Locate the first distorted stage
Distortion may mean cracked speech, a click, sibilance or a device failing at high playback volume. Record time and sound before diagnosing every noise as mix overload.
| Comparison | First check |
|---|---|
| Source or isolated voice already distorted | Original candidate, recording or segment generation. Lowering final volume does not restore damaged detail. |
| Clean separately, abnormal together | Duplicate inputs, track/master gain, headroom and later processing. |
| Mix clean, export abnormal | Actual mix input, encoded measurements, player and device. |
| One device at high volume only | Same-file comparison on another device and at lower volume. |
Adobe’s meter guide recommends watching playback levels and adjusting excessive or low levels. Its repair guide separates noise, rumble, hum, sibilance and reverb. This page focuses on track addition and headroom.
Uneven voice segments and music masking speech do not alone establish distortion. Match the repair to the observed problem.
Does this mix path actually limit peaks?
Ordinary narration and source-mix apply configured final loudness/limiting; inspect current settings and output. Adopted AAC copy performs neither and retains any existing distortion.
The explicit full-sound path adds the prepared bed and voice bus into a float premaster, applies fixed master_gain_db and encodes. It bypasses old ducking, loudnorm and limiting. Ambient settings do not add a limiter to it.
Float beds from source_score.py preserve values outside [-1,1] and record sample peaks. Exceeding that common reference does not establish a clipped float file. Check master gain and encoding/playback headroom. Finite samples, file generation and packet-copy checks have their own scopes.
Worked example: leave headroom when tracks combine
This paper calculation concerns an eight-second craft recap, with no actual audio. Picture, narration (“The edge is trimmed; apply the glue next”), music and placement are selected. Assume actual comparison establishes clean isolated inputs and the first abnormality after mixing.
At one simultaneous left-channel sample, prepared bed contributes 0.55 and voice bus 0.75. Voice already includes channel conversion and segment gain; a mono input value is not automatically its left-channel contribution. Addition gives 1.30, unchanged by a 0 dB master.
The candidate adopts a 0.5 master multiplier, approximately −6.0206 dB in master_gain_db. Contributions become 0.275 and 0.375, totaling 0.65, retaining balance and timing. This covers one sample; measure other times, the right channel and encoded true peak.
Complete repair request:
Return to the undamaged adopted bed and complete voice. Keep picture, wording, voice, placement and relative balance. Adopt approximately −6.0206 dB as fixed master gain in a new complete mix adoption and render into a new directory. Compare the problem spot, neighbors and eight seconds. Measure encoded loudness and true peak, then listen for intelligibility, voice quality and approved caption timing.
The new adoption chooses master gain while the explicit path consumes complete inputs. Turning down old AAC does not recover earlier clipped detail. Do not automatically boost back without checking. If the defect originates in the source or sibilance, repair that stage instead.
Keep complete sound and review the new encoded output
For damaged recording or isolated TTS, find an undamaged source, rerecord or regenerate only that segment. Use a tool supporting repair, denoising or transient processing where needed and retain candidates. The bed producer does not recover waveform detail automatically.
Preserve intended distortion, action sounds and shouting while checking necessary intelligibility. Remove an unintended duplicate input. For replaced sound, check duration, joins and captions; keep complete endings.
Measure actual LUFS and true peak of the current encoded file, then listen at defects, strong words, music entries and in full. Segment RMS, float sample peak and encoded true peak differ. The drama sound method notes that two-pass loudnorm may miss its target; judge actual results against project delivery requirements.
Compare under recipient playback conditions and report repaired stage, measurements/listening and remaining checks for author adoption.
FAQ
Does lowering player volume fix distortion?
It may reduce device overload but does not restore damaged file detail. Compare the same file and isolated source to distinguish the stages.
Does a float peak above 1 prove damaged sound?
No. The cited float path preserves values beyond the common reference. Check master gain, encoding, actual true peak and listening before diagnosing final clipping.
Do it with the skill
Ask video-recap to diagnose this specified problem with current files, times, delivery choice and observations. Locate the first failing stage and propose a local repair, preserving unaffected picture, text and sound. Distinguish probing, rendering and playback; leave unperformed checks pending.
Read the method: Float beds and sample peaks · Addition and fixed master gain · Processed and copied audio · Actual mix and master multiplier · Encoded loudness and true peak