Since the most recent update, when I export a file as mp3 and then import it later to continue work on it, the peaks and troughs now fill the screen. When I save, it looks normal and when I import again, it looks like the picture. I have pretty limited knowledge and have been unable in the manuals to identify if I’ve just got something wrong in the settings but any help would be really appreciated.
It’s a lossy format… Imperfect, and it changes the wave shape and often some peaks get higher and some lower. It also adds a few milliseconds of silence to the beginning and end.
If you imported an MP3, you are making a new MP3 when you export and some “damage” accumulates and the new MP3 may have even-higher peaks.
(1) There’s an easy way to check the peaks - Run the Amplify effect and it will default to whatever up-or-down change that’s needed for normalized 0dB peaks.
i.e If it defaults to +1dB of Amplification your peaks are currently -1dB. If it defaults to -1dB (attenuation) your peaks are currently +1dB.
You can cancel the effect if you just want to check.
Thank you for your help. This was the file that I exported, and when I imported the saved mp3 of this, it opened as the first picture. The forum would only allow me to attach one photo to the previous post. I seem to have made it work OK by making the two mono tracks into a stereo track. Not sure why they were separated, that’s never happened before but combining them seems to have helped.