# Extreme DC offset in profiler waveform - also volume issue **URL:** \ **Category:** FMOD Studio\ **Created:** [December 21, 2023, 9:35am UTC](https://qa.fmod.com/t/extreme-dc-offset-in-profiler-waveform-also-volume-issue/21020 "2023-12-21T09:35:36Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![bdbr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/a88e57/32.png) [@bdbr](https://qa.fmod.com/u/bdbr)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2023, 9:35am UTC](https://qa.fmod.com/t/extreme-dc-offset-in-profiler-waveform-also-volume-issue/21020/1 "2023-12-21T09:35:36Z")
So I’ve been working with FMOD for the last few months and everything has been going well. I mixed my game to approximately -24 LUFS but then randomly today I noticed my loudness was way higher. I thought may I had accidentally increased the volume without realising, but I have gone through all mix busses etc and it’s nothing to do with that. I then realised that the profiler waveform looks extremely whack (big DC offset). Here is how the waveform looked originally ![image](https://canada1.discourse-cdn.com/flex036/uploads/fmod/original/2X/9/957db10d11ffa44d56551a024603d747d4cbf1ed.png) And this is how the waveform looks now (volume is significantly louder even though busses seem normal and I can’t figure out ANY change that would make this difference). ![image](https://canada1.discourse-cdn.com/flex036/uploads/fmod/original/2X/5/5cc752ddca60e8fe64e226a160ae8d886ecfbd1b.png) One thing I’ve noticed by the way - when I press play, you’re in the main menu. The menu music is the only thing that is the same in volume. Then when you press play it goes into the game, and everything is significantly louder than it should be (and thats where the waveform starts going off) Really have no idea what’s going on here. Any help would be greatly appreciated! ---
**Author:** ![bdbr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/a88e57/32.png) [@bdbr](https://qa.fmod.com/u/bdbr)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2023, 12:06pm UTC](https://qa.fmod.com/t/extreme-dc-offset-in-profiler-waveform-also-volume-issue/21020/2 "2023-12-21T12:06:44Z")
Well I’ve discovered what’s causing the issue… I’m using pitch shifters on quite a few different busses. When I turn off all the pitch shifters, there’s no more waveform offset, and the extra volume goes away. Each pitch shifter device adds volume and also seems to off-center the waveform. The more pitch shifters on, the more total DC offset. Why does the pitch shifter increase volume? (this is when there is no pitch shifting ocurring btw - at 1.0 pitch). And why does it stuff the waveform up? Really hoping this is a bug as there is nothing in the manual or anywhere online about the volume increase of waveform offset… ---
**Author:** ![Leah\_FMOD](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/flex036/user_avatar/qa.fmod.com/leah_fmod/32/3685_2.png) [@Leah\_FMOD](https://qa.fmod.com/u/Leah_FMOD)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2023, 11:10pm UTC](https://qa.fmod.com/t/extreme-dc-offset-in-profiler-waveform-also-volume-issue/21020/3 "2023-12-21T23:10:19Z")
Hi, Thanks for reporting this - I’ve been able to reproduce it on my end and can confirm that it definitely seems like unexpected behavior. Unfortunately I don’t have a workaround to offer at present, but I’ve passed this along to the development team for further investigation. ---
**Author:** ![bdbr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/a88e57/32.png) [@bdbr](https://qa.fmod.com/u/bdbr)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2023, 12:07am UTC](https://qa.fmod.com/t/extreme-dc-offset-in-profiler-waveform-also-volume-issue/21020/4 "2023-12-22T00:07:06Z")
Thanks Leah, that’s good to hear! I’ll most likely disable the pitch shifters for now but looking forward to a fix hopefully soon 😃 ---
**Author:** ![SoundTek\_Studio](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/flex036/user_avatar/qa.fmod.com/soundtek_studio/32/3395_2.png) [@SoundTek\_Studio](https://qa.fmod.com/u/SoundTek_Studio)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2023, 3:04pm UTC](https://qa.fmod.com/t/extreme-dc-offset-in-profiler-waveform-also-volume-issue/21020/5 "2023-12-28T15:04:53Z")
Hello, I did not test it, but a classic way to deal with DC offset is to EQ 0Hz. So, maybe you can fix that temporarily/workaround with a hard and low lowcut EQ after the pitch shifter. (EQs will show you a DC offset as signal at 0Hz) ---
**Author:** ![bdbr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/a88e57/32.png) [@bdbr](https://qa.fmod.com/u/bdbr)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2024, 12:09am UTC](https://qa.fmod.com/t/extreme-dc-offset-in-profiler-waveform-also-volume-issue/21020/6 "2024-03-28T00:09:25Z")
Hi Leah, I’m wondering if the pitch shifter issue was fixed in 2.03? Couldn’t find anything in the release notes but really hoping it was. ---
**Author:** ![Leah\_FMOD](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/flex036/user_avatar/qa.fmod.com/leah_fmod/32/3685_2.png) [@Leah\_FMOD](https://qa.fmod.com/u/Leah_FMOD)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2024, 10:26pm UTC](https://qa.fmod.com/t/extreme-dc-offset-in-profiler-waveform-also-volume-issue/21020/7 "2024-04-02T22:26:11Z")
Unfortunately, the DC offset issue with the pitch shifter hasn’t been fixed in 2.03.00. However, the workaround suggested by SoundTek\_Studio above, involving high passing your pitch-shifted signal at a low frequency, can be used to remove the offset if needed. ---
**Author:** ![bdbr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/a88e57/32.png) [@bdbr](https://qa.fmod.com/u/bdbr)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2024, 4:19am UTC](https://qa.fmod.com/t/extreme-dc-offset-in-profiler-waveform-also-volume-issue/21020/8 "2024-04-19T04:19:16Z")
No worries I will try that, I guess the other issue is the gain that the pitch shifter causes. It seems to be a pretty random number but I guess I can roughly use a negative gain to offset it. Thanks ---
**Author:** ![madfiddler](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/flex036/user_avatar/qa.fmod.com/madfiddler/32/186_2.png) [@madfiddler](https://qa.fmod.com/u/madfiddler)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2025, 6:57pm UTC](https://qa.fmod.com/t/extreme-dc-offset-in-profiler-waveform-also-volume-issue/21020/9 "2025-05-21T18:57:19Z")
Yeah, I’ve just notice the gain issue. It’s adding approx. 3.5dB of gain to my mix… ---
**Author:** ![Leah\_FMOD](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/flex036/user_avatar/qa.fmod.com/leah_fmod/32/3685_2.png) [@Leah\_FMOD](https://qa.fmod.com/u/Leah_FMOD)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2025, 3:03am UTC](https://qa.fmod.com/t/extreme-dc-offset-in-profiler-waveform-also-volume-issue/21020/10 "2025-05-22T03:03:48Z")
Does removing the DC offset with a steep high pass filter at the low frequencies as suggested by SoundTek\_Studio allow you to work around the issue? ---
**Author:** ![madfiddler](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/flex036/user_avatar/qa.fmod.com/madfiddler/32/186_2.png) [@madfiddler](https://qa.fmod.com/u/madfiddler)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2025, 12:42pm UTC](https://qa.fmod.com/t/extreme-dc-offset-in-profiler-waveform-also-volume-issue/21020/11 "2025-05-22T12:42:34Z")
I don’t think removing the DC offset would make a difference to the gain, will it? Either way, I’ve already removed the pitch shifters due to the latency issues people have reported here. Thanks for the reply. ---
**Author:** ![Leah\_FMOD](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/flex036/user_avatar/qa.fmod.com/leah_fmod/32/3685_2.png) [@Leah\_FMOD](https://qa.fmod.com/u/Leah_FMOD)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2025, 6:38am UTC](https://qa.fmod.com/t/extreme-dc-offset-in-profiler-waveform-also-volume-issue/21020/12 "2025-05-27T06:38:10Z")
> [@madfiddler](#): > > I don’t think removing the DC offset would make a difference to the gain, will it? It would depend on how the gain is being measured, but DC offset shifting an entire waveform will increase the metered peak and RMS values, which will increase the values that FMOD’s meters display. You can observer the offset in the waveform by recording the signal in the Profiler. ---
**Author:** ![madfiddler](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/flex036/user_avatar/qa.fmod.com/madfiddler/32/186_2.png) [@madfiddler](https://qa.fmod.com/u/madfiddler)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2025, 11:55am UTC](https://qa.fmod.com/t/extreme-dc-offset-in-profiler-waveform-also-volume-issue/21020/13 "2025-05-27T11:55:26Z")
Sorry, I mean the perceivable volume that you hear, not what you meter… this is definitely louder. I wouldn’t expect a sound to be louder IRL just because of a DC offset - the raw waveform isn’t louder.