giraffe said:
just curious, i find i have to put my stuff out at -9db rms (or better) or people complain.
(some people get it mastered outside, which i suggest. some do not)
i find that a bit excessive (esp considering what i am forced to do it with), but what can you do?
What "people"? Are you talking clients, or listeners?
And are you talking about at mixdown or the final product?
Either way, there is no magic number. It ultimately and (alomost) entirely depends upon the content of the recording; the genre, style and arrangement of the music, as well as the mood of the production, whether it's a live or a studio recording etc.
Most of the stuff I do (rock/alt/jazz/blues) comes out of the mix somewhere in the -17 to -19dBRMS range and makes it to disc in the -14 to -16dBRMS range.
But if I get a client who's content is all Gibson power chords through doubled and tripled miked stacks that are distorted and sustained for longer than the song itself, then yeah, the mix RMS can easily be -15dBRMS or greater, with the master approaching (but still rarely going into) single digit RMSs after mastering.
OTOH, if I get an all synth concept piece, it's not unusual for the mix to come out of the box at -22 to -25dBRMS and for the master to come to rest around -16 to -18dBRMS.
And that's all assuming studio work. Live recordings, by their nature, tend to run a little more compressed and therefore tend to squeeze an extra dB or two of RMS out of the air.
G.