Explain Audio Engine

[filmelife]

This one gives a few people a headache, can we try tackling this....

For instance, Nuendo claims its audio engine is better than anyone else, so does protools. The other day we played a file both in sony vegas at 24/48khz and the same file in nuendo and switched back and forth between the two. They both sound exactly the same. Is the word audio engine just hype?

 

[tigeba]

There can be differences in how different software and hardware render audio. Depending on who you talk to you are going to get wildly different opinions. It is actually very difficult to perform a test because there are a lot of variables that go into making identical mixes in different DAWs. In most cases however, the test you performed would not be considered "valid" since you are not actually doing any combining of audio streams by playing back a file. Personally I think you would find a lot better information about this at a forum like Gearslutz.com, where it has been covered to death painfully numerous times

For me this is not an item of concern. Things like good analog gear and good technique are far more important.

 

[Noiz2]

THe audio engine... Well My car IS better than yours, of course it is it's mine. I'm not sure even "golden ears" are going to hear differences in the audio engine. What you might hear is differences in interfaces (the hardware). For Digi it's pretty simple, you will always be using their hardware. For Nuendo though you can use anything from a total crap game sound card to a $$$$ Apogee box. You WILL hear the difference between those two.
"Quality" wise I would say it's a toss up between Nuendo and PT and probably any audio app that the developer really cared about. The hardware will make a difference and because your using it the UI will have a big effect on how much you like a program. Define your needs. Find software that fits those needs and buy the hardware that supports that software.
I'm a big supported of PT for professional users but if Vegas fits your needs better then that is what you should use.

 

[Petrus]

Audio engine is the part of the editing program which does the actual calculations. The differences between programs, or audio engines if you will, can not be all that great, is is just fairly basic math. Besides, all better audio editors do the calculations at 32 bit precision even for 16 bit originals, so there is no possibility of rounding errors in the final output.

Marketing talk...

 

[ullanta]

The audio engine can indeed make a difference, but generally this difference is insignificant except in extreme circumstances. That said, where and how peaks are handled differ between audio engines, as do (most notably, I think) panning algorithms. I know ProTools internally uses a 48-bit representation which allows sound level to go "over peaking level", which allows a certain leeway in mixing situations which might not be there in other systems. Some systems allow you to select different algorithms for summing channels, and for panning (especially surround panning).

As has been said, certainly many other factors in your system are far more important than the details of the audio engine. But there can indeed be differences, both in convenience and sound.... but small ones. Keep in mind, some people still mix multiple tracks from their DAWs using analog mixers because they prefer the sound... in simple or complicated ways, the audio engine is an emulator of this analog process which can be of infinite complexity.