Wave export sounds different than module playback

oxxi · September 20, 2020, 03:24:23

I noticed that in exported wav tracks the levels of some of the instruments get slightly louder or quieter almost like there's some auto leveling that gets applied when the track gets exported. When listening to the same compositions within modplug I don't get those weird volume issues and it sounds fine. Is there some setting that's enabled or disabled that's affecting how the exported tracks sound? It just doesn't sound the same like it does when playing the modules.

Saga Musix · September 20, 2020, 08:58:57

Export should sound exactly the same - however, if your levels are clipping beyond 0dB the end result might sound different depending on the audio API and player used. So the first thing you should check if the master meters in the main toolbar ever show a clipping indicator (rightmost LED stays red).

manx · September 20, 2020, 09:01:33

First, make sure you have not set Automated Gain Control in Render / Player Options / DSP in the Export dialog.

Second, if you are exporting to WAV or AU and using floating point (or to MP3/Vorbis/Opus), and you are playing back on a Windows system, then Windows will apply a limiter during playback if your audio is > 0dBFs. See level meters during playback as Saga Musix mentioned.

jmkz · September 21, 2020, 06:51:03

Also please note that export as float many programs like Winamp scans loudness before playback (apart from normalization). If you don't want this behavior try use fixed bitness like 16/24/32.

oxxi · September 22, 2020, 04:33:54

Ok, so kind of interesting but my tracks were not clipping so then I checked the bit depth export settings and tried floating point 32/16 and then just regular 16 bit and it still sounded different. Automatic gain was off too. I did start to notice that the exported tracks seemed to sound a lot cleaner with more definition. So I checked the sound card settings in Modplug and my original setting was the following:

waveRT - (realtek hd audio ouput) [default] (PortAudio)
48000 Hz Stereo 16bit no dither

Then I changed it to :

WASAPI - Realtek High Definition Audio (PortAudio)
48000 Stereo

After I changed it to the WASAPI version and played the module it sounded just like the exported tracks. It seems then that this is the sound card option I need to use to hear what it will really sound like. The weird volume boosting and reducing is still in the module patterns but I can now control it by adjusting the volume command where it's needed. It almost sounds like the channels are sensitive to how instruments interact with each other when they come in and out throughout the song. Perhaps I'm doing something wrong or overlooking something but I don't experience this when using other music software unless I'm really pushing some channels more than others.

Also when using the WASAPI setting and I check 'Use device exclusively' it sounds back like the waveRT option. What is this setting for?

jmkz · September 22, 2020, 04:50:33

Quote from: oxxi on September 22, 2020, 04:33:54

Also when using the WASAPI setting and I check 'Use device exclusively' it sounds back like the waveRT option. What is this setting for?

That feature bypasses Windows sound processing and APO filters. I think that still are some APO filter. Try advanced sound settings panel >> playback >> Audio enhancements (or sort of) and disable all.

ASIO and WaveRT it's how must sound without any audio processing. In my case I often use a Dell laptop which has APO audio panel. If I disable it won't sound as it shoudl, and rather I select an appropiate sound profile that sounds like no effect applied when disabled. Look attached images, are in Spanish but kind same across languages.

Saga Musix · September 22, 2020, 07:25:07

As jmkz explained, WaveRT and WASAPI in exclusive mode give you untampered, raw audio bypassing any sound enhancements installed on your Windows machine. This is essentially how your module should sound. As a serious musician I can only recommend you to turn off any of these sound enhancements in the control panel (see above), because they will only make things sound artificially nicer, but they will blur your view of how it actually is intended to sound like.

Alex TEHb · September 22, 2020, 12:38:40

Question not absolutely in a subject, but I do not see sense to create a separate branch...

At reproduction in players WinAMP, Aimp at a makimalny loudness, music sounds much stronger, than in OpenMPT. (All effects at the same time are disconnected).
OpenMPT is so conceived? Some options which will increase loudness without loss of quality can eat?

oxxi · September 22, 2020, 16:46:41

Ok thanks for the help everyone. I checked the Windows sound settings and indeed I had to disable Dolby and Enhancements and now it's all good with Wave RT and the raw sound of Modplug. I didn't even know those settings were on. This is a new-ish computer so good to know about this stuff next time I change to a different Windows machine.

Saga Musix · September 22, 2020, 20:14:39

Quote from: Alex TEHb on September 22, 2020, 12:38:40
At reproduction in players WinAMP, Aimp at a makimalny loudness, music sounds much stronger, than in OpenMPT. (All effects at the same time are disconnected).
OpenMPT is so conceived? Some options which will increase loudness without loss of quality can eat?

Loudness is not standardized between module players. Unless a player uses libopenmpt to play a module, the resulting volume levels are most likely going to be different compared to OpenMPT. Oldskool module files have no notion of how loud 0dBFS are supposed to be.