I have a mix, from the wave display on sound forge, some tracks are slightly higher in the VU meter, some are slightly lower, BUT they ALwAYS increase DURING the actual mix/transition.

Ok now, in order to bring all the songs to similar volume levels, even during mixes, what path do I take? I've tried both compressing and normalizing, but I get confused when I input paramters, and for now, normalizing seems to sound best. I've also heard that you should compress, THEN use a limiter. What kind of parameters do you input for these tools? I'm trying to learn all of this at once and it's getting a bit complicated. Any help is greatly appreciated!

Also, what's the difference of using say... a limiter, opposed to simply increasing volume in certain sections of the mix?

BTW: I tried to peak all of my tracks at around 1.5 to 0.5 db, so they're all pretty loud, and I didn't clip anywhere! Not sure if that info helps.

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When I turn on my mixer, drop the needle, and put on my headphones... nothing else matters.

I am a DJ.

Compress

Although if ifs a mix you have recorded, you should have set good gain structure when mixing anyway. Your ears and your meters are your friends-Use them!!!

Needle jump to loudest part of the track and match to current tune.
Then you need to work the eqs and gains to match it and keep it consistent.

People who play out learn this very fast- as over a large system it is very noticable.

Of course the level will increase with two faders open- you are increasing the amount of music- the trick to how to do it well without it becoming overbearing or sounding sloppy/messy is what needs to be learnt.

You know what, I don't know much about all this, but when I over-normalize, and all my peaks hit 0 db (but with compression so they don't clip) that's when all the volumes sound the best. However, when the tracks are up that loud, you get distortion at some frequency... damn I'm having such a hard time trying to make them all the same volume.

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When I turn on my mixer, drop the needle, and put on my headphones... nothing else matters.

I am a DJ.

Yeah, I have that problem too. I've got a lowend mixer (VMX300) and even when I needle drop in the middle of the track to get the exact right volume, sometimes the volume will go up/down and during the song it may be quieter or louder than what my volume meter told me while I was cueing up the track. Its just something you've gotta learn to work around. You can increase the volume in sound forge of individual sections of the mix (but you've gotta do it at the right times so it doesn't sound gash).

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yea... i can see how vu meters can be a problem on the lower end mixers, which probably won't be as accurate as you'd like. but you gotta realize that when you start mixing in the next track of course the volume will go up because your adding together both of the db's which will make a hotter signal goin through your mixer. anyways, i don't see a point in using a limiter, cuz a limiter is basically a compressor who's ratio is so high that the threshold will never be crossed. iono if that made sense to u, but thats wut i'm learnin in class rite now.

a limiter is fantastic if you have stupid peaks.. for example sometimes the waveform of a track is too wide, you get the same level of volume whilst keeping the peaks down.

i really dont see the need to use it for mastering a set though, just get the damn gains and eq's right in the first place and you won't need to bloody master it

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MUGGETS

Compression (either real-time or post) would be a method of improving the overall sound of the mix, not quite sure it would do what you're looking for though.

I had a producer show me the same track with and without compression before, and I was able to hear the difference at the time, but don't ask me to explain it in words, hehe. Hardware compressors are also fairly expensive...

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DJ Kibon



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quote:

Originally posted by tu_face a limiter is fantastic if you have stupid peaks.. for example sometimes the waveform of a track is too wide, you get the same level of volume whilst keeping the peaks down. i really dont see the need to use it for mastering a set though, just get the damn gains and eq's right in the first place and you won't need to bloody master it

that is exactly what i need... any recomendations?

If you don't mind me asking how long have you been djing? Also have you tried to just ride the gains/eq's? Thats the best way to do it. You will learn alot about the diff freq's if you have high mid and low on your eq. In any range. It takes time. If you are looking for a compressor/limiter to do the work for you #1 it won't work properly if your range is all over the place, secondly if you are serious about djing it is best to tune your ear to the difference in the levels of each track and their frequencies.

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TempesTrip/Jeremy K

Disclaimer: My opinions are my own, and if you can't say anything intelligent without bashing my character, my parentage, or my sexuality, then shut up and sit down. I will ignore you until you can come up with a decent rebuttal or an insightful comment. I am merely stating how I see it to be with as much respect and thought as possible. I expect the same from you. Tempest

TempesTrip/Jeremy K