D16 "Mastering"

[mikemoritz]

I have a question. I'm somewhat new to the area of digital recording, and I picked myself up a Korg D16. Everything sounds tight as hell, but I have a question about the so called mastering you can do with this machine. I'm a little nervous about the clip lines when I'm adjusting the two track master. Do I want the lines to clip at loud points, or do I want to keep it right below. So far, I've been keeping it right below, and it sounds great, but it could be a little louder in playback systems. I'm just worried that with "clipping" I'll receive some nasty distortion. Any advice?

Thanks,
Mike

 

[Macca]

Digital Clipping!!!

DON'T DO IT!

Sorry, didn't mean to shout.

Digital clipping is just that, clipping the tops off your sound waves. Instant distortion.

If you really NEED the signal louder (and as you said it already sounds great!) you could try a little compression on some of the louder peaks so you can bring up the overall volume.
Doing this will alter the sound slightly and you will lose a little of the 'dynamics' of the music.
If you think it needs to be louder compared to other commercial releases, then I would suggest you are succumbing to the 'loudness race' that has been bemoaned on this and many other sites.
Do you want your music to sound LOUD or to sound GOOOOD!

peace

Macca
Oz

 

[markert]

Try using the final effect "stereo multiband limiter" in the master effects page. It seems to pump everything up. Also you can normalize your tracks to bring everything up to the maximum level possible.