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Can I Upload a M4a File to Soundcloud

While some streaming services like Amazon Music HD and Tidal are at present offer lossless audio, many others like Spotify, Apple Music, and SoundCloud still use lossy sound compression techniques to deliver music. Of those, SoundCloud has always been unique in how like shooting fish in a barrel information technology makes instant uploads for creators.

Perhaps information technology's due to that very ease that questions like, "Why does my music audio unlike on SoundCloud?" or "What can I do to make my music sound better on SoundCloud?" seem to come up more frequently than they do for other streaming services.

Despite SoundCloud introducing a new "mastering" characteristic to optimize streaming playback, knowing what actually happens to your audio during streaming and mastering is key to understanding how to produce a track with the highest possible audio quality for streaming. So let'due south take a look at why those sonic changes occur, and what we can exercise to minimize them.

In this piece you'll learn:

  • How to optimize your songs for streaming on SoundCloud and other compressed sound formats

  • What y'all can and can't control in the process

The bottom line

To get to the bottom of this, I prepared twoscore masters of a single song—20 at 44.1 kHz and 20 at 48 kHz—and uploaded them all to SoundCloud. For each sample rate, I methodically varied the parameters of height level, crest factor, frequency-specific width, and total width. I then played them all dorsum off SoundCloud, recording the output bitstream pre-conversion—again at 44.1 kHz and 48 kHz—for analysis and comparison confronting the originals. This yielded a whopping lxxx versions of the song!

  • xx uploaded and recorded at 44.1 kHz

  • xx uploaded at 48 kHz and recorded at 44.one kHz

  • 20 uploaded at 44.i kHz and recorded at 48 kHz

  • 20 uploaded and recorded at 48 kHz

Testing 40 versions of a vocal

After level matching them all for a fair comparing, I got to work listening and measuring to determine which factors played the biggest office in preserving—or degrading—audio quality during format conversion and streaming playback. At the end of the solar day the parameter which made the biggest touch was: width! Not just that, merely all the other variables had little to no touch (caveats ahead).

To sympathise why this is, how yous can potentially take advantage of it, and why you lot might not desire to worry nigh it at all, read on!

Manipulating width for a "amend" encode

I should authorize what I hateful by "better." Actually, what we're talking about is an encode which is perceptually closer to the source. Yet, the steps we're taking to go there involve making some sacrifices to the source. So while the encode and the source may sound more alike, the cumulative difference between the encode, the source, and what you were originally trying to achieve may nevertheless exist fairly noticeable.

That qualifier aside, here are a few things y'all tin do to minimize the differences between the source and the encode:

Narrow the high-cease

Using a tool like the Imager in Ozone 9, endeavour narrowing frequencies above nearly 8 kHz. I tin't give you a precise amount, as it will very much depend on the amount of width that you had in that range to begin with. Attempt soloing that band and reducing the width until it occupies virtually half of the stereo field between your speakers. This will help reduce some of the high-frequency washiness that is so mutual with low-bitrate lossy codecs.

Narrow mid and low frequencies

If you want, and your master can handle information technology, try narrowing the mid and depression bands too. Try setting the mid band to about one–eight kHz, and the low band below 1 kHz. You could even split this into two ranges: 400–1000 Hz and below 400 Hz. Yous'll probable want to exit the mid—and low-mid if y'all're using it—bands fairly close to their original width, however, you may exist able to get away with narrowing lower frequencies a bit more than. Whatever little fleck helps.

Use a mono master

This is absolutely an extreme solution, simply if you can justify it, a mono source volition requite you the "best" encode—once more, meaning perceptually closest to the source, albeit now in mono. This is because you're essentially asking the encoder to do half every bit much piece of work past encoding a single aqueduct. In turn, this means the encoder tin allocate information technology's entire bandwidth to that one channel, rather than having to divide it between ii channels.

The reasons width plays such a critical role in encoder functioning are hugely complex, but tin exist summarized equally follows: most lossy encoders like AAC, MP3, and Opus utilize a technique known as articulation stereo encoding. This ways that rather than encoding both left and right channels independently, they employ multiple techniques such every bit mid/side and intensity-stereo coding to optimize bandwidth allocation to where it will be nearly noticeable—ofttimes the center of the stereo paradigm.

The end result is that ultra-wide stereo signals often suffer from quality deposition more noticeably than do narrower ones. Additionally, high frequencies require more bandwidth to encode. Thus, past reducing the width of high frequencies, not merely do yous free up some bandwidth for the encoder, assuasive it to allocate its bits more efficiently, but you likewise prevent some of the more noticeable, warbly, washy distortion from showing upwards in the encode.

A slap-up style to experiment with the furnishings of these changes in real-time is by using the Codec Preview in Ozone ix Advanced. Endeavor using MP3 at 128 kbps or AAC at 256 kbps—two of the common codecs used by SoundCloud depending on the playback platform and subscription level—and tweaking Imager parameters. You can even employ the "Solo Artifacts" office to hear how changes in width touch the underlying distortion added by the codec.

Codec Preview in Ozone 9

Codec Preview in Ozone 9

All the other $.25

I would exist remiss if I didn't address things like peak level, crest-factor, and file format for upload, then allow'south talk about those at least a fiddling.

In all my recent tests, elevation level did not have a noticeable impact on encoder performance—at to the lowest degree not direct. By this, I mean that and then long as there wasn't whatsoever clipping, the encoder functioning between versions with unlike amounts of peak headroom was identical.

However, because lower bitrates—such as those often used by SoundCloud—tin can cause pinnacle level overshoot of a decibel or more, it'southward good practice to set the ceiling of your limiter to -1 or -1.5 dB and apply a True Meridian limiter such as the Ozone Maximizer. This helps prevent clipping on playback, especially through cheaper consumer devices.

The story with crest factor is largely the same. While it doesn't accept a direct, dramatic affect on encoder operation, a lower crest factor will often result in higher summit level overshoot—something which ultimately oftentimes results in DAC clipping and distortion. This has the slightly ironic consequence of requiring additional peak headroom—or a lower limiter ceiling—the higher you push your average level, something which can quickly plough into a losing battle.

This is some other area where Codec Preview in Ozone 9 Advanced tin be enormously helpful. By turning on Observe "True Peaks" in the I/O options and listening through the MP3 128 kbps codec, you lot tin fine-tune the Maximizer threshold and ceiling to achieve an optimal level while fugitive post encode clipping.

Checking post-encode peak headroom in Ozone 9

Checking post-encode peak headroom in Ozone 9

As for upload format, the official recommendation from SoundCloud is a 16-flake, 48 kHz WAV file. This reason for this is that of the several codecs used, the majority of them are set to take in a 48 kHz file, and then this minimizes the corporeality of sample rate conversion that volition have place.

That said, sample rate conversion has become extremely transparent, and in my tests neither the upload nor playback sample rates had an appreciable consequence on encoder functioning or playback quality.

The one caveat hither is that if you enable downloads on SoundCloud, the file y'all upload is the one your fans get when they download. Thus, if yous want them to receive a 320kbps MP3, that's what you lot'll need to upload. However, this results in transcoding from one lossy format to some other, which never sounds specially good.

In curt, if you desire the best streaming quality possible, upload a xvi-bit WAV at 44.1 or 48 kHz. If, on the other hand, you want to enable downloads, upload the file you lot want your fans to receive, but know that if information technology's a lossy file, streaming quality will suffer. Since these days downloading a local copy is probably non equally common equally it one time was, this may be a moot indicate.

Conclusion

To wrap up I desire to consider a few reasons why maybe you shouldn't worry likewise much about all the factors we've just discussed.

First and foremost, SoundCloud may well update the codecs they employ in the futurity only equally they have in the by. When that happens they will re-encode all uploaded music to take reward of the new codec(s). It'due south for this very reason that they themselves urge creators non to effort to optimize files also much for a specific codec.

Second, while you can control the width, sample rate, etc. of the file you upload, you can't command how your fans will heed to it. Of course, this is true of the vast majority of playback mediums. It bears repeating here though because fifty-fifty on SoundCloud alone, the playback feel can vary depending on subscription level and playback device. Consider advisedly whether it'southward worth sacrificing some of the width and spaciousness of your rails just for the lowest mutual denominator.

Hopefully, this has armed you not only with some of the tools to improve encoder functioning when uploading to SoundCloud merely also the wisdom to know when, when non, and how strongly to wield them. Proficient luck, and happy mastering!

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Source: https://www.izotope.com/en/learn/mastering-for-compressed-audio-formats.html

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