Audio Loud and "Peaky" Only When on TV (MSP 7.3)

nightmayer · Post by **nightmayer** » Thu Oct 05, 2006 4:27 pm

Hello,

I've created a 4 minute piece in MSP 7.3 that as far as audio is essentially a narration track and a music track.

The narration is a .wav file that was recorded on a mini-DV tape using a Sennheiser wireless and a Canon XL2. The sound levels during recording were riding in the -20 to -12db range. This was captured as DV and saved as an .avi file, then I used Audio Editor to normalize the audio portion, which was then saved as the .wav file (48 kHz, 16 bit, stereo).

The music track is a royalty-free piece purchased from a online sound service and downloaded as an MP3, then converted in Audio Editor into a .wav file (also 48 kHz, 16 bit, stereo).

Everything sounds great when editing in MSP. The Audio Mixing Panel shows the sound levels for the master at hovering around -24db with the occasional spike to -12db.

The problem comes when I output this to an .mpg file (NTSC, two-pass, VBR 8000, Dolby, 192 bits), then put this onto a DVD (using MovieFactory 2). When playing the DVD on a player connected to my TV, the sound on the TV must be turned down nearly completely and the narration distorts on the occasional peaks. I tried using AMP and taking the levels down until they barely register, with peaks around -48db (even remembered to apply, too!). Yet the final when played on the TV, while perhaps just a bit softer, is still too loud and has the distortions.

In thinking this through, I think I've been having this problem to an extent in other projects as well, so I'm thinking that it's something in my workflow that needs to change (as opposed to something wrong with my system or source files).

Any suggestions? (Oh, and is there a way to unapply the change in levels created by AMP other than Reset Volume, as this also loses my "rubber band" work?)

Thanks in advance. Though this is my first post here, I've gleaned much helpful info from this board in the past.

Kevin

nightmayer · Post by **nightmayer** » Wed Oct 25, 2006 5:09 am

Here are my system vitals (since the user board went down right after I sent my original question and my profile is still unviewable to the masses; honest, I did fill out everything I should before posting my question). Anway, the project is now done but I'm still interested in the answer to my question.

OS: XP SP2 (Home Edition)
Mobo: Abit AA8XE
Processor: Intel P4 3Ghz
RAM: 3.25 GB
HDD: C: 18.6 gig; D: 279 gig (both are NTFS; programs on C, data on D)
Display: Onboard, ATI 3D Rage IIC PCI
Sound: Onboard, Realtek HD Audio

Thanks!