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What's the best way to leave headroom?

I'm using FL and I have a track almost done, ready to mix/master. However the thing at the top indicates that it is clipping (showing red). I'm rather taken aback as I don't usually run into this problem at all as I usually remove the limiter, greatly decreasing the volume, thus me not having to worry about clipping. Wondering if there is a very simple solution to fix this problem...

http://www.tranceaddict.com/forums/...threadid=276466

Not sure if this will help you, but i had a read of it last night, and it talks about setting levels in preperation for mix down etc. i may be wrong but hav a squiz i found it useful

it starts of talking about creating a perfect kick but it goes into creating headroom later on,

my red light always shows clipping.. I act like I care but I pretend its a software glitch and keep right on going..

Heh....heh....heh...

Alright, how about you remove all those unnecessary limiters and compressors and just swiftly turn down the volume on all channels? I don't think this could get any easier...

Either that, or I have no effing clue what you are talking about.

quote:

Originally posted by Anakratis Heh....heh....heh... Alright, how about you remove all those unnecessary limiters and compressors and just swiftly turn down the volume on all channels? I don't think this could get any easier...

I said that I don't have any limiters/compressors on the mixer whatsoever

quote:

Originally posted by OOPS! I said that I don't have any limiters/compressors on the mixer whatsoever

Well whatever. The point is, just lower each channels volume. You never want to lower the master channel, and the channels should never be clipping.

quote:

Originally posted by Anakratis Well whatever. The point is, just lower each channels volume. You never want to lower the master channel, and the channels should never be clipping.

Why not just decrease the master channel?

And by the volume channels do you mean the mixer channels or the knobs on the step sequencer? Any difference?

Each and every channel has a limit. If you lower the master volume, you will just be lowering the overall volume of the entire set, rather than giving each channel more room to breathe. From my experiences, reducing the channel volumes will give you more power drive, and the sound will appear more "beefier" and be a lot fatter and have more body. Driving the master will create a much thinner sound. That's just me, though...


And I meant channel volumes on the main mixer.

quote:

Originally posted by Anakratis Each and every channel has a limit. If you lower the master volume, you will just be lowering the overall volume of the entire set, rather than giving each channel more room to breathe. From my experiences, reducing the channel volumes will give you more power drive, and the sound will appear more "beefier" and be a lot fatter and have more body. Driving the master will create a much thinner sound. That's just me, though... And I meant channel volumes on the main mixer.

Thanks man.

No problemo.

As I said, it's just me. Some things may sound better for you. Obviously, whatever sounds better, go with that

quote:

Originally posted by Anakratis No problemo. As I said, it's just me. Some things may sound better for you. Obviously, whatever sounds better, go with that

hmm, ive always lowered the master channel and never really had a problem with "thinning". isnt lowering the master essentially just lowering all the channels equally?

quote:

Originally posted by Anakratis Each and every channel has a limit. If you lower the master volume, you will just be lowering the overall volume of the entire set, rather than giving each channel more room to breathe. From my experiences, reducing the channel volumes will give you more power drive, and the sound will appear more "beefier" and be a lot fatter and have more body. Driving the master will create a much thinner sound. That's just me, though... And I meant channel volumes on the main mixer.

This doesn't seem right to me, especially if FL has a 32 bit Floating point format engine. As long as the plug-ins can handle overs, it should not matter whether or not the individual channel or master channel faders are used to control the master channel output to not go over.

quote:

Originally posted by sako487 hmm, ive always lowered the master channel and never really had a problem with "thinning". isnt lowering the master essentially just lowering all the channels equally?

Dunno. Maybe Ableton sucks catastrophic ass.

quote:

Originally posted by Anakratis Dunno. Maybe Ableton sucks catastrophic ass.

You can literally overload every channel and every native Ableton plug-in, and after lowering the master fader it won't make a world of difference to the sound.

quote:

Originally posted by Beatflux This doesn't seem right to me, especially if FL has a 32 bit Floating point format engine. As long as the plug-ins can handle overs, it should not matter whether or not the individual channel or master channel faders are used to control the master channel output to not go over.

Each and every DAW and sound engine has its own thing. I noticed in Ableton that I get more benefit from lowering each channel, instead of the master itself.

But then again, as I stated above, my DAW, apparently, is a flaming crackhead.

EDIT:

It does make a difference to me. I don't know if I'm hearing things (at 17 years old, it's pretty bad), but I do notice a slight difference in some tones when I lower each channel as opposed to the master itself.

So master fader or individual faders?

quote:

Originally posted by OOPS! So master fader or individual faders?

Lmao, just ignore what I said, do whichever you want.

quote:

Originally posted by Anakratis Each and every DAW and sound engine has its own thing. I noticed in Ableton that I get more benefit from lowering each channel, instead of the master itself. But then again, as I stated above, my DAW, apparently, is a flaming crackhead. EDIT: It does make a difference to me. I don't know if I'm hearing things (at 17 years old, it's pretty bad), but I do notice a slight difference in some tones when I lower each channel as opposed to the master itself.

The only way to know is to run a null test.

quote:

Originally posted by Beatflux The only way to know is to run a null test.

Either way, according to factual information, using the master or channel volume won't make a difference in the world. The knowledge I'm basing my information off of comes from my past experiences, and those vary per person.

oh yea!!! buy a convertible!!!! lolol =)

quote:

Originally posted by OOPS! So master fader or individual faders?

You could have avoided this problem if you made mixing an integral part of the composition process.

Comeon I see some really dumb comments in here on offense.

You lower the individual channels because it gives you more control and more control = more power in mixing. Not sure how else it can be said.

quote:

Originally posted by DJ Robby Rox Comeon I see some really dumb comments in here on offense. You lower the individual channels because it gives you more control and more control = more power in mixing. Not sure how else it can be said.

Well played, sir.

i just set all my mixing faders to half and adjust accordingly when making the track.

It is better to cut than boost during mixing.

When you are done mixing, you can always increase the gain in the final master stages to give it more juice.

Always cut frequencies below 30-40 hz because often times they will not be audible in most systems, and if audible will just be a barely audible rumble. They can have their uses, but most people don't know how to use it properly.

Synths and pads are always culprit to being to muddy around 300-800 hz, so make sure you treat it there.

Watch your transients, and use a compressor to tame them because the peak of the transient may be 10 dB's above the main body of the sound and can cause clipping. You don't want to overcompress since they will make the sounds feel less in your face and more of a blur and feel very distant.

With FL Studio, I always use at least 30 fx channels, because 1) my CPU can handle it, and 2) it is great having control over each sound and to adjust the overall FX channel after applying compression (because adjusting the volume before compression screws up the way the compression works). Like Robby said, more control = more mixing power.

If you don't have decent monitors, always use graphic analyzers to figure out problem frequencies. Usually they are the bass and sub frequencies where people have trouble hearing with.

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