My first remix! How did I do? Lemme know specific production/mastering feedback.

[seismic1]

Have to admit that I probably won't be using SC much longer at all...

They recently changed their streaming format from 128kbps MP3 to 64kbps Opus. Although Opus is, in general, a better quality, more discerning codec than mp3, this does seem a weird thing to do.. 96kbps Opus would have been much more acceptable to most who have done blind tests on the two formats.

It's certainly changed the whole sound of the site significantly; not necessarily better or worse....just different! All my old tweaked SC mixes may well not quite fit the new streaming format!

You can override the Opus format during playback using a Chrome extension. This probably won't help you much, as other listeners won't be using it

[MaxAxe]

Thank you!

[ChamMusic]

Have to admit that I probably won't be using SC much longer at all...

They recently changed their streaming format from 128kbps MP3 to 64kbps Opus. Although Opus is, in general, a better quality, more discerning codec than mp3, this does seem a weird thing to do.. 96kbps Opus would have been much more acceptable to most who have done blind tests on the two formats.

It's certainly changed the whole sound of the site significantly; not necessarily better or worse....just different! All my old tweaked SC mixes may well not quite fit the new streaming format!

You can override the Opus format during playback using a Chrome extension. This probably won't help you much, as other listeners won't be using it

Interesting...just found it, I'll have a play, but as you say, it's not necessarily any good unless others use it as well!

[FlyingNoodle]

Interesting thread... thanks for the info everyone

I've not heard of that codec. I might be curious enough to check mine out, there. The final step (used to be I'd simply 'Replace Audio in Video' but Steinberg killed that for the time being) for me is DaVinci Resolve video editor (FCPX won't render PCM and its audio result is abysmal) where I stick the 24-bit .wav in and render. The YouTube preset default is 320kbps AAC. I don't know what that sounds like compressed down to 128, I never did it.

Not sure whether you know but YouTube can handle Matroska (MKV) file containers. I use MKVToolNix to multiplex uncompressed PCM audio with whatever video I'm uploading. I've just tested a 96kHz 16bit PCM and it went through without any issues and the 44.1kHz 128kbps MP4A/AAC audio it produced is good quality.
You can download Windows/Mac binaries here https://www.fosshub.com/MKVToolNix.html

[ChamMusic]

Interesting thread... thanks for the info everyone

I've not heard of that codec. I might be curious enough to check mine out, there. The final step (used to be I'd simply 'Replace Audio in Video' but Steinberg killed that for the time being) for me is DaVinci Resolve video editor (FCPX won't render PCM and its audio result is abysmal) where I stick the 24-bit .wav in and render. The YouTube preset default is 320kbps AAC. I don't know what that sounds like compressed down to 128, I never did it.

Not sure whether you know but YouTube can handle Matroska (MKV) file containers. I use MKVToolNix to multiplex uncompressed PCM audio with whatever video I'm uploading. I've just tested a 96kHz 16bit PCM and it went through without any issues and the 44.1kHz 128kbps MP4A/AAC audio it produced is good quality.
You can download Windows/Mac binaries here https://www.fosshub.com/MKVToolNix.html

You can go even further on You Tube now:

It actually recommends using 24 bit audio for uploads rather than 16 bit and will accept up to 192 kHz sample rate apparently!

Of course this will increase file sizes...just a little! I'm not sure if it's worth it when they heavily compress it ready for streaming anyway...probably makes a subtle difference on a decent sound setup.

[jancivil]

I've been putting 24-bit 44.1 in videos all along. Youtube is my storage site, don't tell them.

I might try a higher sample rate to see if I hear it.

I didn't know YT took MKV. Seems like that's a larger file size per se but I have not created any .mkv videos.

[meldavid]

48 kHz since it's the industry standard for video.

44.1 KHz is for audio-only publishing.

If you are uploading to youtube, you are in effect publishing a video so you need to confirm to the new broadcasting loudness standards.

-24 LUFS for Europe
-23 LUFS for US

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7m-2cb8cD2o

[jancivil]

48 kHz since it's the industry standard for video.

44.1 KHz is for audio-only publishing.

Look, if I were delivering a video to someone that's going to continue on with post-production like it's a real movie, I suppose I would comply with 48kHz to keep matters simple, plus for whatever it matters to quality. I'm not a video maker like that, though.

So you have these assertions like it's the law, but other people assert other things.

When recording audio with your video…
Whenever possible, for a recording that will be used for post-production or as an ISO of your program, use PCM encoding with a sample rate of 48 kHz and the highest possible bit depth (16 or 24) to achieve the best quality audio. In the case of Pearl, I recommend PCM encoding with 48 kHz to achieve the highest audio quality.

When streaming audio with your video…
When streaming or creating recordings that will be played back via streaming (e.g. video on demand), get a good quality audio track while using less bandwidth by using the AAC or MP3 audio codec with a sample rate of 44.1 kHz and a bit rate of 128 kbps or higher. This ensures that you still maintain audio credibility while making your stream more widely available to your audience.

https://www.epiphan.com/blog/audio-enco ... mystified/

My shit isn't going to end up on TV or anything somewhere and be an issue for anybody so there's no real need to comply to anything.

I put it on Youtube because whatever they're doing sounds a lot better than SoundCloud, or other things I have tried. To do that, I make these otherwise useless videos. I do believe I "maintain audio credibility".

[meldavid]

Your shit is going to be viewed on TV though. I frequently watch Youtube music videos on our largest screen in the house and I’m sure I’m not the only one. I only come onto the PC when I want to communicate. Most modern TVs have Android Smart TV feature with a Youtube app or browser.

Sorry, I didn’t mean to imply it’s a law. Yes, it’s a law for actual broadcasters with fines for being too loud but yeah it won’t apply to any of us Youtubers. I just meant 48KHz is what everyone seems to be using , and since it won’t really take much more bitrate going up from 44.1 to 48, might as well choose that.

You chose an odd frame rate of 720p 60fps for what is essentially a pretty static slideshow. This could have been 720p 1fps and looked the same. Don’t know if Youtube would accept 1fps though :p

With regards 16-bit vs 24-bit, it made sense mastering to 0dBs on 16-bit to make the most of the dynamic range, even though everybody is over-compressing their mixes. There is modulation-distortion (or some other technical term) when compressing to mp3/AAC on mixes that loud, but I can’t remember where I read that.
Those who conform to -23 LUFS should choose 24-bit as it’s a lot quieter than 0dBs, and again you want to preserve the dynamic range.
In the end it’s your shit. Do what you like. But whatever you provide Youtube with, they'll probably reconvert to their codec of choice and whatever is the norm for bit/frequency-rate for that particular resolution(s). I know that they don't store the video and audio muxed together.

I know what you mean about SC. I downloaded a WAV of mine recently from SC which I uploaded more than a decade ago, and even that WAV sounded distorted & with artefacts I am sure my original upload didn’t have. I just attributed it to hard drive file corruption on their end. I didn’t know they switched codecs till this thread.

[meldavid]

Sorry, jancivil. It's not even your 720p 60fps video. I thought I was replying to the original poster :p

[FlyingNoodle]

You can go even further on You Tube now:

It actually recommends using 24 bit audio for uploads rather than 16 bit and will accept up to 192 kHz sample rate apparently!

ok that's useful to know, I could see 24 bit resolution offering a better chance of reducing artifacts and aliasing during the transcode to AAC with wide dynamic range content especially.

My problem is that on soundcloud, the audio is distorted during the drops and buildups. How can I fix that! Plus any other feedback.

Going back to your OP MaxAxe - out of interest, technically speaking would you say there is much difference between your source and the AAC that YT generated from your upload?
Has YT maintained the dynamic range between your different sections in other words.
Other than that I've listened to it a few times and it sounds fine to me.

[ChamMusic]

won’t really take much more bitrate going up from 44.1 to 48, might as well choose that.

I know it's only a typo, but...Aaargh! Don't do that! :0)

[jancivil]

Sorry, jancivil. It's not even your 720p 60fps video. I thought I was replying to the original poster :p

All my public ones are 1080p. Lately there's little movement and that is from adding noise so I'm not paying any mind to frames rate. The ones where there is a lot of movement are the relatively normal 30fps. I doubt 60 was anything more than a preset in a video editor, which is there for kind of fancy people and there's not a lot of point to get into the weeds here.

YT is doing AAC 128kbps as far as I can determine. I re-upped everything a few yrs ago when 1080p appeared to mean Youtube would provide a stream at 192kbps. It's a setting in FCPX I don't think I need to care about.

I'm NOT doing Über-maximized, zero dynamic range music, I'm not worried about the volume killing very much in my music. I'm kind of paranoid about quality but not about The Law here.

[Aleatoriac]

I'm kind of paranoid about quality but not about The Law here.

That's right, I'm not asking for forgiveness and I'm THROUGH asking for permission!

[meldavid]

I would pick 60fps for 3D video or sports (useful for viewers who want to inspect a scene in sloooo-mooooo).