Clipping and levels

[TaylorEGO]

I am mixing in Sony Vegas 5
and I have the tracks on sub busses - one for all the drums one for all the guitars - one for all the vocal tracks - one for bass - one for keys
My main level peaks at +6.5 db or something
and each sub bus peaks at various levels...

when I render the tracks they come out as "clipping" but it doesnt really sound like clipping, no distortion etc...

but that is pre-master as well,
my question is...
what level do I want to export for mastering? -1db -2db ?
and how do I get it there?
a: reduce the level on each individual track?
b: reduce the master fader?
c: reduce the busses?

or does that even make a difference?

 

[mixsit]

Many of the programs have mixing headroom above zero so that you can be a bit hot at the bus or master and just pull it down some and be fine. But the final output needs to be below zero. Sometimes clipping is brief enough so it is simply not heard right off.
If you can push the sub busses way up, causing say +6 at the master, and can pull the master down -7 and hear no distortion, I presume that means there is the extra headroom in there, and if the mix is not too far out, try pulling down the subs. The best is to get close back at the track level so busses can stay around zero. Then, no worries at any level..
Wayne