The finished volume

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peteuk90

New member
Hi,

Was just wondering, when I do a recording on my pc (have Delta 1010LT card) I always make sure none of the channels go above 0db, also the master. When I edit it normalize in Sound Forge I always again make sure 0db, put it on my stereo and sounds good but when I get a "professional" recording it nearly always sounds louder? So my question is.. do I record louder than 0db?
 
The process you are looking for is called mastering. It will be very difficult to obtain a "professional" mastered volume with sufficient sonic quality out of a home recording setup. Look into sending your tracks out for professional mastering. Good mastering houses will be able to get you closer because they have much better equipment.
 
peteuk90 said:
Hi,

Was just wondering, when I do a recording on my pc (have Delta 1010LT card) I always make sure none of the channels go above 0db, also the master. When I edit it normalize in Sound Forge I always again make sure 0db, put it on my stereo and sounds good but when I get a "professional" recording it nearly always sounds louder? So my question is.. do I record louder than 0db?
Click to expand...

You are only looking at the peak level. The RMS Level of the mix is a much better indicator of how "loud" this mix is, and your mix is certainly not achieving the same RMS level as the stuff you are comparing it too.

The mail culprit is always low mids and bass frequencies. Most home studio recordings have too much of it in relation to other frequencies. But, it isn't even that simple. There are other elements that can contribute.

Anyway, achieving higher RMS levels can be difficult, and if you are trying to compete with the modern "LOUD" stuff, you will need to optimize you mix for that.
 
[broken record mode] Keep in mind that we're comparing "professional" (quarter-million dollar budgets, teams of seasoned professionals at every step using the greatest gear available, etc.) recordings with "home brewed" recordings.

That's not a knock to home-brew... That's just the facts. Get Al Schmidt or Steve Albini on the same rig, and the results will undoubtedly be different. Get a stable of professional musicians making the noise and the results will change dramatically also.

And volume... Sheer volume is something that has to be carefully planned for from the very start - The arrangement, the gear selection, preamps, EQ'ing (if any), dynamics control - ALL of these things has to be RIGHT ON from the start for a recording to be able to handle the crazy volumes people expect during mastering at this point. Most of them *still* can't handle it, but then we're "forced" into bringing it to where it was never meant to be.

Sounds like pure evil, no? [/broken record mode]
 
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