Volume distortion

Stockbriggs

Hi guys

Been using Stagetrax 3 for a month or so and love it !

I have it on iPad, iPhone and Mac book air

Since ythe update to 3.8 my iPad and iPhone perform perfectly however the MacBook seems to have developed a problem insomuch as the playback is distorted

I play through a Personus Audiobox interface and the gains are all down
When I play music through Logic Pro or iTunes it all works perfectly

I've checked all the settings on my PC version of Stagetrax and can't find a reason for this

Can anyone suggest a fix

Much appreciated

jayabb

Stockbriggs I'm having the same problem on my Mac mini. Please let me know if you find a fix.

peter

Does the distortion only happen when using an audio interface? And what samplerate are you using on the interface?

Which macOS version is that?

Stockbriggs

peter

Hi Peter

It's Mac OS Ventura version 13.5.1
Sample rate in Logic Pro is 44.1KHZ (don't know how to check on ST£?)
I only use the Persons interface, have done without problems for a couple of years
Logic Pro / Band in a box / iTunes etc all working OK
ST3 was fine until the update

Please let me know if you need further info

Thanks again

peter

Does it work without an audio interface? Can you post a screenshot of the audio routing page in ST3?

Can you try to increase the audio buffer size in Playback Settings?

Stockbriggs

peter

I've just unplugged the interface and ST3 works fine through the laptop speakers with no distortion suggesting it's not working with the interface?

Stockbriggs

peter

I've now lowered my Mac volume to 50 % and noticed there's a yellow playlist volume control on ST3 which I've now reduced which seems to have cured it

I'll try it tomorrow and test it fully to make sure I'm all good to go

Thanks again

peter

I just tried all my audio interfaces on Ventura (13.6) and I can not reproduce the issue. Audio output is clean on all of them. So I am a bit lost here.

Stockbriggs

I've tried upping the buffer to 1050 incrementally and it made no difference

The tracks I have are all balanced in terms of volume and it appears that anything over zero db distorts from the laptop but not on the iPad

Does that help in your diagnosis?

peter

Can you check the master equalizer in Stage Traxx? Is it enabled and do you boost the volume there? So the distortion is caused by too high volume on the ouput? If you compare Stage Traxx output to Logic output on the same interface, is the Stage Traxx output much louder?

And do you only hear distortion on multitrack songs or also on stereo songs?

Stockbriggs

Master EQ is enabled
I haven't used multitracks as yet (that's one I'll let you know about in the future)

Here's the optimum settings I've got today
Master EQ is set to -7 dB
Playlist volume (yellow bar) 3.0dB
Song volume (blue bar) 3.0dB

If I go above these settings it distorts - Please remember that this is laptop only - the problem doesn't arise in my iPad which is what I use for live gigs

Volume output from Logic is now the same as ST3

jaytrax

You are boosting by 6db (Playlist volume 3db + Song Volume at 3db = 6db)
and cutting by -7db in the Master Eq is just undoing what you’ve done

Put the playlist Volume at 0
Set your songs volume to 0

Turn of the Master Eq

Test then,

ST3 will sound quieter compared to playing files on other audio players or music players, this is intentional,
has a buffer of 6db to try prevent”Song Volume”
clipping

If gain or volume is your issue this is taken care of at your pre amp gain on your mixing desk

Then use the Song Volume to match quiet tracks vs louder tracks
Alternatively use ReplayGain/MP3 Gain to make all tracks relative in loudness

Stockbriggs

jaytrax

I've followed your instructions to the letter and it's solved the issue completely !

Thanks for taking time to respond, as you might be able to tell, I'm kinda new to this so great lesson in how gain is supposed to work !!

Thanks again

peter

Great, so that solves the issue 🙂. Pushing volume and equalizer gains too far can overload the audio outputs even with the 6dB safety buffer that ST3 has. Thanks @jaytrax for the explanation.

I generally keep the playlist volume at or below 0dB. Song volume is mostly in the range -5dB up to 2.5dB. That way I have room to boost some frequencies and maybe push a track above 0dB.

jaytrax

@peter

Glad to help