Acid 4 volume problem

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jacen

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hi, not sure if anyone asked this before.

My Acid volume meter clips easily, it goes above the red mark when i try to turn it up. My songs are very soft compared to normal mp3s if i don't do that. However there is no distortion in the sound, so should i leave it like this?

Is turning up the volume of all the individual tracks a solution?
 
You do not want your master levels clipping (in the red).

I would suggest that the master levels peak between -6db to -3db.

spin
 
jacen said:
hi, not sure if anyone asked this before.

My Acid volume meter clips easily, it goes above the red mark when i try to turn it up. My songs are very soft compared to normal mp3s if i don't do that. However there is no distortion in the sound, so should i leave it like this?

Is turning up the volume of all the individual tracks a solution?
Click to expand...

Yeah, ditto what Spinsterwun said - avoid the red. During arrangement and mixing your volume will be lower. Once your track is finished you can boost the volume through compression/limiting.
 
jacen you are probably wondering why z_a and myself are telling you to "watch your levels" and to "compress and limit". If you don't do these things, among others, your music will distort when you play it loudly on other systems.

spin
 
BTW...........

What format of music are constructing?

When I make dance music, I usually put a a low-shelf @ 62 to 40 db. ;)
 
I'm making rock music. Are you guys saying i should compress or boost the volume from the finished exported file? Or in-project, which means boosting at the master bus?

I do use compression at the master bus, and this causes the meter to go way over.
 
for you, because I assume that you won't be taking your mixes to a mastering house to be mastered by a pro....just compress and limit your stuff as you best see fit, and then you can boost the volume.

All songs clip. Put in the 50 cent CD and you'll see that everytime he starts to flow it clips, even up to +3.5db. If it isn't AUDIBLE, then you're ok. But be careful....cuz it may start to sound bad bad bad if you don't read up on it all first and know what you're doing.

your song SHOULDN'T be as loud as a commercial CD. that's what recording engineers go to school for...ha... but you can get it close.
 
jacen said:
......Or in-project,......
Click to expand...

In project.


____________________________________________________

You can make minor EQ tweaks to the final mixdown.
 
I'm sorry i'm still confused. My main concern is that songs will sound softer than a commercial cd if i keep the meter from clipping. So u guys are telling me that i should boost/compress the master volume 'in-project' and a little clipping is okay?

Or is turning up the volume on all the individual tracks a solution? What about using Sound forge's 'normalise to average rms' on the finished rendered file?
 
jacen said:
.....

1. So u guys are telling me that i should boost/compress the master volume 'in-project'

2. and a little clipping is okay?

3. Or is turning up the volume on all the individual tracks a solution?

4. What about using Sound forge's 'normalise to average rms' on the finished rendered file?
Click to expand...

1. Yes
2. No
3. No
4. Definitely, no.


PS: I'll come back to this thread later on tonight with somemore info for you. ;)
 
Spin,
This may not be the right place to ask, but how do you put a gif image in your post? Like the spinning globe you have. Sorry for bothering and Thanks in advance.
 
So the only solution to make the song louder is to put compression on the master bus? It still sounds soft after doing that.

Btw, compression seems to mess up my mix, issit common to fix the mix with compression on?
 
hi SPINSTERWUN and friends, i juz read up a book about acid and learnt a little more about compressing.

For the compressor input/output gains, does it mean that i should turn them up all the way up as much as possible? I mean, they don't affect the compression ratios, but they're vital in giving me the loudest sound possible. Am i right to say that?

Also, on my master bus the chain is <Graphic Eq -- Reverb -- Track Compressor>. This is wrong rite? I juz read that Comp should come first, then Eq and reverb.
 
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