when I export the recorded vocals to my computer and then listen to them on my computer the music and vocals are distorted. What can be the problem and how can i fix this?
Exported from where?
Is it possible that it was recorded too loud and it’s clipping?
Export from audicity to my computer. I’ll try to record on lower volume to see if this helps. Tha ks
Why not run Audacity on the computer itself and open the file in the format that you exported? This will allow a comparison with your media player and also show clipping problem or other issues.
I’ve tried this but it doesn’t solve the problem unfortunately.
Thanks for replying. I run audicity on my computer. It sounds great on audacity. But when i export and save it as mp3 in a folder on my computer and then open it to listen to it it sounds horrible. I can’t find a solution for this problem.
Try to export as WAV or AIFF (both are uncompressed formats) and look (or hear) how it sounds. You can then convert WAF/AIFF to MP3 using any other (online) converter.
And maybe you could show us how the waveform of your recording in Audacity looks like?
It has emerged that you are exporting the recording as an mp3 file. There are a number of quality settings in the export dialogue which will change the level of compression. Please tell us what settings you are using or take the advice of romontschun and try an uncompressed format.
First try exporting as WAV which is uncompressed and lossless.
But “regular” (integer) WAV files are hard-limited to 0dB and will clip if you “try” to go over.
If the WAV sounds OK, try a higher quality MP3. The “best” MP3 setting is Constant Bitrate at 320kbps.
Or it could still be a clipping problem. Audacity uses floating-point internally so the data isn’t clipped until its exported. (You can still clip your DAC from Audacity if you play it at full-volume.)
If you happen to be mixing (such as mixing vocals and a backing track) the separate tracks may not be clipped but mixing is done by summation so the exprrted mix can clip. In that case Show Clipping won’t “show red” to warn you.
A work-around is to temporarily export as WAV 32-bit float. Open the WAV file and run the Amplify or Normalize effect and accept the default. That will bring the peaks down to a “safe” level and you can export as MP3, etc.
Note that if you have Show Clipping enabled, it will show red if the floating-point data goes over 0dB so sometimes it’s just showing potential clipping and the waveform isn’t clipped (yet). Show Clipping is just looking at the levels. It’s not looking at the waveshape so you can get false positives and false negatives.
…If none of that helps, please give us more details about what you are doing, including any effects you are using, etc.