Audio recorded in multitrack quieter/lower quality than waveform

Report · May 06, 2022

Hello, thank you in advance for reading this.

I am new to using Adobe Audition for recording voiceover. I recorded two sessions using the waveform editor and they sound great. My third session I recorded in the multitrack editor as I wanted to test the function of listening to playback while recording (although I didn't end up using it), and as far as I can remember the audio sounded equally great as my other recordings when I played it back.

Now as I'm sitting down to edit the files, the recording sounds quiet, hollow, and tinny -- of a different quality than the other audios that I recorded. The only thing that I did differently was record in multitrack as opposed to waveform so I imagine that is the source of the problem. Everything else was the same (studio recording setup, microphone, mic technique, etc.).

(It's not just a playback issue either, as I've exported the audio in wav and mp3, and when played in other software the sound is equally poor. I have raw files from my other waveform sessions that sound great in those same softwares, eg Windows Media Player.)

I've tried enhancing the audio with editing and different effects but I can't get it to replicate the same rich, warm, and loud quality as the other recordings. Does anyone have any insight into this issue and/or suggestions for how I might salvage this audio?

I guess going forward I will try recording in waveform again. Hopefully that will resolve the matter otherwise I am a bit perplexed as to why one recording can come out so great and then the other come out poorly using the same setup. The reason that I switched to Audition from Audacity is that after purchasing my new mic (Blue Yeti), recording in Audacity sounded the way that this recording that I am referring to now sounds -- hollow and tinny and quiet. I was concerned that it was the mic, but when switching to Audition it sounded great...and now it sounds poor again.

Would appreciate any help or insight to ensure high quality recordings every time. Thank you!

Report · May 06, 2022

I'm not sure if there is a way to edit my post, but I just wanted to add that I was able to run a test recording in multitrack again, and this time it came out fine, of the same quality of the other good recordings (the ones recorded in waveform).

I've located the original tracks that I recorded of the problem recording, and indeed they did just record of a poorer quality and I'm not sure why. I'll be sure to test the playback going forward and make sure it's the quality that I want, but I am really stumped as to why this recording came out differently. It was a 2.5 hour recording session with video, so it's a frustrating loss.

Report · May 06, 2022

Chances are that you were trying to use Audition's monitoring, and you've ended up with what we politely refer to as digital feedback - it certainly fits the description you gave. The actual levels you get back from multitrack when you mix down may appear to be 3dB lower than you think they should be, and this has everything to do with how the pan law is set. There are a lot of threads about this already - a search will reveal them.

In general it's a lot safer to record in Multitrack, simply because it's direct to disk, rather than to a temp file, which is what happens in Waveform view. This has been known to cause a number of failures to occur, especially in systems where the temp file shares a space with the Operating System temp files. You don't actually 'save' your file until you hit the 'Save' option in Waveform, whereas in Multitrack, even files that get interrupted whilst recording are generally salvageable.

Report · May 06, 2022

Hi there,

Thank you for your feedback. By digital feedback do you mean the echo from hearing myself recorded in the headphones? If so that is not what I am referring to. I turned off monitoring for the actual recording, and when I tested this issue again under the same conditions (both with and without monitoring) there was no issue. If you meant something else by digital feedback then please clarify.

I haven’t had any problems recording in waveform but I appreciate the feedback about it being safer to record in multitrack. As it stands I am hesitant to record in multitrack due to the experience I’ve had thus far and my attempt to connect the dots. I’m still wondering if the issue might have had something to do with how the file got saved because I could’ve sworn it sounded good when I first played back my recording.

Another oddity about this particular recording experience is that my mixdown files disappeared from my Creative Cloud backup folder (which is where I was saving the original recording to). I found them in the deleted folder online on Creative Cloud. This was strange as I did not delete them. So I’m just wondering if the file was somehow compromised after recording.

Report · May 07, 2022

The one thing that we absolutely DO NOT recommend is saving original recordings to a backup folder. There is a huge clue in the name... You should only use it as a secondary storage option, as it's notoriously unreliable, what with it being connected to your computer by what amounts to a piece of wet string (the internet). All original material should be stored on something either internal, or directly connected to your machine. And when you edit material, you should always edit a copy - it's very easy to lose original material permanently if you don't, as many people have found to their cost.

The way digital feedback works is that somehow, the internal monitoring feed back from Audition gets added to what you are recording, only with a latency delay. Nothing directly to do with your headphones. What sound device are you using? This is generally more likely to be the culprit, especially if it's an internal device, where all it takes is for the recording source to be anything like 'what you hear'. In general though, it's monitoring settings that cause this.

Report · May 16, 2022

Thank you, I appreciate the help.

I am using a Blue Yeti USB microphone. I will record in waveform next time to avoid the monitoring issue.

Report · Jun 16, 2022

To update this thread...I'm not sure what happened, but after editing and mastering everything, the recording that I am referring to is somehow the superior recording. Go figure. Please forgive me for any confusion that I have caused as I am still learning!

It looks like somehow the session recorded in multitrack lent itself better to editing eg amplification, etc. Would that be a possibility or this all just a fluke?

Thank you again!