Old 06-10-2018, 06:49 PM   #1
fred garvin
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Default DC offset? What? Huh?

So taking another pass through my latest track, I see on rendering that the top half of the waveform is notably flatter than the bottom. Is this the dreaded DC offset? I lowered the limiting a little and found a DC offset removal plugin and applied it to the master out and it seems to have helped. Where does this come from? Should I be doing DC offset removal per track or is just the master out OK? Where in the signal chain should DC offset removal occur?

Thannks in advance!
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Old 06-10-2018, 07:50 PM   #2
Justin
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If the peaks on the top are different than the bottom that's not unusual and doesn't (usually) mean that there is a DC offset. If your silence is not centered, then you have something to worry about.
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Old 06-10-2018, 08:58 PM   #3
James HE
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some instruments, real or virtual are just like that. If everything produced a perfect sine, triangle, square wave, all music would sound like really bad techno

but, Sounds like you are seeing this on the RENDER of your mix? hmm - this could be a plugin doing it. I have heard of some plugins that emulate hardware purposely adding a DC offset.
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Old 06-10-2018, 10:20 PM   #4
fred garvin
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James: Aahaahh... I had not noticed this in earlier versions and I did just start using Console5 from the mad mathematician at Airwindows... so that might be intentional and ok? I'm not going to end up with something that eats my speakers or can't be put on Youtube or causes cancer in unborn children etc.? I thought DC offset was always bad.

Justin: The man himself?!? I'll keep my fanboyishness to the following: 1. Still use Winamp lol, just gotta have a vis sesh every once in a while. 2. Lovin' the tunes. Getting kinda a Scorn vibe. 3. I can't play drums and sing (well) either, but I can play guitar and sing. Way better than with drums, anyway. You'd think it would be harder. Go figure. 4. Thanks for everything!
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Old 06-11-2018, 12:11 AM   #5
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You need to remove DC as early in fxchain/routing as possible or just prevent that on physical level. If you apply DC offset removal to master, then you will probably get clipped master perfectly alighned.

DC offset is not always bad for actual sound but always bad if you doing any dynamic stuff for your mix (compresion, limiting, gain staging). If you see DC offset on analizer while silence - it is a problem with your hardware (fixing with DC offset removal in Input FX Chain before anything). If silence is OK, but signal not centered - try change microphone positions (far<>close). If the plugin doing that - setup plugin properly or insert DC offset removal right after this plugin.

Last edited by mpl; 06-11-2018 at 12:17 AM.
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Old 06-11-2018, 02:11 AM   #6
fred garvin
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MPL: Wow thanks, good stuff.

The actual tracks look OK. So it looks like the Console5 is doing it, and other weird stuff, like it brings up 20-40 hz over 12db in spots! And then I hit the offset remover, and it goes back down lol. Boosts treble too. Too bad, I kinda like it, it does seem to provide "glue" and "solidness" as advertised but isn't that radical a bass boost a disaster for headroom, and wouldn't that be a mix disaster on a system that could reproduce it? And I could dial in a smiley curve myself lol, but it seems to do other more subtle stuff too, which I wish it just did those things, but there are no adjustments or options at all that I can find, but for one slider for trim.

I guess if I am to follow the path of Mr. yep I should say, I listened, I like it, so it stays. But aren't there consequences to having a track with massive DC offset and LF boost? Although to be fair the LF boost is in the -50 to -40 range, which I dunno how much that's gonna be heard even on a system that can reproduce it.

Help?! Thanks!
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Old 06-11-2018, 02:51 AM   #7
bezusheist
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There are a few different versions of the airwindows console plug...iirc there is one without the DC issue.
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Old 06-11-2018, 10:20 AM   #8
fred garvin
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Quote:
Originally Posted by bezusheist View Post
There are a few different versions of the airwindows console plug...iirc there is one without the DC issue.
I think I have the current version. Redownloaded anyway, seems to be acting the same. Thanks though. Reading the site it seems there's a version with extra DC lol...
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Old 06-11-2018, 03:02 PM   #9
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Be careful with Airwindows plugins. Several of them that I've noticed (perhaps more, I don't use them all) have DC offset and some are really prominent with this. His latest plugin Distance2 is insane with it when you increase the settings (bringing up even more low frequency content up to 80 Hz, and at a quite high level)...to the point where even if it's not processing audio (if it's just processing "silence"), when you move the volume fader in Reaper you'll hear "wooshing" sounds (plus pops when you bypass/enable the plugin). Load a frequency spectrum analysis plugin after it, turn the wet control up a bit, and look at everything that appears in the low frequency region.

I've mentioned this to him a couple times about some of his plugins but he hasn't responded (to me, or others who have mentioned this).

Anyway make sure you're using Console correctly just in case: "channel" plugin at the end of the fx chain of each channel, "buss" plugin at the start of the fx chain of the buss those channels feed into. Console isn't one of his plugins that I use (since after blind testing revealed I couldn't reliably notice a difference in the sound, not that others can't but it doesn't help me anyway).
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Old 06-12-2018, 01:40 AM   #10
fred garvin
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Oooook found the previous Airwindows thread where all this AW DC stuff is discussed in some detail. Very helpful. Thanks!
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