Incorrect audio pitch, Correct video speed when opening project on different machine

Report · Oct 11, 2019

Hello all, when I was troubleshooting this I couldn't find a similar problem so I'm hoping this is helpful to others.

I’ve had this problem a couple times and I think I’ve found a workaround. Here’s what happens: I’m working in a project with 59.94 footage that is interpreted at 23.98 to create a slow motion effect when the footage is dropped into the timeline. However, since audio from the same footage is used separately in the same timeline, the audio has a 250% speed effect so that it plays back at the correct speed and pitch.

This project was created by another person using Premiere on a different machine (iMac 5k). When I open up the project (also an iMac 5k), most (but not all) of these audio clips play back at the wrong pitch, even though the 250% speed effect (without the “maintain pitch” option) is applied. Speeding up the audio to 600% creates clips that have the correct pitch, but play back much too fast. Of course my goal is to open the project that another person created, and continue to edit in the sequence without changing the original effects. The difficulty is correcting the audio problem without messing up the video playback at the same time. This is also in a project using proxies.

Here’s the first thing I found that worked:

Select clip in timeline. Right Click → “reveal in project”
Select clip in Bin. Right Click → “Duplicate”
Select new duplicate copy in bin. Right click → “Modify” → “Interpret footage”
Change from “Assume this frame rate: 23.98 fps” to “Use Frame Rate from File: 59.9401” and hit “OK”
Select and double click on duplicate copy in bin to pull up in Source monitor
Right click on audio clip in timeline → “Replace with clip” → “From Source monitor.”

Note that if I click on “from bin” or “from source monitor, match frame” the result is no audio playback at all. However, when I select “from source monitor” only, the clip shows up in the timeline as crosshatched, but the audio plays perfectly. However, on one longer clip, the audio does cut out mid-clip and there doesn’t seem to be a way to get it back.

After all of this, I found a better fix that seems to do the trick:

Select clip in timeline. Right Click → “Edit clip in Adobe Audition”
In Adobe Audition, cmd+S to save

Now the audio plays back nicely.

Any ideas why the premiere might mess up the audio playback for these clips when opening on a different machine?

I am using Premiere Pro version 13.1.5.

My computer specs:

Model Name: iMac

Model Identifier: iMac18,3

Processor Name: Intel Core i5

Processor Speed: 3.8 GHz

Number of Processors: 1

Total Number of Cores: 4

L2 Cache (per Core): 256 KB

L3 Cache: 6 MB

Memory: 32 GB

Boot ROM Version: 166.0.0.0.0

SMC Version (system): 2.41f1

Report · Jun 01, 2025

It sounds like the issue may be related to using proxy files, which do not support frame rate modifications. When proxies are used with footage that has had its frame rate interpreted or altered, the behavior can become inconsistent—especially when switching between original and proxy media.

If you're working with high frame rate footage (e.g., 59.94 fps) that you want to play in slow motion by default, and you also want to use proxies while maintaining correct audio pitch, here's a recommended approach:

Keep the original frame rate: Don’t use Interpret Footage to change the frame rate.
Adjust the speed instead:
- In the Project panel, right-click the clip and choose Clip > Speed/Duration.
- To convert 59.94 fps footage to play back at 23.976 fps, set the Speed to approximately 40%.

This method keeps your proxies in sync and allows for timeline-level flexibility with speed adjustments.