Help with audio distortion after upload (Vegas Pro 23)

Heidi-Hansen wrote on 10/27/2025, 3:14 AM

Hi everyone,

I’m not very experienced when it comes to audio settings, and I could really use a bit of help.
Some time ago I managed to fix this issue in Vegas on my old PC, but now I’m working on a new one and I can’t remember what I did back then.

On my own machine the audio sounds perfect, but as soon as I upload the video the sound becomes slightly distorted in the video when the volume is turned up high.

I’m using Vegas Pro 23 Suite 365.

Project Audio Properties:

  • Sample rate: 48.000
  • Resample quality: Best

Master FX:

  • Track Compressor: “Soft limiter”

Loudness Meter options:

  • EBU R128 mode
  • Loudness scale: Absolute (-23 LUFS)

Render settings:

  • Sample rate: 48.000
  • Bit rate: 320.000

System specs:

  • CPU: Intel® Core™ Ultra 7 265KF (20 cores, up to 5.5 GHz)
  • RAM: 32 GB DDR5-6000 (Corsair Vengeance)
  • GPU: ASUS GeForce RTX 5070 12 GB
  • Motherboard: ASUS B860M-Plus TUF Gaming
  • OS: Windows 11 Home

I think there used to be one more option in my old Vegas setup that prevented these little audio artifacts, but I honestly can’t remember what it was.
I know very little about sound, so it’s probably something simple I’m missing.

I’ve attached my latest video.
If you play it at max volume you can hear that it no longer sounds completely clean. One of the first things I say: “You wake up with 5.5 kg of Carbon” (the artifact is very clear there).
Link:

Thanks in advance to anyone who can help!

Comments

rraud wrote on 10/28/2025, 12:52 PM

Can you put the file you uploaded to YT on a cloud drive (Google, Dropbox, OneDrive, ect) so we may download it to analyze.
btw, the recommended loudness level for YouTube and online streaming is appox. -14 LUFS (integrated). EU-R128 and ATSC A/85 are for TV broadcast submissions.

Heidi-Hansen wrote on 10/28/2025, 2:06 PM

Can you put the file you uploaded to YT on a cloud drive (Google, Dropbox, OneDrive, ect) so we may download it to analyze.
btw, the recommended loudness level for YouTube and online streaming is appox. -14 LUFS (integrated). EU-R128 and ATSC A/85 are for TV broadcast submissions.

Thank you very much for your reply. I just wanted to ask about what you mentioned regarding LUFS etc., as I don’t see those options on my screen (see screenshot).

rraud wrote on 10/29/2025, 1:23 PM

LUFS etc., as I don’t see those options on my screen (see screenshot)

In Vegas: 'View> Window> Loudness Meters'
If you have Sound Forge Pro, the 'Statistics' tool can generate the details of an entire mix in a matter of seconds (depending somewhat on the length). The details can also be copied to the clipboard.
There are also third-party LU loudness meter plug-ins (free and otherwise) that can be applied to the audio master bus. The free Youleen meter is nice. Toneboosters has nice meters as well. They're v3 legacy plugs are free.
https://youlean.co/youlean-loudness-meter/

Howard-Vigorita wrote on 10/29/2025, 4:07 PM

@Heidi-Hansen I followed your link and took a quick look at your video's Stats For Nerds by right-clicking on the play button and got this:

The DRC marking indicates YouTube implemented Dynamic Range Control on the audio because the levels were in excess of -14 LUFS. It doesn't tell us how it got to be so loud, but if it sounds bad it's probably because you pushed levels in Vegas beyond zero-db which results in bad sounding clipping. If you keep an eye on the level meters in Vegas while playing your project from beginning to end, making sure the meters on the tracks and the output bus never light up red at the top, that would indicate no overloads. I also always double-check levels by doing audio-only renders and open them with SoundForge which has stats functions lacking in Vegas. Recent versions of SoundForge report both rms and lufs. If levels are not loud enough to your ear, after lowering them to prevent overloads, that's when compression is called for. My go-to audio compression FX in Vegas is Wave Hammer and I only use the minimum needed to get average levels where I want them. If your audio is coming out of a camera with Automatic Level Control (ALC), it's probably already compressed and will only need lowering. Generally what I want to see in Stats For Nerds is 100%/100% which indicates YouTube didn't mess with my levels.

anthony-chiappette wrote on 10/30/2025, 12:54 AM

I always ensure the audio in my projects doesn't get beyond -0.2 or so. But I have noticed as well that once I upload them to YouTube, the sound is much louder, to the point of being too loud, and I've also noticed that when the sound levels fall in the video, they are boosted again by YT. I don't like that.

ASUS Prime Z590-A Motherboard with Intel Core i7 11700 8 Core / 16 Thread 2.50GHZ, 64GB Crucial DDR4 3200 (4 x 16GB), nVidia GeForce RTX5060 8GB GDDR7, SoundBlaster X AE5 soundcard, 3 x 4TB Samsung 860 EVO SATA 3 SSD, 2 x 8TB Samsung 870 QVO SATA 3 SSD, 1 x 2TB Samsung 980 Pro NVME PICE4 SSD, 2 X WD 4 TB NVME PCIE3 SSD, 2 X Viewsonic HD monitors, LG Blu-Ray writer. Windows 11 (latest build), currently using Vegas Pro 22 latest build, and limited VP23 use to gauge performance and ease of use differences. Videos come from 2 x Sony HDR CX-405 Cameras, XAVC-S MP4 @ 50Mbps 1080P 60fps video files. (Previously: 2 x Canon HFR800 cameras, MP4 files at 1920 x 1080 60p 35Mbps).

Heidi-Hansen wrote on 10/30/2025, 7:03 AM

@Heidi-Hansen I followed your link and took a quick look at your video's Stats For Nerds by right-clicking on the play button and got this:

The DRC marking indicates YouTube implemented Dynamic Range Control on the audio because the levels were in excess of -14 LUFS. It doesn't tell us how it got to be so loud, but if it sounds bad it's probably because you pushed levels in Vegas beyond zero-db which results in bad sounding clipping. If you keep an eye on the level meters in Vegas while playing your project from beginning to end, making sure the meters on the tracks and the output bus never light up red at the top, that would indicate no overloads. I also always double-check levels by doing audio-only renders and open them with SoundForge which has stats functions lacking in Vegas. Recent versions of SoundForge report both rms and lufs. If levels are not loud enough to your ear, after lowering them to prevent overloads, that's when compression is called for. My go-to audio compression FX in Vegas is Wave Hammer and I only use the minimum needed to get average levels where I want them. If your audio is coming out of a camera with Automatic Level Control (ALC), it's probably already compressed and will only need lowering. Generally what I want to see in Stats For Nerds is 100%/100% which indicates YouTube didn't mess with my levels.

Thanks so much for explaining all that.
I didn’t know YouTube adds DRC above -14 LUFS.
I actually thought the soft limiter in Vegas would make sure nothing went above the safe range, because earlier I had the opposite problem: my audio ended up too quiet after uploading.
So I probably pushed it a bit too much this time without realizing it. I’ll start paying closer attention to the meters and learn how to measure LUFS properly. I’ve never tried Wave Hammer before, but I’ll experiment with it. Thanks again, really appreciate you taking the time to explain this!

rraud wrote on 10/30/2025, 2:19 PM

Wave Hammer is one of my favorites.. however if pushed to excess, it will create distortion.. which on music some music mixes or stems (drums for instance) is desirable, It will emulate the vintage UA-1176 classic FET compressor sound. OTOH, I frequently use the free LoudMax leveler, it is very clean and fast to set, with only two main parameters: threshold and output (ceiling).

Heidi-Hansen wrote on 10/30/2025, 11:36 PM

LUFS etc., as I don’t see those options on my screen (see screenshot)

In Vegas: 'View> Window> Loudness Meters'
If you have Sound Forge Pro, the 'Statistics' tool can generate the details of an entire mix in a matter of seconds (depending somewhat on the length). The details can also be copied to the clipboard.
There are also third-party LU loudness meter plug-ins (free and otherwise) that can be applied to the audio master bus. The free Youleen meter is nice. Toneboosters has nice meters as well. They're v3 legacy plugs are free.
https://youlean.co/youlean-loudness-meter/

Thanks for your suggestions. I think I actually have Sound Forge Pro included with my products, I’ve just never used it.
For anyone experienced with sound in Vegas Pro, that probably sounds as silly as the time I had a great audio interface but still used the PC’s built-in sound instead? haha 😂

rraud wrote on 10/31/2025, 11:21 AM

The Vegas Suite included Sound Forge Pro. Some earlier versions of Vegas (Edit) included Sound Forge Audio Studio, which has the 'Statistics' tool, but it does not measure loudness (LU).