compression during mastering

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hipknot01

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when i compress a song to get the full volume out of it, can my levels read above 0db and not have distortion?
 
On analog.....well, no, there will always be distortion, but analog distortion can be good.

Digital....definitely not.
 
Compression during mastering rarely exceeds a dB or two... Maybe three in more "extreme" cases
On analog.....well, no, there will always be distortion, but analog distortion can be good.
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Most decent analog gear will go far past digital without distorting audibly depending on how the converters are calibrated.
 
so there is no way to get my mixes louder unless i use analog compression?
 
The loudest possible mix is not usually the truly best sounding mix. IMHO, squashing things too much tends to suck the life out of them. Unless all you're playing is screamo speed thrash metal... maintaining life to the audio is beneficial. I think the majority of modern recordings are "over" compressed to the point of hurting the sound. Too many people, even in the industry seem to be equating volume with quality... or at least putting volume over quality.

Be careful in how far you go in your quest for volume for to the dark side it can lead you....
 
hipknot01 said:
when i compress a song to get the full volume out of it, can my levels read above 0db and not have distortion?
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In all honesty, I don't understand this question about 9 different ways to Sunday:

What is "the full volume"? No, I mean seriously. Sure I understand what you mean conceptually, but to your ears and mind, what is "the full volume"? How do you determine that?

Above 0dB what? Are you talking about 0dBVU or 0dBFS?

Which meters at which stage in your process are talking abouy giving you potential readings above 0dB? Are you talking about an analog compressor or a 32-bit float digital plug in, or something else altogether? (Yes, it matters greatly.)

As far as whether there's distortion, I assume you're referring to audible distortion. You tell us. Push your levels that high and tell us what you hear. Does it sound right to you? Then go with it. Does it sound distorted? Then don't.

There are more, but I think once we find the answeres to these, the rest will take care of themselves.

G.
 
i'm going to assume he's talking about 0dbfs

in which case you might be able to push a FEW peaks past 0 without audible distortion, but they WILL be clipping. actually, to be technically correct, the peaks don't go past 0...they hit it and get chopped off. again, sometimes you'll be able to hear it, other times not - but avoid when possible.
 
hipknot01 said:
so there is no way to get my mixes louder unless i use analog compression?
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A good digital limiter is usually the better route to achieve a louder mix. IMHO comps are more useful in creating density and pulling a mix "together". It's all about creating a good balance between comps and limiters in combination as well as having a clean mix to start with.
 
another tip that'll help you out is to record your tracks with pretty conservative levels to start with. this will allow you a lot more flexibility in compressing/limiting later on before things start to fall apart.

i sat in at a buddy's studio last week to record some guitars for him while he was out looking at some houses, and i couldn't BELIEVE how hot all of his tracks were. i mean i could, but i though he knew better...he works probably 70 hours/week engineering and knows his shit pretty well, but i'd venture to guess that his mixes would sound much better if he kept the track levels lower, and cranked the make-up gain on his 2-buss compressor later on.
 
Ironklad Audio said:
i'm going to assume he's talking about 0dbfs.
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I'd assume the same thing. BUT, if that's true, then just where "can my levels read above 0db", as he puts it. The only place I know of where any dBFS meters even read that no-man's land is in a 32-bit float plug, in which case the answer is entirely different and much more complicated than that.

I think even more important are the first and fourth questions. What is it that is leading him to those high levels to begin with? What are his ears really telling him?

G.
 
So how exactly am i suppose to get a good volume out of my recordings without peaking?
 
Read the above posts again... The answer to your question is a good mix through just the right amount of compression and eq into a good limiter.
 
bigwillz24 said:
Read the above posts again... The answer to your question is a good mix through just the right amount of compression and eq into a good limiter.
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Where's the thumbs-up emoticon?
 
hipknot01 said:
So how exactly am i suppose to get a good volume out of my recordings without peaking?
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Leave yourself more headroom when recording your tracks, averaging about
-18db on your digital mixer with your peaks around -12db. When you mix your tracks together leave yourself about 6 db(-6dbfs) of headroom for squashing it, err mastering it and then use your gain with a compressor and/or limiter to create the added volume up to around -.2dbfs. That should get you in the ballpark of where you want to be.
 
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