Need help with my vs2400 - burning/volume

[Foo-bu]

hey. i'm just starting to burn my projects onto cd but one thing i've noticed is that when i listen back to the cds, the songs are really low in volume. when i play them over my monitors they are pretty loud. my master level is normally around 4db. this should be enough. i'm not sure what i can do to fix this.
anyone have any suggestions?

 

[Richard Monroe]

The real question is, is it really louder on your monitors, really? Or does it just sound that way? Try playing with the EQ on a selected song, and burn a few tracks that are bass boosted, or treble boosted, and see what happens. Often, when the track hasn't been mixed real well, it doesn't translate well to the more limited range of consumer level audio speakers. Take the CD and put it back in the VS and play it. Does it sound really different from playing it from the hard drive? If it does, you may have a problem. Chances are, it isn't any quieter in 16 bits. Therefore, your ordinary stereo is making it sound muffled. That's almost a textbook definition of a bad mix that isn't translating well.
The only way I've ever gotten decent mixes is to listen to tracks in the car, and keep making minor tweaks in the studio until it rocks in the car, on a cheap walkman, and a on boombox. I usually burn with peaks at an indicated -2db, which I find closer to most current commercial releases. I have no idea on the Roland (I use a VS1824CD) how accurate those indicators are, but peaks at a claimed -2 works for me, no clipping.-Richie

 

[Foo-bu]

on the project i burned i had the inputs channels at 0db each and my preamps were set at max volume without clipping and each track channel was set to 0db and master volume at 0db as well. to me that seems like it should work. even when i have my monitors pretty low i can still hear my mix pretty good. in fact louder than when i listen to my computer speakers when they're cranked

edit: all of those values are refering to the faders not the actual signal. for the most part the signals were at -6

 

[Dre'Ami]

First things first.........

Kill the -6 or -4 on any of your channels.
If you want maximum gain from your mixes on the 2400 you have to record at max. When you go into your EZ Routing screen change your record level from -6 to 0. Now record as usual. Get your first mix down (I usually go to 23-24-1), without using an MTK!!!
That'll give you a chance to listen to what you just did without sticking you with a master track that you really can't manipulate.
Now take your mixdown tracks into the mastering room and use one of the MTKs. The Accoustic setting is nuts. It gives you what you want from the time you touch it. Go to your edit screen for the MTK and go to output, turn the soft clip off and your mix will be as loud as you need it to be!
Hope this helps