Hi there, long time reader, first time poster ...
I couldn`t find a thread to say hello to all,
so I am doing it here ...

Now, while comparing daws, I came across a strange phenomenon:

regarding volume increase on aux sends (with or without a plugin),
the most unobtrusive sends are on Pro Tools 10 and Samplitude X
and the most audible volume increase is on Studio One v2.

Studio One also adds top frequencies and just by adding a send,
the pertaining channel appears to be more cleaned up, having more top end.

Can someone confirm this and if so,
I wonder how to deal with it ?

 

This sounds strange to me... but I don' t use those software. Have you tried a more objective experiment like playing white noise and seeing the result with a spectrum analyzer plug?

 

setteings on S1?
Pre-fader,post fader?
with or without double bit precision?
i'm interested in this

 

@angie
well, comparing daws, I actually have to go with the ears into this and thats what they are telling me.
The result is so surprising that I like to doublecheck the saying "trust your ears" with others.

@Mostwest
I have the results on both, pre- and postfader.
I would check it at postfader, as an added signal increases with the blending.

You should hear the described tonal result at best when no plugin is on the postfader aux
and a/b the on/off send at the default -6db.
Also try it in the context of a mix, the channel with the empty postfader appears brighter, cleaner when switched on.

What makes me wonder is, the same settings at PT 10 and Samp remains mostly at equal levels and tonality.

 

I tested out your hypothesis Regarding Studio One using pink noise. The EQ on the left is showing before the fader, the eq on the right is on fx channel.

Everything looks identical except for the 20hz band which was boosted roughly .5db which I think is because it was fluctuating very quickly and the minuscule plugin latency, but other than that, peaks and troughs are where they ought to be.

And btw, despite what many people say, DAWs do sound an almost unnoticeable bit different, not in a bad way, or in a way that would make you want to change DAWs but they do sound different.

 

Thanks a lot for taking the time ...

Feel invited to do the suggested test on S1 by ears, it is a strange phenomenon and actually goes against your demonstration.
It shouldn`t be like this, but I can hear it especially when compared to other daws.

Agreed, I would even dare to say daws do sound noticeable different, but I don`t want to make a public religious war out of it,
so I keep it valid for myself and thats fine.
In this matter I do trust my ears ...

Ok, just in case nobody can confirm my observation, I will take it as is and deal with an additional aux trim on S1.

 

No problem, I use studio one as main mixing mastering DAW so I had to checkout your theory for myself.

btw something I learned while doing this, I was having a hard time setting the send volume to exactly 0dbfs - it would jump +/- 0.2db, I discovered you can enter values in the black automation box beside the main tool bar lol.

 

Marsupilami i'm with you, i believe that not every daw sounds the same. I'm not the only one who think in that away. Also seen an interview with Fedde le grand. He said that ableton sounds little bit "colored" while logic is more linear. I believe that are really small differences and sometimes they add something to the track in a good way.

 

Sorry, but it's completely obsolete to discuss this, especially how DAWs sound different. Rather do some googling and read all those other numerous threads on KVR or Gearslutz until your eyes pop out, for example.

When you send something to the AUX send the audio gets louder and the perception of the frequencies you hear should get a bit different, of course. If you put a reverb on the send, completely "wet" as it should be, then you don't hear the "dry" signal on the AUX at all and that's quite different to hearing double "dry" audio.

Gosh, just gosh... I've been into digital audio since the middle of 90s and 0s have always been 0s and 1s have always been 1s. Of course, what plugins you use does influence the final product and if you use plugin "A" in one DAW and plugin "B" in the other you will get different sounding results, but not as different as if you used different analog consoles for mixing, for example. Differences between analog hardware are greater than differences between digital signal processing programs and plugins.

Cheers!

 

Oh, thats a new point of few to me, in what case do you need to have the aux at such a precise and constant level ?

Regarding the black automation box ... do you mean the value indicator within the automation field at the top left ?
If so, it just represents any value you actually touch within the daw and vice versa.
I.e. if you enter a value there for the aux volume, you`ll find the aux fader moves accordingly.
Is this what you mean ?