Bizarre Audio Gain Issue on Sharing

I thought I'd throw this out there and see if anyone else has had this problem:

First: 10.1.3 on a nMP, OS 10.9.5

I have a project where all of the audio is leveled to about -12db. The audio is a mix of multichannel clips on actors (2 channels each of lav and booms i.e. 4 channels) which have the best channels selected and the others unchecked. I've also got music and SFX in the cut. All audio has appropriate roles assigned (dialogue, music, effects) and as I said, everything sums to about -12db.
The project is stereo 48k. There are no surround elements.


Here's the problem: when I share the project as a Master (command-E) it's ProRes 422/Stereo. The picture is fine, but the audio is about 12db hotter than the timeline version. If I bring the new QT back into FCPX and compare, the audio in the original timeline is leveled correctly, but the QT is way over into the red.

This project is actually one out of three other films all being cut in the same library from the same footage. The other projects do not exhibit this behavior. Earlier iterations of the problem project do not exhibit this behavior. Only ones from certain point onward.

Things I've done:
- Copied the timeline materials into a new Project: Same audio problem
- Copied the timeline materials into an existing Project with other OK materials (appending): Same audio problem
- Created a compound clip out of the timeline materials and shared a new Master: Audio levels are now normal. If I break apart clip elements, the audio goes back to screwed up.

What's weird is that no matter what I do (apart from compounding the clip), this footage output is over modulated. It was all recorded correctly by a professional mixer and synched using Resolve.

Any thoughts?

Hey Paul,

Thank you for your detailed explanation and for exactly describing the things you have tried.

Making a CC from the timeline mixes down your audio, as if you were exporting to a master file. So I'm baffled why these two actions would lead to different audio levels with this specific project and not with other projects. I have never seen this, and maybe others can chime in to help. But I would certainly report this to Apple because it's a very weird issue.

Anyway, the tip to create a compound clip certainly will be useful if anyone else would experience this problem in the future.

- Ronny