Why does Reaper change the volume levels of imported audio?

Gammon2004 · 11-29-2010, 03:55 PM

Hi guys - I've done a few searches for this on the forum but I must be searching for the wrong terms because I can't find anything.

I'm trying to use Reaper for mastering - to do this, I import my unmastered .wav files and then also import some mastered .wavs that I typically like to use as a reference. All of these previously mastered files should peak at -0.3, and they do, in every other program I play them in. For some reason, once they're imported into Reaper the mastered files have different levels - one peaks at -2.6, another clips and goes above 0. What's going on here? Why is Reaper changing the volume level of these clips?

I've tried changing the project bit rate to 16bit and that doesn't help. I've also verified that the faders are at zero. (The lack of pre-fader metering is terrifically annoying, but I see that's an official feature request so I won't dwell on that here).

Thanks in advance!

Gammon2004 · 11-29-2010, 04:02 PM

Hi guys - I've done a few searches for this on the forum but I must be searching for the wrong terms because I can't find anything.

I'm trying to use Reaper for mastering - to do this, I import my unmastered .wav files and then also import some mastered .wavs that I typically like to use as a reference. All of these previously mastered files should peak at -0.3, and they do, in every other program I play them in. For some reason, once they're imported into Reaper the mastered files have different levels - one peaks at -2.6, another clips and goes above 0. What's going on here? Why is Reaper changing the volume level of these clips?

I've tried changing the project bit rate to 16bit and that doesn't help. I've also verified that the faders are at zero. (The lack of pre-fader metering is terrifically annoying, but I see that's an official feature request so I won't dwell on that here).

Thanks in advance!

Mercado_Negro · 11-29-2010, 04:09 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Gammon2004

I've tried changing the project bit rate to 16bit and that doesn't help.

You have to change your sample rate not your bit depth. Mastered songs are commonly in 44.1kHz. If you import them in a project using a different sample rate than 44.1kHz it will clip because REAPER will resample it 'on-the-fly'.

Gammon2004 · 11-29-2010, 04:21 PM

Sorry, I should have specified - both the Reaper session settings and every file involved are at 44.1k. Thanks though!

Mercado_Negro · 11-29-2010, 04:28 PM

Could you please double check your project settings and confirm if you're really using 44.1kHz? This should happen at all if both the project and the mastered media file are using the same sample rate (unless it is an mp3 which is not the case here I think). You can also look at the top right side of your screen and see if it says 44.1kHz.

Gammon2004 · 11-29-2010, 04:46 PM

I checked to verify - the project is at 44.1khz.

Zee Wavesurfer · 11-29-2010, 05:15 PM

Are those reference songs MP3s ?

schwa · 11-29-2010, 06:01 PM

REAPER should not change the volume level of imported audio. Here are some possible explanations for what you are observing:

* Sample rate conversion. REAPER will resample on the fly if the source audio does not match the device sample rate. Audio items that are being resampled will show a green "i" (for "info") button on each item.

* Project play rate is unintentionally set at something other than 1.0. Check the play rate slider on the transport.

* Pan law, if you have pan applied. REAPER's default pan law is 0dB (though it can be changed), most other DAWs have a negative pan law, so a panned stereo file will be louder in REAPER by default.

* Decoding. Not relevant if the source audio is .wav files as you stated, but (as Zee suggested) if it is .mp3, .ogg, or other decoded media, peaks can vary depending on the decoding application.

Mercado_Negro · 11-29-2010, 06:53 PM

Let's take a look at a project, please upload an .RPP to check it.

Extra question: are there plug-ins in the Master?

schwa · 11-29-2010, 07:07 PM

I merged your two identical threads.

Zee Wavesurfer · 11-29-2010, 08:05 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by schwa

I merged your two identical threads.

! .

Gammon2004 · 11-29-2010, 10:47 PM

Thanks for merging the two threads - I was having some browser issues earlier that caused a double-post and I couldn't figure out how to delete the other thread.
As for the other questions - The files I'm importing are 44.1khz, 16 bit wav files, into a 44.1khz 24 bit session. (Though I tried the same thing with a new 16 bit session and had the same problem). I actually also imported some mp3s as references, and strangely, those appeared to have the correct volume level, except that one of them clipped occasionally, which is even weirder. Also, there are no plugins on the master. From what I can tell, if I import one of these .wav files, change nothing at all, and then export it out of Reaper in the same exact format, it is now a different volume level, which is very hard to explain. The pan law thing could be part of it, I guess, I'll have to check it out tomorrow morning and I'll upload the session file then as well. In the meantime, thanks everyone for the quick responses!

EricM · 11-29-2010, 11:03 PM

Mp3s with heavy limiting and less than -1dBFS of headroom will
likely be clipping.