mixed.

My soundcard is M-Audio Delta Audiophile 2496. Would this be a soundcard issue? I'm not familiar with the differences between MME, ASIO and DX, but does one work better than the other? Could this be the culprit? Any other settings within SONAR I should be looking to tweak?

Help!! Thanks, everyone!

DJ

What app are you using to play back the .wav files? If it's Windows Media Player that's probably your problem right there. It has all kinds of settings that can torture and destroy your audio. (Compression, EQ, SRS, etc., none of them any good.) Try importing your .wav back into SONAR and playing it. If it sounds OK it's your player.

Regards,

John

I am actually using MediaPlayer Classic... an app that runs all kinds of media.. Most everything else sounds good, just not my mixes.. hmm...

dj

Greetings David,

This might be due to your settings on mixdown. I've found the "What You Hear" preset the easiest to use when exporting audio.

Regards,
David

Dcastle's probably right - it's your export settings and/or what you're selecting to export (specific tracks, busses, etc).

Just out of curiosity, exactly what does butt sound like?

ORIGINAL: stevec

Dcastle's probably right - it's your export settings and/or what you're selecting to export (specific tracks, busses, etc).

Just out of curiosity, exactly what does butt sound like?

Butt sounds like this----> (_l_)

If playing back thru Windows Media Player, make sure you turn off the equalizer.

Have you tried turning down the BUTT knob?

Perhaps the SUCK knob is on ten?

Actually the SUCK knob is located inside the BUTT tab .

Hmm.... when the export window opens, everything is checked... busses, effects, etc. I'm a songwriter, not an engineer, so I would assume that I want them all checked, no? Please forgive my inexperience.

Also, it's great to read what others think 'butt' sounds like... they're all correct... and then some.

Thanks for the input. If you can shed further light, that'd be great.

DJ