CEP 1.2a Sounds Muddy!

[Dags]

After doing multitrack projects in both Cool Edit Pro 1.2a and Cakewalk PA9 I can hear a BIG difference in sound quality between the two.

CEP sounds muddy - all bass/mids with no top end. Cakewalk on the other hand has clarity in the top end with a well balanced frequency spread - far superior IMO.

Wavelab also has very good sound quality beating Cakewalk by a very small margin. AUDIO SOFTWARE IS NOT CREATED EQUAL.

Pity about CEP as I love the interface and editing tools. Hope the next version has a much better audio engine. Its Cakewalk and Wavelab for me from now on.

Cheers

[Sonic Valley]

You know you may be right. I checked out some of your tunes on MP3.com Dag. After listening to Can't Live This Way...I did notice that horrible sound you're talking about.lol

Just kidding Dag. Honestly there's not a thing wrong or muddy with CEP.

[This message has been edited by Sonic Valley (edited 10-04-2001).]

[Heavens to Betsy 2]

Yeah, I'd agree--CEP is simply playing wave files. No colouration whatsoever.

But you wouldn't have posted if you didn't think you had heard a difference.

Have you definitively whittled down your audio system to no variables but audio apps? It could be a hardware issue. I'm not familiar with Cakewalk but perhaps your multitrack session is being pumped through a bus with a high-end boost.

[Tim Z]

I agree, I use Wavelab, CEP and Cakewalk regularly, and none of them sound "muddy". I don't know what it is, but you certainly have a problem somewhere else in your chain if one is sounding muddy and the others aren't.

Tim Z

[Dags]

No seriously guys - I love using CEP but I can definitly hear a difference.

I recorded my Guild D40 acoustic through my Spirit F1 mixer into my Echo Mia with the same mic (Superlux CM-H8a)using the same settings into CEP, CPA9 and Wavelab. To my ears CEP does'nt have the clarity of Cakewalk and Wavelab.

Sonic you're right - Can't Live This Way MP3 was taken off cassette originally recorded on my Fostex M80 so the quality is lacking somewhat.

Dags

[[[carparker]]]

can CEP sound muddy if you haven't got 32 bit mixdown selected in device preferences?? I dont know as I always have used 32 bit mixdown, and CEP sounds just fine to me...

cp

[Dags]

Forgot to mention that I asked a friend of mine (with very good ears - he has perfect pitch)to test the quality of CEP, CPA9 and Wavelab and get his views. He did his test by recording a CD into each program and agrees with me that the sound quality of CEP is inferior to the other two. He was rather upset with this discovery as he uses CEP for all his audio and Cakewalk for Midi.

Dags

[Dags]

Could have something with the 32 bit Float processing not being up to scratch. Will try recording a 16 bit and see what happens.

Dags

[Sonic Valley]

What sound card are you using? what mixer? Mics? There's so many variables involved and one or more things may be giving you tones that you're not happy with. We use CEP at 16bit for web and radio production and it's super clean. My whole system is 24bit but when clients need production that has to be on air or TV within 15min then flying thru at 16bit has never been a problem.

List your gear..you'll find CEP isn't the weak spot.

[beetlefan]

Dags, the only thing I can think of is that you have something misconfigured in Cool Edit. My recordings from CE are clean, and clear.

The next time you work with CE take note of everything you do and how you have iot configured.

Your claim is not logical.

[Dags]

Beetlefan - clean and clear until you record the same music into the other two programs - they are even clearer. I felt the same way about CEP - loved everything about,it was my main audio program until I stumbled upon this fact a few days ago.

Sonic - the gear I used for the test:

Guild D40 acoustic guitar
Spirit F1 mixer
Echo Mia soundcard
Superlux CM-H8A and Nady SCM900 large condenser mics

I recorded the same piece of music with the Guild through the mics to the mixer (EQ flat,same gain)into CEP, Cakewalk and Wavelab respectively. The mics remained in the same position throughout and all settings were the same for the three recordings. I have tried this test a few times and still come to the same conclusion -the sound quality of CEP is s#!+.

Dags

[DS_Sultan]

Then further testing is required. You need to isolate whether it's the recording side of the chain or the monitoring side.

Rip (note: not record) some tracks from one of your favorite CD's and bring the wave files into each application. Then play them back and see if your results are the same as when you record. Ripping the tracks will have the effect of keeping the audio stream in the digital realm therby taking the sound cards AD/DA converters out of the mix (pun intended).

If the tracks sound good, then there is a misconfiguration or some other issue with regard to how CEP is using the audio chain. (i.e. an EQ is active somehow, etc...)

If not, then you have an input chain issue. This test will at least let you isolate which side of the sound card your mud is flowing from.

Hope this helps.

[Tim Z]

Dags, there is no doubt that some programs can sound SLIGHTLY different, or possibly better than others, but I have recorded many times into CEP, Cakewalk, Samplitude, Wavelab, CuBase and Nuendo, and they basically all sound the same. To my ears Cakewalk was the worst sound for audio use. I have done exactly what you have done and CEP did not sound "muddy" in comparison to Wavelab or Cakewalk. In fact, to my ears it sounds better than Cakewalk. Cakewalk sounds just a bit thinner and lacking a bit of low mids or warmth. So as everyone else is aluding to, your problem is definitely somewhere else in the chain. Maybe you have a bum version of CEP or something, becasue mine does not sound muddy in comparison to Cakewalk or Wavelab.

Tim Z

[beetlefan]

Dags, you still have not told us about HOW you record, or HOW you have CE configured.

A software CANNOT produce such a radical degradation in sound unless it is misconfigured by the user.

Your claim is illogical and your problem with Cool Edit lie in the way you have it configured to work.

Or, maybe you don't know *how* to check...

[brokenwindow]

Yeah.What Bettle said.

[David]

All I know is Cakewalk PA9's audio sounds terrible. I always mixdown from Gigastudio/ Cakewalk PA9 to CEP. CEP is much cleaner.