MPEG2 compression for DVD - Audio Loss

[Alex Dunn]

I'm losing a lot of low end bass from my audio files when I render MPEG files. I don't know the audio end of things very well, is there a particular setting I should pay attention to when setting my the encoder (any encoder)? I.E., do any of them have frequency response limitations or compressors?

My source file is a .wav ripped from a cd.

[Rob Lohman]

Okay, here I go with my by now infamous list:

1) what kind of hardware

2) which operating system

3) which exact version of which program are you using to create this with

4) what type of audio stream (Dolby Digital, PCM etc.) are you creating

5) how many channels of audio (just stereo)

6) how do you notice the difference. In other words, how and with what hardware/software are you listening to the original and exported version

[Alex Dunn]

1. Software-only NLE on Dell system

2. WinME

3. MediaStudioPro 7.0 (never noticed it with 6.5 - that may be it) v6.5 used MainConcept but I'm not positive what 7.0 uses.

4. PCM I think, whatever the default is, like I said, I never paid the audio much attention until now. I guess I never had a project with a lot of bass.

5. Stereo

6. The original file is a .wav ripped from a CD, it sounds the same on the PC played through the NLE as it does with WinAmp or on my big ONKYO system. The PC has a good 2.1 system so bass is not a problem.

After the render, the bass was gone from I'd guess about 400MHz and below. Drums and voices are still clear, just no bottom end.

[Rob Lohman]

Thank you for clarifying. I don't know what the default is in MSP
so I can't help you with this.

My suggestion is that you read the manual carefully on this part
and check what you can set / change when exporting. There
must be a screen somewhere that indicates to what the audio
is being encoded and with which settings.