Audio quality decreases on mobile device

Report · Mar 17, 2021

I'm recording in Auditon and on my computer, it sounds great, even after I export it as an MP3 file. But when I listen to the file on my phone, the audio quality drops drastically. It sort of sounds like the audio is constantly peaking, even though I know it's not. I wish I could say it's just my phone being old (it's an iPhone 7), but when I listen to music, youtube, etc. through my phone's speaker, it sounds just fine--it's only my recorded audio files that sound low quality. I have tried listening to my finished edited audio, and completely raw audio, and both have the same sound quality issue on my phone. I'm working with a ShureSM7B microhone if that makes any difference. If you have any idea why this is happening or any advice on how to fix it, I would be eternally grateful. Thank you so much!

Report · Mar 17, 2021

iPhones are format-sensitive, as far as I can make out. They seem to be rather happier with stuff that is MP4-based than MP3. And if it sounds okay in Audition on your computer, then it is your phone - but probably not for a reason you might have been thinking. There are other possibilities - what bit rate are you saving your MP3 files at?

Report · Mar 17, 2021

I was using a 24 bit rate. I tried playing the audio on an iPad as well just to triple check that it wasn't my phone speakers, and had the same sound quality issue there as well.

Report · Mar 18, 2021

Potentially the same problem - it's an Apple device. Can you post a bit of a typical file? That way we can check it on a non-Apple device that's definitely not format-prejudiced - like a Samsung, or just about any other device I can think of...