Exported WAV files can't be silenced

[justinburnett]

Hi

I've got an odd problem. When I export a project as a WAV file, sections which I had digitally silenced now have background noise. They're silent in project form, but hiss after export. To make sure it was a problem with the beta, I dumped the exported WAV into 1.2.6, silenced the sections again, and reexported -- sure enough, proper digital silence. This is annoying, as I suspect this extra hiss is added to the entire exported file, which constitutes a serious drop in quality. And of course I can't open the project in 1.2.6. Since I'm under a real time constraint for this track, I'll probably export it, restore the digital silence with 1.2.6, and try to ignore the extra hiss. But it would be great to have a proper solution. Has anyone else run into this problem?

Take care
-J-

[kozikowski]

Try turning off Dithering in the Audacity preferences. It's always a danger sign when people complain about this because dithering "noise" is really , really tiny. What is the show level that it's destroying your work?

If the show capture, the project specifications and the export are the same, you don't need it, but Audacity has a way of messing with data without telling you.

Koz

[justinburnett]

Thanks, Koz. I think that may have been the problem. It's true that the amount of noise introduced is fairly minor, and was likely accentuated by the fact that I was working with headphones. The problem is that I've introduced that extra noise many times while putting this project together, since it has around 200 tracks (not all at once). When I have more leasure, I'll probably dig back through and see where it crops up and deal with it. It was just unexpected, as I've been using Audacity for a decade and never encountered this particular issue. Usually silenced audio is silenced audio. That's one of the perils of using the beta, perhaps But I love the new features, so I'll keep tempting fate and offering feedback.

[steve]

Usually silenced audio is silenced audio. That's one of the perils of using the beta, perhaps

No, Audacity 1.2 does the same.
If your tracks are at a reasonably high level then the noise should be at an extremely low level. If the noise is a noticeable distraction then the overall level of the track is possibly too low.
See here for an explanation about dither: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dither