
Zaphod B
Raccoons-Be-Gone, Inc.
I have a very basic setup - I use a TASCAM 2488 with no outboard processing, and use no preamps. Mics for vocals and my guitar amp go directly into the back of the unit.
The 2488 is cursed with a very small LCD screen, and there is no way to get a really high-definition view of signal levels. Also, the LCD screen has a slight delay in reaction time so a peak indication may actually come just after a peak has occurred. So when I'm creating a master I have to be a bit conservative with the level to avoid clipping. As a result, all of my mastered mixes have ended up having low overall volume (relative to commercial CDs). They sound good through the various systems I play them through if you push the volume level, but the problem is when they are in a tray with commercial CDs and the sound levels between the two are so different.
Can anyone recommend a way to increase the overall level? So far I have not experimented with running any dynamics on the overall mix (to compress the whole mix) and I'd like to avoid that to the extent possible. Are there any other products that can take the mastered stereo mix in CD audio format and increase the overall level without mangling it? Or any other ideas?
Thanks!
The 2488 is cursed with a very small LCD screen, and there is no way to get a really high-definition view of signal levels. Also, the LCD screen has a slight delay in reaction time so a peak indication may actually come just after a peak has occurred. So when I'm creating a master I have to be a bit conservative with the level to avoid clipping. As a result, all of my mastered mixes have ended up having low overall volume (relative to commercial CDs). They sound good through the various systems I play them through if you push the volume level, but the problem is when they are in a tray with commercial CDs and the sound levels between the two are so different.
Can anyone recommend a way to increase the overall level? So far I have not experimented with running any dynamics on the overall mix (to compress the whole mix) and I'd like to avoid that to the extent possible. Are there any other products that can take the mastered stereo mix in CD audio format and increase the overall level without mangling it? Or any other ideas?
Thanks!