Why do DAWs sound different?

[EfreetiSultan]

Nuendo sounds 20-40% better!!


Who remembers that?

That's because nuendo runs at 384khz under the hood and cubase only 192khz!11

[machinesworking]

I don't know, I think they all have that 400Hz gap.
https://0x0.st/X7bs.mp4
(video, 1 minute, 6MB)

Look, I really don't know how to say this so I'm not going to sugar coat it. You asked for a pic, I gave you one, I didn't bother taking multiple pics for free of your issue but there's not anywhere near that gap in the other two DAWs. I'm done here though, there's NOTHING more frustrating than trying to help someone who then proceeds to argue with you.

[lmv]

Arguing is the purpose of forums. When you claimed that only one of the samples had a gap at 400Hz, you argued. And I thought that was interesting. But then I tried to check that fact out for myself and saw that all three samples have more or less the same gap. I am not very knowledgeable at those things so I present my new finding as an additional request for help understanding the differences across multiple DAWs.

But of course, you are free to go if you are no longer interested in the topic. Thank you for the screenshot and for your attention so far.

[BertKoor]

Load a wav of pink or white noise, then render & compare.

Would you kindly perform this test?

[lmv]

Sure. Three problems though:
1. Where do I get a wav of pink or white noise? Will any random one found on the internets do?
2. What am I supposed to look for when I compare them? Does it help if I record the master output for you to listen?
3. I can't render with Mulab because it's a demo version and rendering is disabled. I may be able to drag a wav file onto it and record the master output.

[machinesworking]

Arguing is the purpose of forums. When you claimed that only one of the samples had a gap at 400Hz, you argued. And I thought that was interesting. But then I tried to check that fact out for myself and saw that all three samples have more or less the same gap. I am not very knowledgeable at those things so I present my new finding as an additional request for help understanding the differences across multiple DAWs.

But of course, you are free to go if you are no longer interested in the topic. Thank you for the screenshot and for your attention so far.

So, when someone tells you that only one of the DAWs has a noticeable gap in a metering program, that they bothered to run your issue through, you think it's appropriate and OK to argue with them about it?

Sometimes, more often than I would have suspected when people have issues online and you try to help them, you might not be able to help them, but you learn why they have issues.

[lmv]

So, when someone tells you that only one of the DAWs has a noticeable gap in a metering program, that they bothered to run your issue through, you think it's appropriate and OK to argue with them about it?

Yes.

[BertKoor]

If you have a synth which has a noise oscillator, that would be perfect. Simple straight forward patch with that oscillator, probably needs to go through an open filter (highest cutoff freq, no resonance) Just record a few seconds and look at the spectrum.

Another good test tone is a sine sweep. Same setup: just a sine oscillator, open filter. Maybe you can't do a proper sweep, but there are alternatives. Playing notes chromatically from C0 to C10 over the course of a minute, or use a pitch wheel to go up an octave, repeat an octave higher. Here the spectrum is supposed to be one single line. But just looking at the amplitude should suffice.

Another useful test tone is the shortest click you can make. Zoomed in you could spot delayed versions of the same signal. If your recording setup accidentally has a feedback loop, it will show up as a delay with length of your buffer size.

[BertKoor]

New test:

https://0x0.st/X7qV.mp3

Just by ear, first and last sound the same, thus ok. Something's definitely wrong with the middle DAW (or how it's recorded)

[Morgaxx]

The second one has a very different decay, possibly due to the loss of low end. Only the higher tone sort of rings then cuts abruptly. That second one is so off from the others that I cant believe its not user error somehow. Or even intentional...

[lmv]

There is no room for user error. Just open DAW, create new project, insert plugin, choose first preset, import MIDI file, play.

[dysjoint]

What version of Waveform? Something is wrong here, that's not a normal problem or there would be many users kicking up on the Tracktion section.

[Awats]

A lot of people here hadn't been born in 2004.

I had, but I never knew KVR was that old.

you young whippersnapper don't know what it was like, dial up internet, 20 min download for an image, forget video or audio of any great length. unless you know, no one will use the home phone for 24 hours per min of audio!!! in 32bit mp3

At least I could play Colossal Cave!

[EfreetiSultan]

A lot of people here hadn't been born in 2004.

I had, but I never knew KVR was that old.

you young whippersnapper don't know what it was like, dial up internet, 20 min download for an image, forget video or audio of any great length. unless you know, no one will use the home phone for 24 hours per min of audio!!! in 32bit mp3

At least I could play Colossal Cave!

Bro, that game is from the 70s and the guy you quoted talked about 1994 but thought he was talking about 2004. What's wrong with you people? Why can't you get it right. It's really not hard.

[pough]

When you create a new Project in Waveform the default master volume level is -3dB, so that might be part of the difference. But it also sounds tonally different, Qtractor seems compressed, and some part of the sound cuts off before the rest only in the Waveform version.

Also, I have had some plugins re-load presets incorrectly in Waveform, particularly ones made by Image-Line. The worst is Sakura. My favourite preset (GT Celestial Harmonics) loads fine but when you close and re-load the Project it will blow out my speakers. It doesn't happen with every Image-Line synth or even with every preset.