BeSweet AC3 very quiet.

[franco]

Hi Guys, I've downloaded the BeSweet software and am converting WAV files to AC3. I downloaded the AC3 codec, under tools on this site so I could listen to my converted files and they are like 60% as loud as the originals playing them in windows media player.

Any idea on why this is???

The WAV files sound good enough after being converted in Procoder at 224kbps and 48khz. I have tried different bitrates in Besweet and followed the instructions on DVDRhelp but no luck, they are still quiet after conversion. Is it me or the software??

Thanks

[wwaag]

It's a known problem. See the following thread that I started. https://www.videohelp.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=156016. Unfortunately, it doesn't appear that a solution is near. I've resorted to using MP2. Same file size and at least it works. For most sources that I use, VHS, satellite caps, and laserdisc, there really isn't an advantage as far as I can tell. Although it's not "compliant" with the NTSC DVD standard, most players work OK. MP2 is within the standard in Europe and Japan. Bottom line--you're not the only one who's seen this problem.

wwaag

[franco]

Thanks Wwag. Maybe DVDit will be the answer to my problems.

[mkelley]

Actually, that's a known problem only for files which are *reconverted* -- that is, files that were already converted once to some other format, and then converted again to AC3.

Converting original .WAV files (from cap files, for example, or ripped from a CD) to AC3 using BeSweet should produce no drop in audio -- indeed, on our scope we have seen not a decibel drop. We encode at 224, using 2/0 -- using other formats YMMV.

DVDit won't make any difference here -- that's an authoring tool (at the risk of encurring rath of mods, I will encourage you to try DVDLab -- it's the best authoring tool out there and one of the cheapest and has now been officially released).

[RWANDREWS]

I capture AVI files from analog sources like LD & VHS with my CANOPUS ADVC100. When I encode with TMPGEnc, I choose the PCM file format , then convert to AC3 with BeSweet. I have had NO audio problems with this method.

Perhaps when you encode the video, you could either skip the MP2 step & improve the volume.

AC3 & PCM are the only formats that MUST be accepted for DVD compliance. MP2 usually is, but might not be on the set top player. If you are recording for others, or for posterity, AC3 is the way to go.

[mkelley]

RWANDREWS,

You'd be better off not recoding PCM into AC3 -- this is double compressing (and you're losing some quality).

Use AVI2WAV to split the wav from your AVIs and then BeSweet to encode (TMPGEnc you can just use to encode the .m2v file, as you don't need the audio portion from it).

[RWANDREWS]

MKelley;

Please tell me where I've gone wrong. I thought PCM was an uncompressed file format, just another name for WAV. Also, is PCM the same thing as LPCM ?

So, are you saying that encoding just the video in TMPGEnc, then splitting the audio WAV file from the AVI file is a better way to go?

Please advise. Thanks.

[erzug]

I've had no problems with MP2 as long as the audio is 48K.

[VidGuy]

I've had good luck with AC3Encode (comes with Scenarist, if you have Scenarist)... I convert mp2 to wav then use it to create AC3 for my "SVCD" DVDs (I know you can use mp2 and most players will play it, but to be fully DVD compliant, you need at least 1 AC3 or PCM track). It does not suffer from the gain issue.

[mkelley]

MKelley;

Please tell me where I've gone wrong. I thought PCM was an uncompressed file format, just another name for WAV. Also, is PCM the same thing as LPCM ?

So, are you saying that encoding just the video in TMPGEnc, then splitting the audio WAV file from the AVI file is a better way to go?

Please advise. Thanks.

RW,

I'm sorry if my fevered (I've been sick for most of the last two weeks) brain tried to confuse you. When I first read your message for some reason I was assuming you were using TMPGENce to split into the two elemental streams of .m2v and .mp2 audio. For some reason I was flashing upon this:

http://dvd-hq.info/Compression.html

and in particular this quote:

*************************************

There are two reasons not to encode the audio in TMPGEnc:

The first is the fact that MPEG audio is not standard on all DVD players. Although it is supported by all PAL players (and many recent NTSC models), some authoring programs still refuse to add MPEG audio directly to their projects, and will instead convert it to PCM (uncompressed). Since MPEG audio uses lossy compression, the quality that was lost in the compression is not recovered. By contrast, the space that was saved by the compression is lost again. So, using MPEG audio in these programs is a lose-lose situation. The only two formats guaranteed to be compatible with all players are PCM and AC3.

The second reason is the fact that there are several MPEG audio encoders that produce better quality than TMPGEnc. So even if your authoring program does support MPEG audio, and if you're sure the resulting discs will only be played on DVD players that support MPEG audio, you should still use TMPGEnc only for the video, and encode the audio in a separate application (if you do a quick search on the web for "MPEG audio encoding" you should be able to find several guides about the subject).

*************************************

Obviously this wasn't what you were saying, but I've had a nap <g> and I do feel better now and my mind is clearing.

If you are getting PCM from some other process then you should be fine -- it is indeed uncompressed audio. What people do *not* want to do is to split off the MPEG audio and use this to convert to AC3. (Indeed, this is what the poster above does and he IS losing quality when he does this).

Sorry for any confusion (and I think I'll go back to bed :>)

[ASB]

I've had good luck with AC3Encode (comes with Scenarist, if you have Scenarist)... I convert mp2 to wav then use it to create AC3 for my "SVCD" DVDs (I know you can use mp2 and most players will play it, but to be fully DVD compliant, you need at least 1 AC3 or PCM track). It does not suffer from the gain issue.

VidGuy, can AC3Encode be used as a stand-alone application? or do you have to use it in scenarist?

[rustic]

Personally, I find that the AC3 audio I produce with BeSweet sounds quiet when I play it on the PC, but when I burn it to DVD, it sounds fine.

[franco]

OK. I've found a fix for the problem I was having. The instructions I found for Besweet said to tick the "Downconvert sample rate" box, but I have found that if I tick the box next to it as well. The "Compress dynamic range" box The converted AC3 file plays perfectly and sounds the same as the WAV file.

I was looking for some of the other software such as Soft Encode mentioned in another thread on this prob but couldn't find it. Anyway, that's the fix.

[VidGuy]

AC3Encode is a stand-alone application - it just happens to come with Scenarist.