Avid Behaving Badly #22: Audio Output from Nitris DX is Distorted

 For the purposes of making this issue easier to search for, I'm going to write a few more sentences here:

- Avid Audio too Loud Nitris DX

- Avid Output too Loud

- Avid Audio Too Hot?

- Avid Audio fucking sucks my asshole

- Nitris DX audio blown out?

- What the Fuck is up with my Audio?

- Seriously, What the Fuck, Avid???

That should make it easier for people to find this helpful page where I'm going answer all of life's great mysteries the question as to why Avid sucks fucking asshole (see above). Actually no, I'm not going to answer that. Honestly, who can? At this point, the fact that Avid sucks my fucking asshole is just an immutable fact of existence, like the sky, or the Chargers missing a field goal with two seconds left to lose a game.

But you're not here to ponder the Truth of Existence with me. You're here because you audio is way too fucking hot coming out of your powered studio speakers. Fortunately for you, I have a fix for this problem.

Near as I can tell, this problem exists only for a very specific setup: You're running Avid on a Mac. You're using a Nitris DX hardware box to handle audio. That audio then goes from the Nitris to your mixamp, and from there to powered studio speakers.

And what, pray tell, is this problem? Well, if you couldn't tell from the statements above (really? You couldn't tell?), the issue is that the audio, which is going on this lovely sort of expedition through all of your fancy and expensive hardware, is distorted to fucking hell and sounds like you're running a goddamn jet-powered popcorn maker on top of your carefully edited tracks.

Fortunately for you, dear reader, I have found a workaround to resolve the issue while Avid's engineers beat off giraffes or whatever the fuck else it is they do all day when they clearly aren't doing their fucking jobs.

This is actually a very simple fix, and is entirely software related. First, pop into your settings and open up the Audio Project settings. They look like this:

Click the "Hardware" tab (already selected in this screenshot) and then click the button at the bottom which says "Open Calibration Window."

A little pop up will warn you that you should reset something and do something else or some shit and do you want to do that and of course the correct answer is FUCKING NO. I don't know what's wrong with Avid, but jesus christ could clicking no instead of yes when avid asks if you want to do what they recommend be any more fucking emblematic of the bizarre and twisted world in which we all live? It's like the Twilight Zone of 1st World Problems up in here.

The next window that comes up will look like this:

See where it says "Calibration (dB):" and then the number "1.00?" That's the motherfucker that's been raping your ears on the daily right there. Fuck that little 1. What. An. Asshole.

Change it to something more respectful of the decades you've spent honing your ears into sensitive auditory receptors. In my very brief testing, I found that -8.00 dB seemed to eliminate the distortion, but just to be safe I went all the way to -10.00 dB. Thusly:

Almost done! See where it says "Channel?" Change that to a "2" and then calibrate the output level for that channel to -10.00 dB as well. If you're using more than 2 speakers (first off, that's awesome), adjust for each and every output channel you're actually sending. This will not affect Digital Cut in any way - it's purely a hardware change.

Speaking of, I need to warn you that I have absolutely no idea whether or not this will fuck with your deck, because I don't have one right now. I'd assume that if the mixamp affects your deck, this will, too, and if the mixamp doesn't affect your deck, this won't, either, but please test it before committing to it and don't blame me if this shit is fucked - we're all working around Avid's bullshit here and ultimate responsibility lies with them.

Alright, you're good to go. You'll have to dial up your mixamp a little hotter on the affected channels, but you should be getting nice, clean, distortion-free audio now, just the way the Flying Spaghetti Monster intended. Or something. Have a great day!