What is going on with my levels?

  • Thread starter Thread starter coplinger
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coplinger

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I have found that using Vegas 3, the master levels are always higher than they logically should be. Case in point: I have 2 tracks, neither of which peak above 0 db with no busses, effects, eq, or compression assigned to them. With the master fader at 0 db, the master levels are clipping badly. I have to turn the master fader way down to mix any tracks with levels set near 0 db. This does not seem to be true for effects sends, though. The master levels for effects seem to be equal to the effects return levels when the master fader is set to zero. The result of this is that it's hard to get effects to be very prominant in the mix without cutting all track levels drastically. Am I wrong in assuming that with the master level set to zero, the master levels should be equal to the track levels?
 
Ummm… because 1 + 1 = 2 ;)

When you add two tracks together the levels will be higher than for a single track. In some instances, for example, they could peak at +6dB if 0dB peaks in both tracks happen to coincide. Turning down the master level is not the right solution because you can still have internal clipping. You need to turn down the levels on both individual tracks.

Set both track levels and the master level to 0dB. Play the whole mix to the end and look at the peak level reading on the master output meter. It might read something like +4.7dB (in the red), for example. In this case you would want to turn both track levels down by –4.7dB plus and extra –1dB just to be safe. As you add more tracks you’ll need to turn down ALL the track levels down even more to avoid going into the red.

A better way to approach this from the start is to set all of your track levels somewhere down around –9dB. As you add more tracks you should have plenty of headroom to get the relative mix levels where you want them. Then at the end of the mixing process, when you have everything mixed the way you want it, bring up all the track levels by the same amount until the master output meter peaks just below 0dB at the loudest moment.

Now say, you want to add reverb to the whole mix on the master buss. The output might start to clip again. The solution is to turn down the all the track levels, not the master level. Now let’s say you want to add some compression to the master buss and your peak levels fall to –4dB. The solution is to turn up the either the makeup gain in the compressor plugin or turn up the master level. Do not turn up the track levels because you create internal clipping.

Hope this helps.

barefoot
 
Are you sure that's the right link? I get 'cannot find server'
 
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