I have been using AVS Audio and Video Editors for over a year now, and they both contain this issue with their audio.

I mostly work with wav files, though sometimes mp3 audio. If I am producing a 10-clip video in AVS Video Editor for example, I may only see these spikes appear noticeably at 3 or 4 spots, and deal with them in different ways. If I am using AVS Audio Editor to compose music using files containing individual musical notes, I notice this issue to an extreme degree.

The problem: An audio file has a volume spike about 0.500 seconds before the end if it's sound envelope has been adjusted in the mixer in ANY WAY.

To reproduce this problem, all you need is a sound file that is smooth and clear. I recommend a musical note with long-fading resonance.
1)Place the file in the mixer at the start of the timeline on Line 1.
2)Drag the file's red sound envelope line down to about 50% volume.
3)Right-click on the file and select "Duplicate Object". Now you have 2 identical sounds on Line 1.
4)Move the second file about 0.100 to 0.200 seconds ahead of the first file for clear separation.
5)Play the audio from the start of the timeline. You should hear everything clear and as expected.
6)Export this mix into a wav audio file.
7)Now, play back the new file using the method of your choice. The first sound will now have a sound spike about 0.500 before it ends. For musical notes with long fading resonance, you may only notice the click/pop/crack that happens.
7b)If you're having trouble hearing the spike, monitor the sound with speakers particularly sensitive to higher frequencies like ear buds. A lot of these spikes go unnoticed on speakers that drown out or don't hit these higher frequencies, or if it blends into other audio in a mix. I've also noticed that this does not seem to happen if there is only a single file present in the mix(<---This may be an important clue for a fix)

Now, here's how to replicate that same file, but this time without the spike.
Repeat all of the numbered steps above. However, this time, DON'T adjust the sound envelope.
Play the exported/produced sound back, and notice that there is no volume spike(Or click/pop/crack)

I don't know anything about audio encoding or your programming, but this reproduction tells me that there is an inherent flaw in the way the program handles modifications to a file's sound envelope. I am including the "DX Plus Analog D4 Single Note 1_Proc.wav" file that I used to reproduce this problem. I also have the other files from the various steps of the process which I do not think you will need, as you should be able to reproduce this problem using only a sound file and repeating the above steps.

Lastly, AVS Staff, please note that this problem carries over to the AVS Video Editor, probably because they are sourced from the same code. If you find a fix in one, it could greatly benefit the other. (See Video Editor Forum. There are several related topics)

Additional reproduction notes:

I've had hours/days/weeks of frustration with this bug which has been present the entire time I've used the AVS Audio and Video Editor software.

After spending dedicated time specifically looking into it, I found that this problem, when reproduced as above, actually happens EVERY single time. It is just sometimes masked or not noticeable, or seems random because one of the above steps didn't happen.

To make sure you can reproduce it, here's some parts that I want to put emphasis on, which are stated in the original post, but I want to make sure you understand them.

1)This does not seem to happen when only a single file is mixed. There must be at least 2.

2)In my experiments, this usually does not happen in immediate playback of the mix-Only when the mix is exported/produced. Though, I have seen it happen in immediate playback sometimes. I still don't fully understand why this is. It is possible that this is because other times I have not considered that I might have produced a single file from a mix previously.

3)This bug is not sporadic. It will absolutely happen every time using the steps in the original post. It is not always noticed because the portion of the file which spikes might be very quiet, or be masked by other sounds in the mix, or simply not sound out-of-place. It is most noticeable when it happens in the portion of the file where the dB's are very high, because it goes from silence to very loud. It's less noticeable when it happens in the portion of a file where the dBs are very low because the original volume was not high to begin with, however, in these cases, when you are monitoring with speakers that are particularly sensitive to high frequencies(like ear buds), this spike usually starts with a click/pop/crack, and you can always find it if you look for it.

4)Because this happens at about 0.500 seconds before the file ends, it's cause often gets confused with other processes like transitions(In AVS Video Editor). These additional processes may or may not have an effect on the immediate playback, but in my investigation, they seem only to coincide with and not cause the problem.

Please make this a top priority for fixing because working around it has caused me so much additional work in the last year, making video and sound with AVS software. Your software suites are amazing. They package a lot of high-end features into a very simple and user-friendly interface that I love. A problem like this is so fundamental, that it takes the 5/5 software to 2/5 for such a quality loss in the output.


For other users who are having this problem, here are my work-around recommendations. The sound envelope adjustment feature is the cause of the problem, but it is still so very useful that I wouldn't abandon it. Sometimes these spikes are masked by others sounds or are maybe on-beat(In music) and can kind of blend in. Only look for an alternative when this problem is noticeable.

I've tested the above using the Gain slider feature instead of the red line on the file, and it does not cause this problem. Unfortunately, you cannot shape the gain in a timeline.

It is not so convenient, but do your adjustments manually to individual files in the file editor portion of the software. Rename these custom versions so that you still have your base sound files to work with.

To: Outy

Dear user,

We greatly appreciate your help and detailed description, investigation of the issue.

I will pass all the information aover to our developers.

Please let me know if I can be of any further assistance to you.

Kind regards

To: Outy


Just some additional user tips for working around the need to use the sound envelope adjuster(The green/red lines and dots on files in the mixer):

I mentioned the mixer's gain slider in the post above. When I need to simply adjust the volume of a sound in the mix, I put it in its own file, then, on its own line in the mixer and adjust the gain slider for the entire line. This can end up with a lot of lines, but it's the sure way to keep your produced audio free of pops, cracks, and volume surges that can happen when the sound envelope is adjusted.

If I need slopes in the volume(Slight, but not complete fades)-Again the long, but clean way, I put those sounds in their own file and fade them in the main editor all as individual files, each with slight overlap in length, then I blend these overlapping, faded files in the mixer into the mixer to produce a file that has complicated volume slopes, but no defects.

If my needs for adjusting the volume on a file are just too long and complicated to break it up into individual sounds, I'll break down and use the sound envelope adjuster and deal with the spikes in different ways. Possibly by breaking up that produced file into individual files again and producing, blending, producing until I get them all smashed out. Or just tolerate them.

I hope that helps! :)

That looks like a tough issue. I just hope that a fix could be found here.

How to fix the unwanted “spike” “pop” or “glitch” at the end of an audio fade in AVS video editor

This annoying problem had also foxed me for some time. The AVS help line was very efficient at replying to my requests for a fix – but none of them were the answer – such as uninstalling the programme and reinstalling it!

As previous posts have identified the problem – and no solution is evident – it would appear this is a glitch that is beyond the developers who work for AVS. Never fear – I enjoy a challenge and have found a way round the problem! Here’s what I did:

1) When creating a video and you want to insert an audio track with a fade between scenes .... with no spike - first import an audio track into the media library (in my case an mp3 music track).

2) Next drag it to the audio timeline and position it at the exact point you want it to start. Trim the right hand end by dragging it to about 10 sec after you want the clip to end.

3) Then set the fade point: double click the red volume line to create a dot where you want it to start fading – repeat to create a point where you want the fade to end – in my case to mute.

4) Drag the volume line at the second dot down to the bottom to create the fade. Then drag the third dot at the very end of the clip (after the unwanted 10 seconds extra bit) to the bottom, thus creating a mute “flat line” after the end of the fade. (See screen cap)

5) Click the padlock on the left of the audio track to hold the faded audio in place. Now delete everything else – all video associated with your project – leaving only the faded audio track. Drag it to the extreme left. You now have a video with an audio that matches your project by starting and fading exactly where you want it – and it runs 10 sec longer in mute – after which there will still be the annoying “pop”! However – it is now after where you want to end your clip.

6) Now click “Produce” and save the audio as a video file – I chose a WAV file – and save it to wherever you are going to save your final video – as something like “audio clip1”). This will create a black video with just the faded audio track that is exactly the right length (including fade) for your project. (If you want to preserve this as an AVS project file then do so and exit.)

7) Now reopen your original project, click Media Library and click Import. Browse to where you saved the audio clip file and import it.

8) Right click the file in your Media Library pane and select “Extract Audio” from the drop down menu. Save it as a new sound file as something like “audio extract”.

9) Click import and import the audio extracted file into your media library. (nearly done!)

10) Drag the audio extract file onto your timeline and carefully position it so that the start is exactly where you want it to begin. It should of course play and fade exactly at the correct point. However because you faded it to mute for 10 seconds longer..... (after which there will be the pesky “pop”) all you have to do is to trim the clip by dragging the right hand end to the left.... you don't need to drag it exactly to the fade point as it will have already faded to mute ...just drag it left far enough to hide the “pop”. (This means you do not have to fade the clip by creating fade points on the red volume line – just let it play!). Voilà!

Phew! Admittedly this is a low tech, clunky and time consuming solution. However it works! AVS – what should take 5 seconds takes 5 minutes.... please can you fix it!

To: john@johnsimonett.co.uk

Dear John,

Thank you for the detailed information about the issue. It is a very usefull recomendation and can be helpfull to our users.

We have passed all the information over to ou developers. They are working on this issue and we will let you know as soon as the issue is resolved.

Please let me know if I can be of any further assistance to you.

Kind regards

Audio Glitch Solution Simplified:
1 - Extend your audio out past your fade-to-mute point . . even if it extends the project.
2 - PRODUCE the project under a name indicating it's an audio fade fix
3 - Re-import the produced file into your project
4 - Extract the audio from the imported video
5 - Drag that audio to an audio line (It will match the original audio)
6 - Cut/edit the dead/muted space off the end of the extracted audio and clean up everything else to match it
7 - Resave the project . . and produce it into your final video

THIS SEEMS TO BE THE ONLY WAY TO ACCOMPLISH THIS IN THE VIDEO EDITOR FOR NOW.