HELP!!!

[TomH86]

Hello all,

Im new to the forum, first post!

I got myself a micro br for christmas

Ive had a lot of fun recording songs etc but it seems whenever I master and export to mp3 and go to play the song on my computer the quality is terrible compared to what I hear when played back through the micro br.

Could this be because I master the song badly or something?

I have very little knowledge regarding production etc...

For example, the latest song I have recorded is a soft, finger picked piece, just a guitar with some subtle vocal harmonies thrown in there...What would be the best option for mastering and retaining as much sound quality as I can?....

Im sorry if this hasnt been articulated very well but its 6am and I am tired after working on songs all night...

I end up having to clean up the sound of the exported mp3 using audacity....

you can listen to some songs I have made here by the way...

www.myspace.com/thebluethenblack

I like lo - fi music...My stuff is like sort of freak - folk, acoustic stuff....

[SteveG]

Hmmm. Are you selecting a low bitrate? Try exporting as WAV and see what that sounds like. Post a sample here so we can hear first hand what you mean. When I play back from the PC (Through the same headphones) it does sound different, but the quality is the same.
I listened on your Myspace and that sounded fine, bit of hiss maybe on the first one. Were they done on the MBR?

[TomH86]

you cant upload WAV files to myspace....They were done on the BR then I had to clean it up as best I could using audacity, which if you dont know, is a free audio software program....

[SteveG]

Know that mate, I have a Myspace Music account and have used Audacity. Use Audition these days tho. What I meant was for you to save to your PC as a WAV and see if that plays back OK. When saving your master to the memory card you are given the option to change the quality, best being WAV of course. Thought maybe you were saving to a low bitrate and that was the problem. Just use +/_ to change when prompted. Failing that if you post the offending MP3 here then we will have more chance of helping, difficult to know without hearing the problem. I'm gonna crash now as I am coming off nights, sure someone will be able to help tho if you post a sample.

[Oldrottenhead]

your songs sound great on soundclick imho. nice to see bill hicks and daniel johnston amongst your myspace friends, if you like him you should check out st. thomas you can find out about him here http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewprofile&friendid=40414306

like steve g says you can master as a wav, there are lots f programmes that can then convert to mp3. i usually master in mp3 using a pair of cheap powered pc speakers as opposed to headphones, as headphones can be misleading as to how the song sounds through speakers.
as i write this im listening to your songs, actually time calls reminds me of st thomas so mibbes you know of him.
welcome to the forum tom.

[TomH86]

Here is a clip to show you what I mean.

[Oldrottenhead]

sample you uploaded sounds fine on my pc but i have decent speakers,but when i played it back through a cheapo pair of usb headphones and it sounded distorted, when i imported it into cool pro edit, it looks like you've recorded some sections a bit too loud, causing distortion, but not overly loud that it should cause a lot of distortion..
when you record watch your recording levels are not too loud, directly under the battery indicator it will show "over" if you're too loud.
 find when i master using headphones(not cheapo usb ones lol) it sounds great on the mbr but when i play it on my pc not so good. so through another topic hear on the very same subject, i learned it is better to master using speakers, nothing top of the range but yer basic dogshit powered pc speakers, apparently if they sound good on that they'll sound good on anything.
hope that helps.

[TomH86]

What did you think of the music?!

I guess its gonna be a process of trial and error.

I think it may be because things are tracked too loud.

I'll have to reduce the gain maybe?

Like I said, I have NO knowledge regarding the production side of things.

[TomH86]

Also, the reason Ive been tracking things too loud is because I only use an acoustic guitar with the internal mic..So its sort of a battle to get that guitar track loud enough....Recording vocals isn't a problem, In fact I tend to do the exact oppositte with them so as not to drown out the guitar.

[Pedro]

The song is very good, it sounds great on my speakers. Very very nice calming song. You should post the final version on your Myspace.

The mix is fine, I wouldn't change anything. You aren't tracking things too loud. At 00:07 seconds there is a small distortion, but nothing serious. On very small and cheap PC speakers it distorts a bit (because of the reverb on the low end) but on regular (not very expensive) speakers it sounds great! I would say keep this version and get yourself some nice speakers. Also, continue your great work because this sample you've uploaded is very good.

PS: The BR headphones output lacks a tiny bit of low end so things tend to sound more bassy when playing the MP3 or WAV mixed file on PC or other system.