FAQ: Preventing Audio Drop Outs While Editing

[Kevin-Monahan]

Are you experiencing audio drop outs as you are playing back your sequence? I hope I can assist you in avoiding an irritating issue known as audio underrun. 

NLE apps, in general, are quite finicky when it comes to audio. You need to consider your own workflow when experiencing such problems. Are you optimizing these files before editing with them? Is your workflow considering other bottlenecks that may prevent smooth audio playback? These kinds of things are worth considering should you be experiencing audio playback problems.

In general, I have prevented such audio underrun issues in my own workflow by following a number of guidelines that were taught to me by pro-level trainers and from my experience as an editor over the years. I hope they help.

Here are guidelines that come to mind:

• Make sure the audio sample rate in Sequence Settings matches clip properties precisely.
• Avoid highly compressed audio media, like .mp3 files. 
  • Transcode these files to .wav or .aif using Media Encoder, Audition, or a third-party file conversion software like Apple Compressor, EditReady, or Shutter Encoder (freeware).
• Download only .wav and .aif audio files or transcode them. Random files downloaded from the internet often contain highly compressed audio media which is not optimal for video editing.
  • If necessary, transcode these files.
• Avoid editing audio-video clips that are highly compressed unless they are transcoded to an editing codec.
  • Consider editing with audio-video files that are transcoded to an editing codec, like ProRes, DNxHR, or GoPro Cineform to prevent bottlenecks that may affect audio underrun brought about by compressed audio-video media, like H.264/HEVC (Long GOP media). 
    • Working with Long GOP media can tax the system to the point where audio can drop out, especially if it contains a variable frame rate.
    • Editing codecs operate at lower overhead, so audio is more performant and less likely to experience underrun.
    • Transcoding audio-video files transcodes the audio to an appropriate audio codec that uses lower overhead.
• Increase the I/O Buffer Size in Preferences/Settings > Audio Hardware.
• Avoid the use of any devices that come into contact with audio that are not high speed capable. 
  • Bluetooth and USB 2 connected devices come to mind.
• Ensure that media cache is located on a separate high-speed drive, like an SSD.
• Delete media cache between major versions. Press Shift at launch to get Reset Options dialog box. Delete media cache from here.
• Review system requirements: You may need to exceed system requirements given the media you are working with. Ensure you have the latest drivers installed for your GPU and other hardware devices that are coming into contact with audio you are playing back. System requirements increase with successive versions of Premiere Pro.
• Reset preferences: reset preferences periodically to make sure that they are corrupt. Note: you may want to back up any custimizations, like keyboard shortcuts before doing so. Press Shift at launch to get Reset Options dialog box. Reset preferences from here.

If you have tried the above advice and it is still not helping with audio underrun, create a new thread with system specs and the media you are working with, and we can help you design a workflow that is resistant to audio underrun.

I hope the advice helps!

Thanks,
Kevin

[Michael Grenadier]

Thanks Kevin.  Great summary of "best practices" for avoiding audio issues.   Premiere is an amazing tool and you can throw almost anything at it which is not always a good idea.  

[Christian.Z]

Thanks Kev, that's very helpful

[Kevin-Monahan]

Glad you think it's helpful. When I trained at Avid Bootcamp in the '90s, it was even an issue back then. I have always been wary of audio as it always seems to have a set of special issues that do not occur with the video portion of A/V clips or video only clips.

Cheers,
Kevin

[gvsuk]

Hi Kevin, I have had this issue since upgrading to 2021 and since 2022 and now 2023 hoping this could somehow be fixed? I am shooting and editing mainly conferences where the files can be quite long. Once on the timeline and I start to edit it starts the drop-out issue randomly. The audio levels drop to zero and scrubbing the timeline does nothing. Then suddenly the audio comes back and the levels work as they should. I have had many remotes from Adobe without any success. However, I notice that if I unlink the vid/audio and then render and replace that audio and then re-link with video it all works fine? My PC is Windows 10, 32gb Ram, i9 Intel, 3050 RTX. so well above spec! I always delete Media Cache files before starting a new project so I dont think its that causing the issue? Glad for any help please? Thanks

[Kevin-Monahan]

What camera and format are you using?

Thanks,
Kevin

[Michael Grenadier]

What kind of drives are you using and how are they connected to your PC and are you making sure there is PLENTY of empty space of your media drives... a minimum of 10% on all drives and a minimum of 20% on your startup drive...  Also, drives can get corrupted and start becoming less efficient...  sometimes getting a new drive or reformatting an existing drive and copying your media to the reformatted drive can solve these problems.   And are you running ANY other programs at the same time?  Try restarting and do not run any other programs and see if that makes a difference...

You might also create a new windows user with administrative priveleges... Things can get screwy with user accounts and a new user can sometimes straighten things out

And go to your audio hardware settings and set the input to none...  This sometimes helps audio problems.  

And Kevin's right about the avchd issue...  Try making proxies with something like one of the formats Kevin suggests...  Prores proxy is my go to choice...  I work on both macs and windows...  The only downside to prores formats is that although they work just fine in premiere and other adobe products (as far as I know) on windows, they don't natively run on windows so if you need to take your project into something like davinci resolve on windows, you won't be able to...  The proxy workflow in premiere works great and allows smoother playback than you'll get with avchd files AND when you export, Premiere will go back to the camera original...  If any of this isn't clear post back...

[gvsuk]

Hi Keven thanks for replying.

I have been using Sony NX5R which record in AVCHD format producing .MTS files. This is the same format I have used for last 8 years without issues in previous versions of premiere. One of the "Tech" guys at Adobe actually told me to revert back to earlier versions as since 2021 Premiere has had so many Bugs like this one! Its almost as if the audio files linked to the video are getting lost and found again? 

If you know anyone that would be happy to remote my computer to see the problem, or talk me through by phone, I am more than happy to do so? I am even happy to pay someone to sort it! Adobe "Tech" a waste of time for me. Thanks again

[gvsuk]

I have tried playing these files in other programs like Pinnacle and FCP throuch a friends system and no loss of audio. I am convinced it is an Adobe issue but cannot find where? 

[Kevin-Monahan]

Hey there,

I'm afraid I don't have an exact answer for you, only a theory. These other companies use different encoder/decoder software, so that is why the experience may be different in those products.

AVCHD is a problematic format, that I believe is related to the embedded audio. I think it is ac3 audio which requires the OS to decode it. There could be a bug there with the OS and Premiere Pro, but I'm only theorizing.

You may want to check out Shutter Encoder, which has the capability to transcode the audio in place for these files.

Personally, I would transcode these files before working with them using Project Settings > Ingest and choose ProRes or ProRes LT as the codec. Things should go much more smoothly after doing so.

Again, it's really an educated guess as to what's going on with your workflow, however, try a test and see if these suggestions might work better for you.

Thanks,
Kevin

[gvsuk]

OK Kevin, thanks anyway for your help