Bringing track volumes up to normal levels

  • Thread starter Thread starter leavings
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leavings

leavings

Member
Generally the tracks I record aren't as loud as other CD's when played through the same systems. I can't bring the master levels up in my mix anymore without distortion. Is this a problem I should delegate to whomever masters the disc when the time comes, or is this something I need to work out on my own prior to mastering?

Peter
 
as long as the mix isn't ridiculously quiet, the mastering engineer will make it plenty loud (if that's what you're going for). if you're giving the ME a 16-bit file to master from, you're going to want it at least decently loud though to get a quality wav with which the mastering can work (i forget what the exact term is). it's the same reason you always want to track as hot as possible in a 16-bit environment. someone help me out here, i'm having a brainfart.

justin
 
Just mix to 24 or 32 bit float files instead... You're MUCH better off that way anyhow.

Other than that, you should pretty much expect non-mastered mixes to be somewhat quieter than commercially released (and properly mastered) CD's. You DO want a good level, but you DON'T want peaks - NONE AT ALL.

Also, if you plan on having a project mastered, you want to keep from overcompressing the main buss. A dB or 2 is okay... Anything more normally points to something lacking in the mix.

John Scrip - www.massivemastering.com
 
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