I assume by 4dB you mean you're setting the threshold at -4dB, meaning you get 4dB of gain from the limiter? The output signal, that is, the peaks after limiting, is generally set to around -0.1dB.

To answer your question, there is no difference between having a limiter on the master channel in FL or doing this as a separate process in Wavelab. The resulting audio will be the same.

The term "mastering" has changed in meaning a great deal since it was first coined, and many people mean different things when speaking of "mastering", as well as having different expectations of what mastering will do for them.

Technically, with a lot of great tools available to artists today, to drive up gain, to transparently apply eq and so on, the tools are at our disposal to "master" our own tracks. As long as you know what you're doing, this will suffice in terms of handing out demos to friends, labels and so on.

The tracks in my signature below have had no "mastering" done to them. I define it all as the mixing process. They're competitively loud and sound fine for the purposes I'm using them for. However, when I put together my next album I'll definitely take it to my mastering engineer and sit with him while we listen to my tracks in his studio. It's good to have an experienced engineer listen to one's tracks, just in case there's something that has been missed.

Ideally, the mastering engineer wouldn't do anything to the sound. Potentially they'll have really expensive hardware equipment which potentially sounds better, in terms of driving the gain up in a manner more pleasing to the ear. In which case you wouldn't put any limiting on your master mix before you take it to them, since their expensive gear will do a better job of that.

Expect your songs to sound more "correct" after mastering. (That is, indaudible low frequencies removed/ tamed, audio glitches fixed). Don't expect your songs to sound "different/ better". I take full responsibility for my sound these days. I've been to enough expensive mastering engineers over the years to know their ability to improve a stereo file is very limited, compared to me improving my mixing.

quote:

Originally posted by derail I assume by 4dB you mean you're setting the threshold at -4dB, meaning you get 4dB of gain from the limiter? The output signal, that is, the peaks after limiting, is generally set to around -0.1dB.

For that WaveLab effect (Peak Master), you don't specify a threshold. I mean an "input gain" of 4dB, and likewise a gain of 4.0 dB on the FL studio master track compressor.

Cheers.

Well, if the only thing you're doing is adding gain of 4dB before the peak master in Wavelab, and adding gain of 4dB before the compressor in FL, then the process of adding gain is identical, doesn't matter where you do it.

Obviously, if you're not comparing identical processes (that is, you're using the compressor to achieve some of that gain, rather than it being applied before the compressor), then the processes are going to have different effects on the sound.

If you're doing the same process in both, you'll get the same result.

Be aware of what the peak level of your mix is before you push it up 4dB - if there are any signals hotter than -4dB, then adding 4dB will drive them into digital zero and cut/square off the waveforms. You can get away with a bit of that (a few ms) - but use your ears, you'll be able to tell pretty quickly if you're running into digital clipping. It's not a pleasant sound.