I think the audio sounds different

[sampolfonz]

I opened a mix project, 7.24 and opened the same exact project in 8.0. Playing them back to back, same spots in the tracks.... I think the audio in 8 sounds different.

I like how DP 7.24 sounds (and every other previous version). My experience is with DP, Cubase (all the way back to 1992, pre VST Days), Logic, and Studio One 2 Pro. I keep going back to DP because it sounds better than any of them, but with this latest release I'm scratching my head (or cleaning my ears). I think the audio sounds a bit more sterile, like that of Logic.

Interesting. I understand that it is a complete re-write, but why did they have to change the sound?

Has anyone else noticed a difference? Also, I'm getting a sluggish interface, and it just feels 'clunky.'


Sam

[FutureLegends]

Interesting.
First time I opened an old project in DP8 I also felt it sounded different.

There's a thread of sorts here:
http://www.motunation.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=51478

[MIDI Life Crisis]

Can you be more "descriptive" in presenting this stuff?

[HCMarkus]

The Null Test doesn't lie. Has anyone done such a test yet?

[MIDI Life Crisis]

I'd still like someone to be clear in HOW it sounds different.

[sampolfonz]

MIDI life...

I think it sounds more sterile. Something is just different. Also, I noticed that when I opened the project (an original 7.24 project with Sonnox Mastering plug ins and Waves CLA and Ren Comp on most of the channels) it sounded like I was getting distortion before clipping, and it was quicker to clip. It's very odd.

I did a lot of recording on tape back in the day. Tape had a distinctive "sound" to it. I listen to some recordings from the late 70s; It had a "sound" to it.

Digital Performer (prior to this new release) had that thick, fat sound. It is the closest to the fat analog tape sound of any of the 4 programs that I have. Mind you, never have used Pro Tools, because I started doing a lot of MIDI with modules and tape running together (used a track on my analog tape machine to be a smpte track and it started the MIDI system).

Anyone can say all they want that there is no difference. I beg to differ; there is definitely a difference. I would cling to DP because of this difference. Well, I believe that in this new release of DP they have taken away that difference and are making it less "analog tape sounding."

I keep pushing away from Cubase because of the endless open lanes and windows; I absolutely cannot understand why anyone would use Logic in these days and times of pitch correction ability. Logic does not compare at all in that department to any of them.
I reach for DP and was so excited about the new release, thinking it would be DP 7.24 improved, and I could finally update to Waves 9.

Well, I did and I have found sluggishness, overload messages, still no ability to change velocity on MIDI input with the pencil to anything other than 64, no ability to group data into saved selections or regions...and to top it all off (or bottom it all off), a change in the way the audio sounds.

I guess I will reach for Studio One Pro 2 until they resolve some of the performance issues. Heck, maybe I should just save my money and stay with Studio One. By process of performance issues of all of the software, maybe it just boils down to one choice....but DP has always rendered so well, ugh....

Sam

[MIDI Life Crisis]

I don't disbelieve you. I was curious of HOW it was different. I appreciate your answer and observations. Thank you.

[Killahurts]

I thought DP 6 sounded different than DP5.. we had a thread on it here.. never really came to a consensus.

I wonder, is it possible that DP8 etc. doesn't really change the sound on it's own, but rather has a different way of addressing the hardware drivers that causes a difference? That would explain why some hear a difference and some don't..

Of course, if that were the case, we would never be able to come to a real conclusion here, because of everybody's different hardware.

[FMiguelez]

A few days ago we had a thread claiming DP8 sounded better than DP7...

I've never noticed any difference in sound between any DP versions. All I can say is that a small tweak on an EQ or compressor plug-in will affect the sound much more than a different DP version.

To the OP:
Prove that DP8 sounds worse... or better. Since this is something totally subjective, not even a double-blind scientific test would be completely accurate.

How I love the placebo effect! I had a very interesting experience with it recently. I will probably start a new thread about it.

Just sayin'.

[Tritonemusic]

The Null Test doesn't lie. Has anyone done such a test yet?

+1

[FMiguelez]

The Null Test doesn't lie. Has anyone done such a test yet?

+1

Now, THAT would make a pretty strong case!

All things being equal, I bet they'd cancel out.

[Tritonemusic]

All things being equal, I bet they'd cancel out.

Me, too. This has been mentioned by someone for every DP update I can remember. So far, the null test has a perfect record.

[wheever]

Funny thing is, I'm getting distortion on a track that I can't track down. No meters are in the red, and I've jockeyed all the levels around. Maybe I'll open it in DP7 and see.

It does feel like it's distorting more easily, but that's an entirely subjective statement.

[MIDI Life Crisis]

Maybe someone could post audio examples of the actual differences they are hearing?

Again, I don't doubt for one second that people are hearing differences between versions. Then again, more than one of us around here has done the great client "version shootout."

A client wants maybe five mixes to choose from. The engineer sends him/her the exact same mix five times, yet the client insists that number 4 is the best. A couple of years ago I scored a feature for a producer/director who prided himself on his "exceptional" hearing and musical skills. I wrote a cue for a particularly emotional moment in the film and at first hearing he rejected it out of hand, vehemently objecting to my approach to the scene. I agreed, of course, to rewrite it.

About three weeks past and production was preventing him from getting with me for music stuff. When he finally arrived, I told him I had rewritten the cue, when, in fact, I played the exact same cue for him. No changes whatsoever. You guessed it: perfect! He even took credit for "directing" me in understanding the emotional content of the scene.

So again, I don't doubt that people are hearing a difference, but in the back of my mind I can't help but suspect human nature. Seven is different from eight, so it stands to reason that DP 7 is going to sound different from DP 8.

And then there is the mass hysteria effect:

Joe says it sounds different.
John heard what Joe said.
Now John thinks it does sound different.

Run with it, John.
Run, John, run.

Just sayin.

[Killahurts]

I can verify that, if I'm actually looking at the screen, switching to a different theme not only always sounds different, but it always sounds better than it did before..