Idvd Sound Quality Issues

jcbennett · #1 July 20th, 2005, 12:30 AM

We're trying to use iDVD to burn a DVD of a movie project that was shot on DV and edited in Final Cut Pro. The DVDs we burn always have problems with audio quality-there are loud crackles and pops in the DVD audio that are not there in Final Cut (I ran the "Check Audio Peaks" tool and double checked the sound wave graphs in a sample of affected parts of the film to be sure). How do I troubleshoot this? Where might these problems be coming from and what can I do to avoid them?

We are running OSX 10.2.8, iDVD 3.0.1, and Final Cut Pro 3.0. I am an IT professional with very little experience with Macs and even less with iDVD and Final Cut.

Thanks for any help you can offer.

pmmueller · #2 July 24th, 2005, 12:29 PM

I am having the same problem. Wondering if you, or someone else, solved it. I am finding some of the tracks the sound is perfectly fine, others it is not. The music comes in very crackling like I am listening to some really old broken speakers. I am using Mac OSX10.3.9 and iDVD4. No editing software. It sounds great in the preview, but when I burn the disc it sounds terrible on certain songs. Tthe newer songs have the problem, not the old songs. All mp3's. Very strange. I am working on a 50th anniversay present for my parents which is on the 30th of this month. Yikes, I need an answer.

dedidas · #3 August 27th, 2005, 11:09 PM

I'm kinda glad i see that other people have this problem with idvd. i thought i was missing something though i was very thorough following instructions. My vide burns well but the sound has disturbing crackle and pop on it.
anyone has an answer? couldnt find anything relating to this on the apple support site... thanks

DrumsAreHot · #4 July 30th, 2006, 02:14 AM

Hey all. I have the same problem, but I have found the solution. For some reason, if you export in Final Cut with peaks ranging from -12 to -6 dB, iDVD boosts these peaks to above 0 dB, which creates the square waveforms, or clips in audio.

What you should do, is export your Final Cut videos with peaks at no higher than -12 dB. I usually let the average sit at around -15 dB (in between -12 and -18 dB).

That should solve your problems. Hope this helps!