Hi there
I’ve run into a sudden problem and can’t seem to find the root of it, or a solution.
I’ve been recording some sound from within the computer so to speak (via Soundflower) and it worked great for a little while. I’m exporting different tracks as mp3, and have then imported them into iTunes to check that everything works. First few of tracks are fine and with normal volume, but the following few are incredibly low. I didn’t change anything on purpose! What did I accidentally bump? The recording volume is on highest and playback volume is where it’s always been (but that doesn’t matter when exporting anyway right?)
If I open the mp3 in Audacity again the volume sounds fine, but the soundwaves do look kinda small. Project looks the same.
Actually, comparing with the projects from earlier tonight they are much louder and with bigger soundwaves too. So it seems like it’s suddenly recording at a lower volume, but then exporting it even lower. How do I fix this?
Listening to the work during recording is important, but it’s nothing compared to getting the bouncing sound meters and blue waves right. The blue waves should be roughly half-height (50% up and down) and the red meters should bounce around -6. That’s for live performances like singing or announcing. Other types of show can be different, but not by much.
It should be possible to record a short performance, export it to MP3, import that MP3 and have nearly the same show come back. Can you do that to a ten second test?
If you can’t start out life with blue waves like those, then there’s something wrong with your show. What is the show? Where is SoundFlower getting it from?
It doesn’t matter what app I use for sound now. Just for testing I’ve tried Youtube, iTunes, Spotify… you name it, the blue waves still stay tiny and the red bar hits around -24.
I went back to see what happened if I re-recorded the parts I started with that were in fact good (taking the mp3 back into audacity the green bars hit around -12 but the blue waves look good) and now that same thing records just as bad as the rest.
The project and the mp3 looks the same, but the project itself is bad.
How can it have started out good and then just plummeted without me restarting anything (yeah I tried that once everything changed and became weird) or changing input source?
Yup, all those steps have been followed to the t. Volume is at max everywhere (system preferences as indicated in the tutorial, the apps, Soundflowers audio set up…). And everything sounds fine while recording, or just listening without Audacity (rerouting Soundflower), so the speakers haven’t died or anything. But the problem now is really that blue waves stay tiny and kinda uniform whatever I do. I suppose I can just amplify everything afterwards, but I shouldn’t have to and didn’t need to before!
Sound Siphon solved everything! Including apparently an issue with playing video where the sound got messed up sometimes. Apparently my computer does NOT like Soundflower (not even a reinstalled version).
Thank you so much!
