Help: Audio file plays too slow

Cubase
1

Hello. Trying to import an audio file into my project. Seems no matter what settings I choose it plays at half speed or something and will only speed up if I increase song tempo. How do I get it to play correctly. File is 44.1/24 bit and my project is 48hz/16 bit. Help

2

Hi,

It does that because the sample rate of the file isn’t the same as the project’s.
You must go into the Pool and convert the file so it matches the project sample rate.

Normally when you import a file it opens a dialog box that asks if you want to convert, but if for some reason you have clicked “Do not ask again.”, then it won’t open anymore. You can revert this in Preferences.

3

Thank you but I did get the dialogue and I did select both checkboxes. It converts it but it still plays slow unless I increase the tempo of the song?

4

Then you probably have Musical Mode enabled for this file. Please make sure it is disabled. This setting is located in the Pool or in the Info Line when you select the Event.

If you want to work with Musical Mode, the original tempo of the file needs to be informed in the Pool. If your file is 120 bpm and it is set to 140 in the Pool, then Cubase will think it is really 140 bpm, so in that example, setting the Project Tempo to 120 will play the file slower since it will try to reduce its tempo by 20 bpm.

5

File was 3 min 44/24 wav file, project was 48/16. No matter what I tried, including putting the track in musical mode, when Cubase imported the file it stretched it to over 5 min long and when played back it played back sloooooow. I had to change the file size to 16 bits in Audacity and re-save. Then when importing into cubase i checked the box to convert to 48 khz to match project and cubase imported it correctly.

6

Sorry for the late answer.
I’m glad you sorted it out, however I don’t think bit depth would play a role in this, as it is converted in real time during playback.

The project bit depth only sets the bit depth of the files that are created when recording.
It is totally possible to have files with different bit depths in a project.