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Rick -
I'm digging into this, but haven't come up with a clear answer yet.
Downloaded the trial version of VEGAS Pro for testing. MP4s produced in PDR16 with Dolby audio do not import into VEGAS as audio only files, but the audio is scrambled on playback. Screenshot attached.
AVC H.264 M2TS files produced with either Dolby or LPCM audio import & playback correctly in VEGAS Pro.
That said, there's something weird going on at the PDR end too. 
Cheers - Tony
Thanks for looking into this!
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Hi Rick -
I don't have Vegas, but I can confirm what the King has posted. MP4s produced in PDR16 with Dolby Digital audio import correctly into other software I tested.
Did you select stereo or 5.1?
Cheers - Tony
Stereo.
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On the plus side, it's great that PD16 has added an additional option on the audio render of an MP4 - Dolby. It actually sounds better to my ears than AAC. Thank you CL. Furthermore, I think the AAC option is improved over PD15 though it still has a slight level of scratchiness compared to Dolby.
On the other hand, it would have been nice to have had a LPCM option. WAV files are produced in this format ... but I digress.
My real issue is that when I produce an MP4 video with the Dolby sound option and upload it for a friend to finish off (with music, titles, etc), it imports to Vegas as an audio file instead of video! However, if I produce the exact same file with AAC, it imports on his end just fine.
Bug? Limitation? Feature?
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MP4 sound quality equal to that of PD13 and earlier. A "patch" was made available earlier this year (and incorporated in latest updates I think) but previous versions still sound better. There is a distinctive "scratch" or distortion still perceptible. It's better than it was but still not as good as it should be.
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Thrilled to see this. Can't wait to test it out. Thanks for listening and fixing an otherwise fantastic product.
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I would love to see them give some attention to fixing the MP4 sound distortion issue that was introduced in PD14 and remains to this day in PD15.
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I was pleased to find this thread because I've had exactly the same problem with PD14. In my case it seems to be particularly solo wind instruments that suffer the most distortion. Producing the video as WMV seems to cure it but I would prefer to use MP4 if I can.
Is there any software that will allow me to substitute the audio later without losing video quality - i.e. without having to re-encode the video?
Alan
You might check out this link:
http://www.softpedia.com/get/Multimedia/Video/Encoders-Converter-DIVX-Related/MP4Muxer.shtml
And this one too:
https://www.fosshub.com/MKVToolNix.html
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Have you heard anything more from Cyberlink?
BTW, awesome video. I can see (and hear) why the audio quality is so important to your productions!
Peace
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The problem has been addressed. They are aware that audio is degraded in this version of PowerDirector, and the problem has been sent up the chain for attention. If and when it is resolved remains in question. Meanwhile, I finished the editing in PowerDirector, but the used the 30-day trial version of Edius to marry the video and audio together in an mp4 file. I just uploaded that to YouTube. https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=onuVjhZ_MWs&feature=youtu.be
Wow, that is good news that they admitted there is a problem.
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Hello,
Yes they did and I was told they responded back to you on the 14th, but you never replied. They need more than just the outputted video, i.e. the source video and audio, to assess the problem.
Please check your support ticket and respond.
Cheers
PowerDirector Moderator
Thanks for the heads up. I was expecting an email or something to tell me that they had responded. I just poked around on the CL site and found "support ticket" and saw the response.
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If an update isn't available fast, I will have to go back and completely reedit my entire video in the older version.
Before you do that, you might try this (this is what I have been doing to get decent MP4 audio):
1. Edit/produce the video in PD15. (You apparently have done this already).
2. Produce just an audio track from PD15 in WAV format.
3. Run PD13 (or earlier version)
4. Import video from step 1, audio from step two.
5. Mute audio track from step 1 video.
6. Produce using SVRT. Sound is perfect.
The whole process adds about 5 minutes which is five minutes more than it should.
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I have not heard anything back from submitting everything to support. Can you please verify that they got my information?
Thanks
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Exact same issue discussed here:
http://forum.cyberlink.com/forum/posts/list/50425.page
Supposedly CL is working on it ... hopefully.
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Thanks, I submitted my problem with a Google Drive link to all the sample files plus a complete description of how I created everything. My Question ID is CS001690250.
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Hello mlien,
CyberLink is now aware of your issue and have requested a sample of your video for testing, via the customer support system. Please help to provide if you can.
Cheers
PowerDirector Modeator
If possible, I would like to send video samples, too. How do you do that?
Rick
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But ya know what's equally as saddening, is that Customer Service never replied to my message about this. I am feeling compelled to request a refund and head to Edius.
Just curious ... have you tested Edius? It took a look at their website and it seems pretty pricey in comparison. Plus, PD has some other nice tools to go along with it.
That said, I have also noticed that PD15 isn't nearly as willing to use SVRT on my productions (of which basic content and structure have not changed) as PD14/13 were. I purchased a GTX1060 to bump up rendering speed and it has helped somewhat but it seems like Cyberlink is more focused on new features (360 video) than speed and issues like audio quality.
That's a shame because when I got into this several years ago, I chose PD for two reasons: speed and robustness of features in a simple interface. Last fall, I spent a lot of time testing a host of other NLE programs (except for Edius) and came to the same conclusion. It still has (to me) the most natural user interface which is why I am making the concessions I am.
But I could be swayed ...
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Jeff and Tony,
Thank you both for verifying what I have been hearing for the past two versions. Before I chose to upgrade to PD15, I spent hours looking at other programs and always kept coming back to PD even though this part is a pain. For my purposes, PD is almost perfect in comparison to the others. Almost.
What must be done to push this issue up the food chain with Cyberlink?
Thanks again,
Rick
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2. Produce just an audio track. The audio produce does give more options. Better yet, it is not scratchy and distorted.
That's a little strange. I'd assume you are using WAV at 1536 Kbps for your audio produce? If you use H.264 and set audio to LPCM 1536Kbps during produce of video in step 1 that should be nearly identical audio stream. Both audio streams are PCM, same bit depth, sample rate, bitrate for the audio, I'm a little surprised they sound different. Or are you impling AAC audio at 384Kbps sounds different, which of course it would.
Jeff
I think you are correct as long as you want to produce MKV or M2TS. But if you want MP4 there is no LPCM option and sound is poor. Been that way for the past two versions. I produce using AAC (only option available) at 192. Something has to have changed in PD14 and been carried forward in PD15.
If you have any other thoughts, I would love to hear them.
Rick
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I just upgraded from a previous version of PowerDirector. In that earlier version (13), there were more options for audio output settings and output file types (MOV, for example).
In this version, the best video output file types (e.g. H264 and H265) offer a best-scenario audio setting of 384 bit rate AAC compression. That is POOR audio quality! There is no longer any option for uncompressed WAV audio, or even for a better compression setting.
It seems PD15 uses cheap codecs that yield poor results with audio. The soundtrack for this video I am working on includes a flute solo. This always distorts after the video is rendered. It is not distorted in the original soundtrack.
Will you upgrade PowerDirector15 for better audio? If not, I want my money back.
In this era of video and audio advancements, it is foolish not to allow high quality audio. You don't even meet YouTube's recommendation for audio. Very disappointed.
Sadly, I have the EXACT same issue and it has been a problem since PD14. If you search the forums, you will see this pointed out multiple times. What I have been doing - and this is a pain because, like you, I paid for the upgrades and I would expect them to be, well, upgrades ...
1. Edit/produce the video in PD15.
2. Produce just an audio track. The audio produce does give more options. Better yet, it is not scratchy and distorted.
3. Run PD13.
4. Import video from step 1, audio from step two.
5. Mute audio track from step 1 video.
6. Produce using SVRT. Sound is perfect.
The whole process adds about 5 minutes which is five minutes more than it should. However, I have invested mucho bucks in video production using PD over the past four years so it's worth it. But I don't like it.
Good luck
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I've tested render speeds with my GTX1070 GPU and, on my PC, render speeds are 5% faster with just 'Enable hardware decoding' checked as opposed to both 'Enable OpenCL...' and "Enable hardware...' ticked.
I should add that this is when converting a 40 minute 1920x1080 m2ts 28mbps 50p project to MP4 1920x1080 25p 16mbps file in 'Produce' with the 'Fast Rendering Technology: Hardware Video Encoder' ticked. It's 12min 47sec with just "Enable Hardware..' ticked and 14min 40sec with both ticked. Not a huge difference.
It may be very different with different source material on a different PC with a different GPU etc.
Andrew
Andrew (and Jeff), I am seeing the exact same thing when I monitor Video Engine Load which, to me, is pretty confusing. How does it make sense that encoding runs faster when you do NOT check Enable OpenCL?
With these new GPU beasts (I just purchased the GTX1060 based on what I have been reading in these forums - thanks!), I suspect a lot more people are going to want to maximize the usage of those beasts. Maybe Cyberlink needs to rethink how they communicate what is actually happening when you check or don't check certain boxes.
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