More sound problems with Mac executables

[Peter S]

I wonder if I am the only person who has this problem?

I have just posted the following on the Audacity forum following Ken's suggestion from am earlier post on this subject.

I have made a commentary for an Audio Visual show using 1.3.11 Beta and Lame 3.98.2 when saving as an MP3. The recording was on an iMac using an AKG C1000S mic and a "noise free" input amp. The sound quality is fine for my purposes and plays perfectly in iTunes. Mono 44100 Hz 32-bit float exported at 128 kbps Constant bit rate mode.

My current AV software (PicturesToExe) only allows me to produce AVs on a PC but can produce "Mac executables". I have several AVs with music that work OK on the Mac.

My commentary plays perfectly on the PC - as well as it does in iTunes on the MAc.

But and it is a big BUT when I add the music to the AV, create the executable I run into problems. While it runs perfectly on the PC the sound on the Mac version is terrible. It is just like a seriously slowed down version. Out of desperation I exported an OGG file. OK again on the PCbut the opposite of the MP3 - it sounded like Pinky and Perky - really fast.

Can anyone please suggest what is going on here? Better still has anyone got a solution PLEASE.

I cannot get my head around the fact that the sound plays perfectly on the Mac and on the PC it is only when it is used in the Mac executable PTE file that there is any problem. This must surely mean that PTE is having some unwanted effect on the sound file.

I also tried saving my commentary as a WAV but the result was no different.

This is quite a frustrating and potentially serious problem. It will be interesting to see if 6.5 has any impact.

Kind regards

Peter

[fh1805]

Peter,

Does the mixed-down soundtrack (i.e. music plus voice-over) play OK on its own (i.e. outside of PTE) on both the PC and the Mac? If it does, then I agree that PTE must have a part to play in your problem. If it doesn't then PTE is exonerated.

What format was the music file? Was it also 44100Hz, 32-bit float? Or have you mixed Sample rate/Sample formats within the Audacity program?

regards,

Peter

[Peter S]

Hi Peter,

The file was actually only a voice over. There was no music although I did add a very short separate piece of music at the end in the Project Options. The result is, though, the same with or without this addition.

It was 44100 32-bit float saved at 128 bps.

The sound, on its own, plays perfectly on the Mac and on the PC.

One other thing I tried was making an HD video. That plays perfectly on my iMac in Quicktime.

I am pretty convinced that something untoward is happening to the sound file in the creation of the Mac Executable.

I have been in touch with Igor and have sent him a copy of the sound file.

It remind me a bit of some of the problems that cropped up in the early days trying to get various different formats of DVD to record and play properly but this experimenting does not produce lots of "coasters"!

Kind regards

Peter

[Conflow]

Peter S,

Peter, one has to be very careful when intergrating a Mono-Voice-Over onto a Stereo-Soundtrack in Digital format.

Just 2 days ago I had a similar problem with a 'sound-clip' from the Film:- Zorba the Greek where I had to mix this

'Mono-signal' into a Stereo-Background track ~ and to be honest I had forgotten the technique I learnt years ago.

You wrote:- "There was no music although I did add a very short separate piece of music at the end in the Project"

That essentially is the kernel of the problem ~that short piece of Music~ which no doubt was a Stereo-extract.

Mixing Mono and Stereo together (irrespective of the sampling rate) will not work properly unless you fill the

empty Track (left or Right) with some data which can be tracked by the system, even a 'silence-track' will do.

Please examine the Screenshot below and I think you will get the general concept of what I am trying to say without

writing a book on the problem. Also the Mac-Utility in PTE is a very simple utility provided as an interim solution until

Igor releases the full 'Mac-Pte Program' consequently I very much doubt if it can support so-called 'Mix-down' Sounds

such as provided by Audacity and other Sound-Editors. They are simply not up to the job of 'auto-switching' Mono & Stereo.

I hope the attachment will provide you an explaination and a working solution...

Brian (Conflow)

[Peter S]

Brian,

You are a star! Using Audacity I duplicated my mono recording. Clicked on the little down facing arrow in the left hand box. Clicked "Make Stereo Track". Used this version in my show and made another Mac Executable and it worked.

You said:

"That essentially is the kernel of the problem ~that short piece of Music~ which no doubt was a Stereo-extract. Mixing Mono and Stereo together (irrespective of the sampling rate) will not work properly unless you fill the

empty Track (left or Right) with some data which can be tracked by the system, even a 'silence-track' will do."

This is not quite the case. I did say "There was no music although I did add a very short separate piece of music at the end in the Project" but I also said "The result is, though, the same with or without this addition."

So it appears that the converter simply does not like mono tracks.

I am, as ever, most grateful for your excellent advice.

I will write to Igor to let him know as he asked me to send a copy of my sound file to him. It would be worthwhile putting a warning on this site telling people about the problem with mono recordings. Perhaps one of the moderators will pick this up.

Kind regards

Peter

[Conflow]

Peter,

Many thanks for your reply ~ I'm pleased it all worked for you. Here is a little additional information...

Professional Sound-Editors have many advanced features such as 'Blend/Converters' whereas our Sound-Editors

such as Audacity and Audition have to make some software assumptions, here is one example:-

When they encounter a 44.kHz Soundtrack that is 'assumed' to be a Stereo-Track and consequently the software

is looking for 2 individual tracks. The software is not concerned whether its true Stereo or not, its only concern

is that 2 tracks factually exist ~ one could be Music and the other could be a Silence-track.(which is=2 tracks).

As a postscript:- Its really nothing to do with Igor, but as you say, it would be nice if a 'Cautionary Note' was included

in the Mac-Pte Documentation. Having said that, had your Soundtrack been played on a 3rd-party Player such as

WinAmp or Spider-Player it would have failed to play. Unknown to most the "post-edit" playback in Audacity is simply

a composite scanned preview whereas the "Audacity Exported-StereoTracks" would contain all the meta-tags for each

channel, but it cant do that if one channel is missing. (Simple Editors have this problem when mixing Mono & Stereo).

Brian (Conflow)

[Guest Yachtsman1]

Hi

I think this an obscure problem, full marks for Brian for spotting it, but most of us I believe use multiple recordings in Audacity, which are then mixed down to a single stereo MP3 track befor using in PTE. I have had similar problems composing complex sound tracks containg stereo & mono tracks, particularly using sound effects from sound snaps which are sometimes mono. However these usually show up when reviewing your composition before exporting as an MP3 stereo track. Maybe it could be mentioned in the sound track FAQ of PTE.

Yachtsman1

[Igor]

Peter,

Thanks! There was a bug in slideshow engine for Mac. It incorrectly plays mono audio files. We just fixed this bug for the next version 6.5.

As temporal solution please use stereo audio files as it recommended above.

[Peter S]

Igor,

I think the thanks are due to you and Brian. Brian for spotting the mono problem and you for your quick action in correcting the bug for 6.5. It is always pleasing when problems are identified and solved so quickly through the forum. There are not many other pieces of software where this would have been the case.

Brian,

Thanks for the additional information. I knew from your previous guidance in sorting out my PC that you where a whizz in that area are you also a Mac magician?

Kind regards

Peter

[Peter S]

For anyone doing any new recordings I have found the easiest solution to the Mono/Stereo issue. If you go into Audacity/Preferences you will see a screen such as the attached.

You can set this so that all your recordings using a mono mic are automatically presented with a duplicate track and recorded as if they were stereo. Similar screen for PC under Edit/Preferences

For old mono recordings Brian's solution is a gem.

I have found that the sound recorded with a mic on my iMac is far cleaner than anything I can produce on my PC. I have just done some testing using exactly the same mic and set up and the iMac is way better. I suppose it has a lot fewer whiry electric bits and pieces. I am using quite a decent mic and an input amp from Howard Gregory that is extremely low noise. Still I am very pleased, and a bit surprised, with the result.

Kind regards

Peter

[Conflow]

Peter,

Firstly, I must apologise to you in advance for the following 'Audacity Warning Notes' which I must

add as a 'caviat' to all others who have been reading this Topic so far.

1)

Peter is using the latest (stable) version of Audacity which is V.1.3.11 which demands the usage of

the Lame-Encoder V.3.98.2.

2)

The newer version V.1.3.12 (Beta) has known 'bugs' which cause unusual problems with all versions

of XP, although Sound-Forge has now released a "fixed" version of the Program ~ but still in Beta.

3)

The good V.1.3.11 Program MUST BE INSTALLED into your Programs Folder which is a root-directory

Folder, but installation into any other Folder may cause the Program to go unstable. (80% probability)

4)

The new Lame-Encoder V.3.98.2 WILL NOT WORK properly with older versions of Audacity below V.1.3.0.

If your version is V.1.2.xx up to V.1.3.0 use the Lame-Encoder V3.97.

I had not intended to open any discussion's about Audacity but in the light of Peters goood recommendation

above where he is using Audacity V.1.3.11 whereafter others may be tempted to download the latest Audacity

(Beta) ~ don't do it unless you are fully aware of the consequences as shown below.

Brian (Conflow)

For those who want more data:-

Link below:-

http://sourceforge.net/projects/audacity/files/