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I was working this week in a studio that's not my studio and we were running DP 9.5 through an Apogee Quartet (using Apogee's Maestro 2 software for zero-latency monitoring).

The session was a straight, super basic VO session -- a mono audio track and a single AKG C414.

After I edited everything, inside of DP, I wound up with:

1. A mono audio track
2. A stereo wav of the music that's being used under the VO (possibly related: I got an error message about there not being enough disk space when I tried to import it, but then an aif of the same music imported fine)

What I NEEDED to have was:

1. A single stereo wav of the VO and music together -- just for reference.
2. Each specific clip/soundbite of the VO (for the editor to place precisely where it needs to be in the commercial)

The single stereo wav popped out fine.

ANY mono track, however, that I tried to export in ANY way (Bounce to Disk, dragging, Merge soundbites, export audio, etc.) resulted in the correctly named file on the desktop with the correct duration, but COMPLETELY BLANK -- nothing in it at all.

When I go to the project's audio files folder and audition a file that I KNOW has audio on it? Same thing.

When I open DP and play that exact file INSIDE of DP? Plays fine.

When I bypass the Apogee Quartet and go straight into/out of the Mac's internal speakers? I hear everything completely fine.

Because things work inside of DP AND with the internal speakers, this seems like a problem with the Apogee Quartet, but it does NOT seem like a routing problem because stereo wavs play fine.

For what it's worth, due to the importing error I mentioned above, I also tried exporting mono tracks as aifs and it still didn't work.

Does anyone have any thought on what could be going on here?

I have your exact same setup the only time I had this problem was when I forgot to play-enable the track I wanted before I bounced to disc.

Suggest you play a bit of what you’re bouncing and make sure you can hear what you’re expecting before you bounce.

Thanks for the response, Rick. I've definitely made that mistake as well.

The issue I'm currently having -- while certainly, in part, looking similar to that situation -- is a bit deeper and more confusing.

The mono track I was trying to export from DP was for sure play enabled. As I mentioned in my original post, MONO tracks play fine in DP and they play fine through the Mac's built-in speakers after exporting/bouncing -- they just don't play through the Apogee Quartet. The complicating factor to keep in mind is that all of the STEREO wavs DO play fine through the quartet.

Also, the fact that, when going through the Quartet, none of the MONO wavs in the project's Audio Files folder play when auditioned, but all of the STEREO files do seems to confirm the issue (obviously, all MONO and STEREO wavs in the Audio Files folder play fine through the Mac's built-in speakers).

When you try to play through the Apogee, what software is handling the file? Is it still going through Maestro?
I don't have the Quartet, but I have an old Rosetta. From time to time I've experienced weird gremlins in how the Rosetta interacts with Audio MIDI Setup with system sounds. If you're playing the files directly from the finder it I think it's treated as a system sound - if you're still using Maestro that's different. Can you clarify?

Phil

Hi there, Phil.

The Maestro 2 software is only being used to monitor the mic in the VO booth; when the software is closed, audio (browser sound, iTunes, etc.) plays fine -- as do STEREO wav files and DP project files. It's just exported MONO files that don't play.

That's the one super weird thing: If I'm understanding what you're saying, however the files are treated (system sounds, etc.) STEREO and MONO files should be affected equally, no?

A couple suggestions:

1. Check the routing of the Mono channel in DP. Is it set to output to the Quartet or an aux? Is it set to output to the same bus as your stereo track?

2. Check the output of your stereo and mono files at another output outside the Quartet... like your computer’s built-in headphone out (you’ll need to select built-in audio in your setup settings).

3. BTW: I leave Maestro on always. Your master output should be set to Quartet and the mixer tab of Quartet should show a software return at the right next to the master, which will be your return from DP. In my setup, all the other channels are muted, except while tracking.

Thanks, Rick.

1. Everything is routed correctly in DP. Everything's going out to the quartet.

2. Is this different from what I mentioned above wherein I outputted (via System Preferences -> Sound -> Built in Output) everything through the Mac's internal speakers (and everything played fine)?

3. That's exactly how this system is set up -- as mentioned, just like you, everything's muted in Maestro 2 except when tracking. And, yeah, Maestro 2 is always open for me as well -- I had just shut it off to see if it had any effect on playing the exported MONO wavs through the Quartet (it didn't).

Movies wrote:Hi there, Phil.

The Maestro 2 software is only being used to monitor the mic in the VO booth; when the software is closed, audio (browser sound, iTunes, etc.) plays fine -- as do STEREO wav files and DP project files. It's just exported MONO files that don't play.

That's the one super weird thing: If I'm understanding what you're saying, however the files are treated (system sounds, etc.) STEREO and MONO files should be affected equally, no?

No. That's why I was asking for specifics. When you play something from the finder, settings in Audio MIDI Setup come into play. Stereo files will play to two channels of your selected output device as will mono files (both channels equal). But here's the rub. With my Apogee Rosetta (for some strange reason) stereo files get sent to channel 1 & 2 and mono files (sometimes, but not always ) get sent to 7 & 8. It doesn't happen all the time, but I've seen it. My solution was to set up an aggregate device with the Rosetta as part of it and the problem went away. I don't know what causes this - could be an Apogee thing - and it makes absolutely no sense, but system sound is not always routed correctly on my system. And the type of file has something to do with it. I've given up trying to figure out what the problem is and just use the work-around

With that said, I rarely play from the finder so it hasn't been a real issue for me.

Phil

ps - Rick is pretty sharp. I take his advice seriously. You should, too.

OK. Did you try to export any of the mono soundbites directly from the Soundbites window?

I will try to look at this further next time I get in front of my system. Monday at the latest.


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No. That's why I was asking for specifics. When you play something from the finder, settings in Audio MIDI Setup come into play. Stereo files will play to two channels of your selected output device as will mono files (both channels equal). But here's the rub. With my Apogee Rosetta (for some strange reason) stereo files get sent to channel 1 & 2 and mono files (sometimes, but not always ) get sent to 7 & 8. It doesn't happen all the time, but I've seen it. My solution was to set up an aggregate device with the Rosetta as part of it and the problem went away. I don't know what causes this - could be an Apogee thing - and it makes absolutely no sense, but system sound is not always routed correctly on my system. And the type of file has something to do with it. I've given up trying to figure out what the problem is and just use the work-around

With that said, I rarely play from the finder so it hasn't been a real issue for me.

Whoa, okay. Thanks for that detailed explanation of your findings. Yeah, that's, indeed, very peculiar behavior. I just audition things in finder to make sure that what I'm about to send to the editor exported correctly. Thinking about it now, I probably should've just stuck all of the wavs in a Dropbox folder and listened to them on my phone or laptop (where they play fine).

ps - Rick is pretty sharp. I take his advice seriously. You should, too.

Believed! If you're saying that because my earlier posts came off sounding dismissive or unappreciative, I apologize -- it was totally unintentional!

Still away from my studio (actually, sitting in a bar watching my beloved Vikings play in England), but just wondering how you’re selecting the tracks to export. I’ve had the experience of trying to select an edited track in the Tracks Overview by shift-clucking on the various pieces and getting nothing because selections need to be time-based (set in and out points). Just a wild shot.

(And no offense taken. Wish I could help you!)


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I tried to export the tracks in a number of ways:

1. I tried to simply grab a soundbite from the sequence window and drag it onto the desktop (this is usually my go-to).

2. I tried selecting a soundbite and using the Export Audio feature.

3. I tried selecting a soundbite using "Merge Soundbites" and then dragging it directly from the Soundbites window onto the desktop.

and, finally,

4. I tried highlighting the entire play-enabled track and bouncing it to disk in multiple ways (as a wav, as an aif, and every reasonable configuration of the other fields).

Apart from making sure the track was play enabled, there wasn't much I was doing in the Tracks window -- it was all Sequence view and Soundbites column.

Movies wrote:

Believed! If you're saying that because my earlier posts came off sounding dismissive or unappreciative, I apologize -- it was totally unintentional!

No, no, that wasn't my intent at all. I just said it because my posts were in a different direction than his and I didn't want to distract you from the important stuff he was posting. Sorry for any confusion.

Phil