• Apple Final Cut Pro Legacy

  Final cut sound explosion is melting my brain

  Posted by Becky The editor on June 17, 2011 at 2:36 pm

  Hello All,

  I am having the weirdest issue. This had happened to me on another freelance job and now it’s happening on a new one and I just can’t figure it out. On playback of a certain sequence, there is the most horrible booming audio distortion sound. I’m not exaggerating when I say it’s deafening. It blurts into my ears and it’s like getting an audio electric shock. I’ve looked around and found some posts about it, but they were old and had to do with old quicktime upgrades. Here are the facts:

  1.Both times this has happened to me, I was dealing with an audio aif file that I cut into a sequence to create a music bed.
  2. The original audio file is not an issue. It plays fine outside of final cut and even plays back correctly in final cut.
  3. I don’t think it’s a corrupt sequence. I’ve gone so far as to make an edl of the sequence, exported it, brought it back in, and had the same issue.
  4.The problem exists when I play back with headphone and when I play back with speakers.
  5. The distortion is random. It plays back at weird intervals with no rhyme or reason.

  Here are my specs:Os 10.6.4
  final cut pro version 7.0.3
  Quicktime 7.6.6

  No Aja card(although other job this happened to me on had an aja card. Headphones and speakers are playing out directly from the CPU

  If anybody has any ideas, I’d love to hear them. My ears will thank you.

  Greg Leslie replied 15 years, 2 months ago 3 Members · 3 Replies
• 3 Replies

• 

  John Pale

  June 17, 2011 at 2:58 pm

  What is the sample rate of the audio file? What is the bit rate of the audio file?

  If it is not 48k, this is likely the problem. FCP attempts to convert on the fly, but has difficulty sometimes. Use Compressor, Quicktime Pro, iTunes, Soundtrack Pro to convert it to 48k.

  FCP can handle 16 and 24 bit files well…even if you mix them (usually). Other bit rates may cause issues.

  Also…AIFF files are normally uncompressed, but it is possible to create a compressed AIFF file. FCP does not like compressed audio (this also includes MP3 AAC). Use one of the above programs to convert.
• 

  Becky The editor

  June 17, 2011 at 3:51 pm

  The Data Rate is 172.3. The Sample rate is 44.1 and the file is 16bit. I tried converting the file. It worked when I built a new sequence. Thanks so much for the help. My eardrums are very appreciative.
• 

  Greg Leslie

  June 20, 2011 at 12:38 pm

  You’re not alone — I’ve had this audio blast hit me on jobs as well, on different systems. Usually when I’m VERY focused. I’ve never found out why.

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