Clips overlapping after Mixdown or Bounce in Multitrack (Despite No visible Overlap)

Question

Hi,I'm building a file that contains a sequence of multiple 1-second audio files (e.g., sweeps, harmonics, noise bursts). In the Multitrack editor, I’ve aligned them side by side, with Snap to Clip Edges enabled and no intentional overlap or crossfade between them.However, every time I try to combine them—whether by:Bounce to New Track > Selected Clips,Export Mixdown, orusing Merge Clips…the resulting file shows visible and audible overlap between signals, especially at the transitions (see spectrogram). All files were generated with “Effect > Generate > Tones”, duration 1 second. I’ve:Disabled global clip stretchingDisabled all fades and crossfadesDisabled smoothing of edit boundaries in PreferencesTried adding a 5ms gap between all files in my track before bouncingTried adding 1ms fade-in fade-out in my clipsDespite this, there is still consistent spectral and temporal overlap in the output file. For my use case, I need the signals to remain perfectly adjacent, sample-accurate, without any blending at the boundaries.Is there a hidden render setting or internal behavior that could be causing this? Any workaround to preserve precise, gapless alignment on export would be very much appreciated. Thanks!

SteveG_AudioMasters_ · Accepted Answer

Or you could just do what everybody else does - fade to zero between each one and use Snap to Zero Crossings.

SteveG_AudioMasters_ · Answer

"For my use case, I need the signals to remain perfectly adjacent, sample-accurate, without any blending at the boundaries."

What you are asking for is pretty much impossible to achieve. What I suspect is happening is that you have DC level shifts between each clip, and what you are seeing is the spectrum of a step change when they occur. Even if you put digital silence between each clip you are likely to have the same problem - you will still be putting instantaneous step changes in level into the file, and these will have the spectrum of the leading edge of a square wave - harmonics in theory extending up to infinity. The only way to avoid this is to make sure that the waveforms in your resultant file cross at zero points - this is what the 'Snap to Zero Crossings' setting in the snap menu is for. But with tones following on from other tones, it's very unlikely that it will work correctly. Baically you're up against the Laws of Physics....

What exactly are you trying to achieve?

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