MIDI Vs Audio

[Karma_blitz]

Today at uni one of the teachers stated to me that i should always bounce every single sound separately then bring it back into the DAW as individual audio files, and then apply my eq, compression and fx. I have always just applied my plugins directly to the Vsti's (same for my drums). Does this this make a major difference in the overall sound. Its a fact that every time you export you loose quality(even if its really minimal). So if this is the case it wouldn't make much sense to export them, bring them back in to the DAW then re-export them again When i put this to my teacher he said its the way the plugins handle midi and audio. Supposedly Plugins like Waves and other similar ones are more suited for handling audio files rather than midi(vsti"s), There for giving a more professional and higher quality sound. Does anyone know if this is true or if its just theory. I hope i explained it well enough thanks guys

[samkablaam]

not sure, but aren't those plugins are working with audio even if you're using a midi instrument? the instruments produces the audio and then it goes through the plugin.

there is reasons why i export stuff though, like frees up processing and stuff and might give you more flexibility with sampling.

[nowaysj]

There are numerous reasons for bouncing. And I can conceive of a few that might be a basis for the actual audio output sounding better. But really, do it however you want to do it. Either you're not understanding your prof totally, or they're full of shit. I've known a lot of profs that are nearly totally full of shit.

[filthy_]

bounce everything. add your effects. bounce again. add more effects and keep doing that until you get a big fat sound that takes up less cpu than your vst when it isnt playing anything. im slowly working into that habit. its been doing me well

[deadly_habit]

i tend to get a roucgh good mixdown, then bounce each channel to audio files then do a mixdown off of those stems in a separate project

[nowaysj]

bounce everything. add your effects.

Why bounce first w/o effects?

[deadly_habit]

bounce everything. add your effects.

Why bounce first w/o effects?

non destructive editing

[nowaysj]

Ah, okay, my first set of fx tend to be an essential part of the original sound.

[deadly_habit]

yea but there are times when you wanna do some tweaks and can't due to resampling

[nowaysj]

Wait, you're not filthy, hahaha, my question still stands to filthy.

[deadly_habit]

heh i dabble in that time to time, but even so if i can spare the cpu and ram i avoid resampling
not a fan of destructive editing during the creative process

[youthful_implants]

bounce everything. add your effects.

Why bounce first w/o effects?

non destructive editing

this is so important!

also if you have some fucked up automation chain you're gonna run into issues later in the mixdown which will turn into a complete clusterfuck. trust me.

better to render that shit and not wonder why your track is popping and clicking in wierd places later on. audio is just... easier.

[nowaysj]

i avoid resampling not a fan of destructive editing during the creative process

haha, am doing both as I type, but I'm trying more and more to look at it like sampling myself off of vinyl. Just have to deal with what is there. It does produce a whole host of compromises and limitations... cue that quote from Stravinsky in the quote thread.

But still, I'm a little bitch, on some stuff I know I'll need a clean og to work off of.

[deadly_habit]

i just see it as a lot of people do destructive editing and resampling when there is no need, which can be harmful down the line

[nowaysj]

harmful down the line

^ yeah that is the point sometimes.

[Karma_blitz]

i tend to get a roucgh good mixdown, then bounce each channel to audio files then do a mixdown off of those stems in a separate project

thats what i keep getting told i should do. But if cpu isnt really a problem does it really matter ? thanks

[Karma_blitz]

yea but there are times when you wanna do some tweaks and can't due to resampling

This is why im hesitant to use it. But keep getting told it's a must for achieving the best sound. Really hopping he's wrong or i got a lot of tracks that need bouncing

[deadly_habit]

the fx chain stays the same either way, it's mainly done to save resources if you ask me, though some people seem to insist it brings about a new sound

[Susceptor]

keep getting told it's a must for achieving the best sound

That's bullshit coming from someone who doesn't understand how DAWs / softsynths / softfx work.

The audio path inside the DAW is 32/64 bit (floating point) resolution. Everytime you render, the audio loses some resolution when it gets converted to 24 or 16 bit (fixed point). IIRC 64 bit FP means around 1500 dB dynamic range, while 16 bit is 96 dB dynamic range.

Anyway, that's just technical specs. But the thing is, audio comes out of the softsynth and into the effects, no conversion needed. There's no audio loss. It doesn't (practically) matter if you bounce and import, or if you just render everything at the end, but there is no audio quality gain if you bounce the softsynth, only time wasted.


TL;DR
The guy is full of shit and has no idea what he's talking about; don't listen to him, keep the chain and render everything at the end.

[Depone]

Yeah hes full of bs. I had tutors who gave (i now know) a less than accurate response to a question, ie a lie just because they didnt want to be seen not knowing the answer