sound issues when mixing down to WAV

Cubase
1

When mixing a project down to WAV, it sounds horrible. I am not sure how to describe it but the EQ is boomy and the overall sound is reverberant; nothing like the way it sounds in Cubase.

After some research, it seemed related to audio playback programs playing 16 bit. It is a 32 bit float project however I have tried mixing it down to 16 bit with no change. The strange thing is it sounds horrible in iTunes and Windows Media Player but normal in a program called Groove Music. I have used Cubase a lot over the years with countless mixdowns and have never experienced this.

Any thoughts?

2

check you file export settings > try exporting in another format and that batch export is not selected

3

Thanks for the reply. I am no longer able to export in MP3 as this is Cubase 7 Elements with a trial period for that. Which format do you recommend that a normal audio player could read?

I don’t see an option for batch export in the export audio window. Should I be looking somewhere else? I have learned that I should apologize ahead of time for not being well versed in how to do everything. Over the years, I still use only basic functions for recording and mixing.

4

You won’t find batch export as it’s only in pro version.

Don’t export to 32bit float if you want to play in WMP iTunes etc… Export to 44.1 or 48k at 16 or 24bit

If you still have the issue and wanted to upload a short section of wav somewhere that can be downloaded I could take a look.

5

Thanks for the help. I have tried exporting it as 44.1k @ 16 and 24 bit with no change.

6

Media player (and iTunes maybe to) have audio dsp enhancement plugins built-in, check if they are active.
You should disable them for proper playback.

And consider a dither plugin in your master-bus as last plugin (in slot 8) when doing a mixdown from 32 > 16bit.

7

Thank you. Since I wasn’t going for an actual ‘master’ I did not consider dithering. That could point me in the right direction.

8

Dithering is not the issue here, check your system audio output settings. Sounds like you have some DSP going on, like a headphone surround or something.

9

Well the issue ended up being related to my soundcard or audio hardware which I had to change from the device manager. I didn’t think this was the case since it was playing great in one program. All I can say is that my new Dell comes with some strange configurations that are less the logical. Apparently this is a pretty common problem that and was able to find instruction on correcting it on yet another forum. I am glad it wasn’t Cubase and that I am basically just a moron.

Thanks for the responses and help.