What kind of results does BeSweet give (5.1)

[takearushfan]

Hi all,
On a scale of 1-10, how does BeSweet rate when used to create a 5.1 mix? When I compare my own mixes to commercial releases, my mix always sounds too quiet... and no, it's not that I'm bad at editing ... does BeSweet limit the volume of certain channels? Am I missing something? It even seems to eliminate the LFE. I've tried several levels of LFE and it never seems to show up... and yes, my subwoofer is turned on
Thanks for any pointers,
Justin

[Pinstripes23]

Hi all,
On a scale of 1-10, how does BeSweet rate when used to create a 5.1 mix? When I compare my own mixes to commercial releases, my mix always sounds too quiet... and no, it's not that I'm bad at editing ... does BeSweet limit the volume of certain channels? Am I missing something? It even seems to eliminate the LFE. I've tried several levels of LFE and it never seems to show up... and yes, my subwoofer is turned on
Thanks for any pointers,
Justin

Yes I noticed besweet limits the volume when I've done some 5.1 mixing. And from what I've read others have had the same problem also. Although I didn't have your LFE problem. I did a test before where I took the ac3 from a dvd and separated the channels to 6 mono wavs, then convert those wavs back using besweet's ac3 encoder. I noticed the volume was lower. So I separated the converted ac3 into the 6 mono wavs, and ran them thru an editor and I noticed the peaks were not as high as the original 6 mono wavs. So I just use soft encode now and the original and converted peaks matched up better. I still use besweet if I do 2 channel ac3 and it's not a permanent conversion just cuz it's faster.

If you want an alternative freeware you can check out aften. I tried it but I think I'm gonna stick to soft encode.

[stantheman1976]

Any chance you guys can post your methods of creating 5.1 mixes? I've tried a couple guides lately, one using Adobe Audition and one using Vegas 6. I always seem to get clipping after the first step. I'm following fairly detailed guides by a couple different people, one of them being gunsl1nger from this board. The weird this is that the original wav file is fine and even after the alteration it doesn't show any clipping, but it is overloaded.

[takearushfan]

Pinstripes23, I'm glad it's not just me. I take it soft encode isn't freeware? :/

stantheman1976, I can't post just one method, 'cause it varies depending on whether I'm doing music or film. Plus, it depends on the song or soundtrack. You kind of have to tinker a bit depending on the circumstances. I'm only familiar with Audition. What is it you're trying to do... a song or a film?

- Justin

[stantheman1976]

I'musing a live recording from the soundboard. This is the guide I was referring to:
http://forum.doom9.org/showthread.php?t=106500
When I change the DC bias I get clipping even thought the waveform doesn't change. It still shows the recording as well under 0dB, but when I play it back teh song is overloaded. Also, the Master Limiter doesn't seem to do squat with Audition. It won't hold any settings I give it.

I also used a guide made by gunsl1nger using Vegas 6. The same thing happens. As soon as I change the DC bias it's clipped even though the waveform doens't show clipping.

[takearushfan]

To all: Well, I noticed that BeSweet has a "gain" feature that I've (obviously) never used. I guess I could try using that...? Does anyone have any ideas as to how much BeSweet brings down the volume/how much I should boost it by?
-
To stantheman1976: I don't even bother with the limiter, 'cause I use Audition too and, like you said, it doesn't seem to be much help. I just use the V.I suite. I load the stereo file 3 times and apply the V.I. suite's FL/FR, C/LFE, and SL/SR filters to each file, seperately. I almost always have to tinker with the amplification, 'cause the Fronts and Surrounds usually boost the volume *greatly*. When you're happy with the levels, just copy each channel to a new mono one. Then save each as FL, C, FR, SL, SR and LFE. Then mux. Of course, you, like myself, might notice a decrease in volume... arg! Things can get messy and complicated when experimenting with 5.1 mixes. However, try my method and report back with the results.

[Archimedes1]

If you have the option, go with a commercial encoder. If not, i would go with the new Aften encoder. Aften doesn’t reduce the volume and has some more features than BeSweet (AC3Enc) and, in my personal opinion, Aften also produces the better quality. For muxing you can use BeLight.

[Pinstripes23]

Any chance you guys can post your methods of creating 5.1 mixes?

I tried several methods before I "settled" on these presets for the mono wavs in audition I got on doom 9(I think). Taking 2 channel stereo and mixing to 5.1, here is a pic of the presets:


It uses the central channel extractor, except for the LFE. The FFT Filter can be used for the subwoofer.

[takearushfan]

Ah... yeah, I only use the center channel extractor if I have a very definitive sound in mind. Otherwise I just let V.I. do pretty much everything *shrug*