Quote Is this a known problem in PowerDirector 365 and if so is there a solution?

No, and we'd probably need to examine the specific clip to understand what's going on and maybe offer a workaround.

If the clip is smaller than 5MB in size, you can upload it here directly using the Attachments button below the forum's text box. If it's larger than that, please upload it to Google Drive or OneDrive and paste a shareable link to it here so other members can see the encoding details and test it on their systems.

YouTube/optodata

DS365 | Win11 Pro | Ryzen 9 3950X | RTX 4070 Ti | 32GB RAM | 10TB SSDs | 5K+4K HDR monitors

Canon Vixia GX10 (4K 60p) | HF G30 (HD 60p) | Yi Action+ 4K | 360Fly 4K 360°

Quote

No, and we'd probably need to examine the specific clip to understand what's going on and maybe offer a workaround.

If the clip is smaller than 5MB in size, you can upload it here directly using the Attachments button below the forum's text box. If it's larger than that, please upload it to Google Drive or OneDrive and paste a shareable link to it here so other members can see the encoding details and test it on their systems.

The audio clip is simply a Wav file from epidemic sounds which I've had no problems with using PowerDirector 15, so with the file itself there is no problem.

The problem I have is the audio is muffled/distorted and quiet when played from within the timeline in PowerDirector 365 or via the Audio Editor after upgrading - there is obvioulsy a software issue with the latest version.

Also, imported MP4 video files appear heavily saturated with high contrast where all shadows are black, when viewed in the preview window, yet look fine in the timeline (the actual files are fine). Again, no issues when using version 15.

I'll probably cancel my subscription as I clearly can't use the software as it is.

I can't see what you see, and without access to any of the media clips you're working with there isn't much I can do to help. This is a user forum and the level of assitance you get is directly proportional to the amount of effort you put in.

As an example, stating that the .wav file is a "standard clip" doesn't provide any usable info, because to understand why it plays fine on PD15 but not in PD365 requires someone to look at the technical specs to try and figure out what the problem might be.

If you search the forum, you'll see that there have been some cases of PD365's preview window of media library clips not matching the timeline preview, but not as drastically as what you're describing.

If you'd like people here to help, please share the clips, or at the very least, a screen recording showing what you see and hear on your system.

YouTube/optodata

DS365 | Win11 Pro | Ryzen 9 3950X | RTX 4070 Ti | 32GB RAM | 10TB SSDs | 5K+4K HDR monitors

Canon Vixia GX10 (4K 60p) | HF G30 (HD 60p) | Yi Action+ 4K | 360Fly 4K 360°

RussWeymouth1972, your problem sounds more severe than this, but you might want to verify in PD18 that pref > Audio channels: is set to stereo. Having it set to 5.1 can created a somewhat muffled and softer audio playback when the source is stereo and stereo hardware for playback. Under such circumstance, a significant difference is also heard between timeline playback and media room playback when set to 5.1.

Jeff

Quote RussWeymouth1972, your problem sounds more severe than this, but you might want to verify in PD18 that pref > Audio channels: is set to stereo. Having it set to 5.1 can created a somewhat muffled and softer audio playback when the source is stereo and stereo hardware for playback. Under such circumstance, a significant difference is also heard between timeline playback and media room playback when set to 5.1.

Jeff

Thanks - that solved the problem. Changing the playback from 5.1 surround to Stereo and the audio plays back fine in the 365 version.

As an aside, I wonder what they did to change that from version 15 which plays back fine in 5.1 surround mode, not that it matters anyway

Quote As an aside, I wonder what they did to change that from version 15 which plays back fine in 5.1 surround mode, not that it matters anyway

I'm not sure, it could be related to the migration away from Dolby Digital 5.1 offerings in PD18 which are widely available in PD15.

When PD18 was first released, I noted that anomaly as well as several other audio issues. Based on that forum thread, the PDM submitted to CL and CL corrected some of the issues through various patches. Basically, it appears if one has 5.1 set in pref and just stereo audio content in the timeline with only stereo playback capability, stereo audio during timeline playback appears to map some content to the "C" speaker. This causes the softness as no playback "C" speaker is available.

You might also want to verify that you are current with product updates.

Jeff

Quote

No, and we'd probably need to examine the specific clip to understand what's going on and maybe offer a workaround.

If the clip is smaller than 5MB in size, you can upload it here directly using the Attachments button below the forum's text box. If it's larger than that, please upload it to Google Drive or OneDrive and paste a shareable link to it here so other members can see the encoding details and test it on their systems.

Having the same problem, where audio plays fine in PowerDirector 365, but where final output file has significant distortion...

First video is screen recording, using CyberLink Screen Recorder, where distortion is starting to creep in (possibly due to loss of audio quality when screen recording?):

https://youtu.be/xQpZ7INZ_yY

Second video is output file from PowerDirector, where distortion is significantly worse:

https://youtu.be/gGmSN3shLZQ


Any thoughts on how to reduce the distortion? I've tried the suggestions in the thread but no luck.

Can you please share the audio settings of your custom Best Matched Format? Click on the Details button (the rightmost of the 4 buttons under Profile type:) and share that screenshot.

Also, could you upload the actual source clip you're working with so other peoiple can try it on their systems? Use the Attachments button below the forum's text box.

Quote Can you please share the audio settings of your custom Best Matched Format? Click on the Details button (the rightmost of the 4 buttons under Profile type:) and share that screenshot.

Also, could you upload the actual source clip you're working with so other peoiple can try it on their systems? Use the Attachments button below the forum's text box.

See attached as requested...

Thanks for sharing. I just tried producing the source clip using Best Matched Format in PD365 and the audio doesn't seem to have any added distortion.

The production method causes some significant differences in the audio encoding, though.

When using hardware encoding, the finished clip has a constant 192kbps bitrate audio stream rather then the variable bitstream in the original; while for some reason there's a much higher constant bitrate stream when using SVRT:



I've attached both produced clips so you can listen for yourself.

It may help to try using different settings when producing, and it woyld be nice to see the DxDiag test results to see how your computer is currently configured. Also, what's the exact version of PD that you're using?

Quote When using hardware encoding, the finished clip has a constant 192kbps bitrate audio stream rather then the variable bitstream in the original; while for some reason there's a much higher constant bitrate stream when using SVRT:

Looks like another encoding bug in PD20, if the "Best Matched Format" had a audio bitrate of 384kbps defined, NVENC should not have changed to 192kbps during encoding. This does not occur with PD19 or PD18, it appears to be yet another PD20 "feature".

SVRT always encodes the audio per defined settings, so if the "Best Matched Format" had a audio bitrate of 384kbps defined, the 384kbps results there would appear appropriate. SVRT no longer matches audio formats, it used to.

Jeff