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Mixing at low volume (problem)
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| future_newbie |
I mix at such a low level that when I've finished my track even with a limiter on max settings I don't come close to zero...
I don't really know how to formulate what I wanna say but...my tracks sound low low low... with the limiter on, rms is around 26/27 db... and I'd like it to be around 13/14 db...so what would you advice me? Should I throw another limiter or should I turn all the faders up in volume?
Btw, is gain reduction at mastering stage obligatory?
:( |
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| mysticalninja |
| put a compresssor before the limiter |
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| evo8 |
| quote: | Originally posted by future_newbie
I mix at such a low level that when I've finished my track even with a limiter on max settings I don't come close to zero...
I don't really know how to formulate what I wanna say but...my tracks sound low low low... with the limiter on, rms is around 26/27 db... and I'd like it to be around 13/14 db...so what would you advice me? Should I throw another limiter or should I turn all the faders up in volume?
Btw, is gain reduction at mastering stage obligatory?
:( |
sounds like you need to turn up your faders, what value is your master channel peaking at? |
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| Andy28 |
| Turn your faders up! |
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| clay |
| put a gain on master? |
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| future_newbie |
| quote: | Originally posted by evo8
sounds like you need to turn up your faders, what value is your master channel peaking at? |
-26db.
| quote: | Originally posted by clay
put a gain on master? |
How so? |
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| sako487 |
| That's a pretty good habit to have IMO. Seems like you have lots of headroom. Bring up whichever element you wish to stand out in the track. |
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| mysticalninja |
| quote: | Originally posted by future_newbie
-26db.
How so? |
just use a compressor before limiter, turn gain up. compressing a bit before limited in generally a good thing anyway. |
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| future_newbie |
| quote: | Originally posted by mysticalninja
just use a compressor before limiter, turn gain up. compressing a bit before limited in generally a good thing anyway. |
But wouldn't that destroy the balance of my mix?
I've already put a multiband compressor and now u advice me to compress even more? |
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| Evolve140 |
When you say you mix at low volumes do you mean your have your speakers/headphones turned up only to low volume, or that you mix very low in general?
The best and only real solution to your problem if you mix low is to mix at higher volumes on your faders. Too much head room is almost as bad as not enough headroom. Mixing low isn't bad, in practice, just as long as there isn't huge amounts of headroom left at the end. |
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| clay |
| quote: | Originally posted by future_newbie
-26db.
How so? |
did i missunderstood anything? why dont you just raise the gain if you need more gain? i dont know that prog you work on but most daw have some sort of gain plug that you can put on f.eks master. |
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| evo8 |
| quote: | Originally posted by future_newbie
-26db.
How so? |
right, like -26db is a ton of headroom - you could bring your faders up a good bit, bring them all up relative to each other until you master channel is at about -3db or so...
so say your kick is at -20, snare is at -23, bass at -25 for example
try bringing your kick to -6, snare to -9 and bass to -11 - check your master channel, if its going over then back off your faders a little
if your still only at -10, then bring them up some more - keep watching the master
in Live for example this is really easy, you could select all mixer channels and by moving one fader everything else comes up relative - not sure what DAW you are on......
by the way, thats a great habit to get into by mixing at low levels but your going about it the wrong way a little
Instead of keeping your faders low, turn down your soundcard level instead - maybe your soundcard doesnt have a volume adjustment, in that case you could temporarily lower your master fader whilst mixing - then when you are ready to render, return your master fader to its default position of 0 |
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