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  • MIR recorded output normalized.

    I recorded a series of compositions in the Mozartsaal for solo violins harpsichord etc. The resulting amplictude of the sound file waveform was almost minimal. I normalized the file and I noticed that the solo violins began to distort with a metalic ring. I rerecorded the sound file and increased the volume between 300 and 400 percent about 12 db and the distortion had disappeared. Is there a optimum volume increase for these files without causing distortion?

    Regards, 

    Stephen W. Beatty


  • The optimum volume in the world of digital audio is always as loud as possible, but without distorting anything. :-)

    Stephen, this sounds like a very peculiar problem, not something necessarily inherent to MIR. Any chance to send me snippets of both the original and the normalized file (preferably WAVs, no MP3s)?

    BTW - a good way to deal with low volumes of an arrangement (apart from using the master volume fader) is to group all instruments and increase their individual levels (... I've given a short description yesterday in this thread: [URL]http://community.vsl.co.at/forums/t/25666.aspx[/URL] ).

    Kind regards,


    /Dietz - Vienna Symphonic Library
  • MIR is very low volume. I always start with the "default" settings and I tend to adjust few of them. At the end the mix is not strong so you need to use a lot of post compression and processing (using Vienna suite or else).

    But my "issue" would be that MIR may have a feel of weakness in the performance sound. It misses some punch. I tried a lot of things to compensate. Adventure on Earth is greatly mixed to me (maybe a little bit too metallic) and I never got the chance to get to this level yet... So it also my fault :)

    I hope MIR Pro will add venue such TOD :)

    And definitly I hope MIR Pro will come out someday....as I'm tired of midi latency and audio wiring...

    Cheers!


  • Ramu, MIR is working with 32bit FP throughout its whole signal path, so nothing is wrong with raising the overall Output Volume if your mix seems to be to low when using the Natural Volume default settings.

    Alternatively you could switch of Natural Volume when adding an instrument  and adjust its volume according to your needs. Another option would be MIR's Group-feature: If you want to bring all your instruments up to a value that makes sense for your arrangement, but without losing the relation between them (and without doing it by hand), just create a Group in the Group Editor, select Volume as the grouped aspect for all instruments in your arrangement, and change the volume to values that are just low enough to avoid overloading during the loudest part.

    That said, there's nothing wrong with compression on single instruments and/or the master bus. :-)

    Kind regards,


    /Dietz - Vienna Symphonic Library
  • PS: Regarding your wish for a typical scoring stage: Like I've already mentioned in another thread, we were allowed to capture one of the most prestigious orchestral sound stages in continental Europe, Teldex Berlin. We recorded over 6000 individual impulse responses in this first class studio. They will be available for MIR in autumn.

    [URL]http://www.teldexstudio.de/en/start.html[/URL]

    [IMG]http://www.teldexstudio.de/images/studio_foto/saal1_large.jpg[/IMG]


    /Dietz - Vienna Symphonic Library
  • Hi Dietz, 

    Grouping the ensemble and then increasing the volume works like a charm and yields a recorded audio file that needs no additional normalization. The distortion that I was hearing, still is heard while recording but is not present in the playback of the audio file. I suspect the distortion is either comming from the headphone amp in the presonus light pipe or some rendering issue in Logic 9. The MIR audio chain will not distort even if you crank the group volume to its max (6.0dB)  and record a audio file at that level. MIR always exceeds my expectations and solves real mixing and recording problems so you can concentrate on composing music.

    Regards,

    Stephen W. Beatty

    PS. Looking forward to using the new venues. 


  • Good to hear that your problems are solved, and thanks for the friendly words! :-)

    One word of caution, though: MIR _will_ distort (like every other digital audio application) as soon as the output signal level exceeds 0 dB FS. This is the maximum amplitude a digital/analogue-converter is able to reconstruct.

    Kind regards,


    /Dietz - Vienna Symphonic Library
  •  A file with a very very low level might sound aliased or distorted when brought up in volume (normalized), as effectively, you've lowered the bit rate of the recording.


  • In principle you're right, but as long as you do this in the 32bit FP domain, you should be safe.


    /Dietz - Vienna Symphonic Library