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GraceAndCorbett
Inspiring
Oct 26, 2023 12:20 AM UTC
Answered

Audio Scratchy/Distorted Inconsistently in Timeline and Export

We have an 11-episode series, 30 min apiece, each ep is a project within a production. Some of the video footage is from Zoom interviews or phone cameras, and the audio from these two sources has become increasingly glitchy upon playback in Premiere Pro 2024, or upon export to H264.  Now the problem is eating into other audio types that are perfectly high-fi.

Media cache has been completely emptied, audio input set to 'None'.

-If I reboot the PC, the problem is sometimes fixed

-If I restart Premiere, the problem is sometimes fixed

-If I cut the glitchy sequence and then paste it back again, the problem is sometimes fixed

-Some portions of the same source footage will glitch within the timeline/export, while others will not

-Some Zoom interviews will glitch within the timeline/export, while others with identical codec will not

 

PC specs:

Upgraded to Premiere Pro 2024

Windows 10 Pro v22H2, 64-bit

HP Z840 workstation

Intel(R) Xeon(R) CPU E5-2667 v3 @ 3.20GHz 3.20 GHz (2 processors)

64 GB RAM (52 allocated to Premiere)

Upgraded GPU GeForce RTX 3070

 

Not aware of a way to reinterpret the audio like we do the color space. Please help!

GraceAndCorbett
GraceAndCorbettCorrect answer
Inspiring
Oct 27, 2023 4:29 PM UTC

OK Adobe, here's how dumb this glitch is proving to be:

-Source audio 32k

-Subsequence setting 48k

-Master sequence setting 48k

-Export setting 48k

The above gives the robot voice scratchy audio quality

BUT if I simply change the master sequence setting to 44.1k, the export is fine.

The audio rate now looks like this: 32k->48k->44.1k->48k

This is basically the equivalent of shaking a vending machine, or thunking an old TV.

17 replies

Participant
Nov 3, 2024 11:53 PM UTC

Has anyone else experienced this with 2025 Premiere Pro? I tried these fixes but they aren't working and I'm getting audio that is coming through in what can best be described as bullets. 

 

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Participant
Nov 28, 2024 5:25 PM UTC

Just export with media encoder and it should be fine since it worked for me even at 48k

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Participant
Sep 12, 2024 2:50 PM UTC

This post is from 2023 but I'm having thу exact same issues with audio a year later 🤦‍♀️ 

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Participant
Nov 12, 2023 8:57 PM UTC

Absolute godsend, I only found my audio was screwed after publishing 3 videos with 5 more in the pipeline for scheduled  release because they sounded fine in Premiere.
No idea what they changed from 2023 to 2024 but it's clearly not handled by the project conversion.

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GraceAndCorbett
GraceAndCorbettAuthorCorrect answer
Inspiring
Oct 27, 2023 4:29 PM UTC

OK Adobe, here's how dumb this glitch is proving to be:

-Source audio 32k

-Subsequence setting 48k

-Master sequence setting 48k

-Export setting 48k

The above gives the robot voice scratchy audio quality

BUT if I simply change the master sequence setting to 44.1k, the export is fine.

The audio rate now looks like this: 32k->48k->44.1k->48k

This is basically the equivalent of shaking a vending machine, or thunking an old TV.

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Participant
Sep 26, 2024 7:20 PM UTC

Thank you much for your contribution! This helped me to solve my problem 

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GraceAndCorbett
Inspiring
Oct 26, 2023 5:29 PM UTC

Interesting- that was the piece I wasn't sure about, the reformat of the audio needs running through Media Encoder. Bummer, because yes there is a ton of footage- only some of it is giving this issue, and only some of the time though, which is very annoying.

The main body of footage is 29.97 mp4 from a Canon C200, but of course like any modern show it incorporates footage from a variety of phones, zoom meetings, etc. Thanks for the feedback, and I'll keep trucking. Would be lovely to have someone at Adobe let me know why this problem is so unpredictable and why it seems to get worse with time.

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Remote Index
Oct 26, 2023 5:17 PM UTC

GraceandCorbett,

 

Your updates and response suggest this is a sample rate conversion problem of some sort.

 

Based on that, I suggest you could do transcodes of all your source media using Adobe Media Encoder - maintaining the same visual codec and format parameters (or slightly better) but setting all audio to your final sequence sample rate. You could then relink these new media clips to your timeline.

 

This may or may not be feasible or attractive depending on the amount of source footage you have, but you could do a test of a few clips (transcode and relink) - keeping all original media and duplicating your sequence to test.

 

But I may be getting ahead of myself -  I do wonder about the format of your original footage. Any chance it is variable frame rate?

 

R.

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GraceAndCorbett
Inspiring
Oct 26, 2023 1:34 PM UTC

UPDATE 4 (just trying to create a breadcrumb trail for whoever has this same issue later):

-Have changed subsequence audio setting to 44.1kHz instead of 48, exported perfectly. Exported from master sequence that contains that subsequence, which is still at 48kHz, exported perfectly. Trying to export entire episode now at 48k with the subsequences that were affected by scratchiness all at 44.1.

-Another episode is having a similar problem, but it's in the master sequence where the music (audio tracks 3-5) is all scratchy now. Likewise setting that master sequence to 44.1k (same as source audio files) to see if that fixes. Will still need to ultimately master at 48k audio, so final solution still missing.

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GraceAndCorbett
Inspiring
Oct 26, 2023 1:18 PM UTC

Thanks so much for taking the time and sharing the advice, R. Trying it now...

Progress- MOSTLY solved the scratchiness, though there's still a spike of scratch at the beginning of each clip within the sequence. Appreciated, still looking for the final solution (not the lethal one).

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Remote Index
Oct 26, 2023 1:03 PM UTC

Hello GraceAndCorbett,

 

I don't have any perspective on what might be causing this issue, but I have one suggestion which may help you get your material exported. You could use the "render and replace" command before exporting.

 

I would stress that you should duplicate your sequences and only perform this on duplicate sequences (maintaining your originals for future revisions / reference). Select your audio clips and perform "render and replace". Then try playback (to make sure it sounds correct). Then try export.

 

R.

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Participant
Sep 26, 2024 7:17 PM UTC

This has actually helped me, thanks!

 

 

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GraceAndCorbett
Inspiring
Oct 26, 2023 12:32 PM UTC

UPDATE 3:

-Rebuilt a sub-sequence from the source footage by double clicking in the timeline and then dragging the source monitor onto the timeline, sounds fine in timeline performance BUT IT'S AS SCRATCHY AS EVER IN EXPORT! Dying inside.

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