8 posts
Page 1 of 1
|
i'll start out by saying i've never really mastered anything in my life other than quick exports out of S1 which doesn't really count.
i think i have a solid understanding of DAW *recording* levels now (after starting and following a very long thread on the topic recently). but i'm starting to look further down the line and wanted to start a different thread addressing gain later in the process. so by the time i'm done with my final mix, are there any guidelines regarding levels at the main out? as the input channel levels stack at the main out bus, there is likely to be an increase in that final level. however i have plenty of headroom to work with since i recorded well in the first place. that final summed stereo signal obviously shouldn't be clipping on the main out channel. but when i'm trying to obtain my best mix based on input / track channel fader moves, is my goal to : 1) push them so that the rms on the main out is as high (hot) as it can go without clipping or 2) push them with the aim to keep that main out rms level comfortably lower or perhaps even much lower than max without clipping and if so what guideline levels ...before sending the song to project / mastering? 3) and should i be using the main out master fader to set some final level pre mastering once my mix is set should it turn out to be relatively low ? as i said, i've never *truly* mastered before. but generally speaking i think the question i'm getting it is how much of the final volume of a mastered song or collection or songs is / should be handled in the final mix before it goes to mastering and how much is handled / dealt with in the mastering? are there any guidelines for setting the levels going out of a final mix into mastering? finally, is there some industry guideline / some standard final level that should be coming out of your mastered song or song CDs so that if it / they wound up on a modern playback device, the web or radio, the listener or dj wouldn't have to turn it down or up to make it's relative level the same or similar to everything else coming out of the speakers? it might sound like a dumb question but consider me dumb  fyi i started a different thread b/c the other one got pretty long and i think this actually deserves it's own topic thx! |
|
i'll start with the first reply.
i just wanted to add that i understand a variety of plugins can be used on both the song's main mix master channel as well as the main out of mastering project. i understand that a lot of those plugins are designed to add to the "quality" (what i would say is a *subjective* idea of loudness in terms of maximizing it, or giving it an analog "warmth", etc) as much as "quantity" (a more *objective* measure of level on a meter). although i'm definitely interested in the more subjective "quality" related to inserting plugins on mastering and main out song channels, i'd prefer to steer clear of discussing that here as i think it's really an entirely different topic and open to interpretation. which is to say that to keep this thread tight(er), i'm more interested primarily in opinions on what the quantitative / objective levels gauged with meters should be (without worrying about what plugins you used in shaping the sound). |
|
I think a lot of this was covered in your prior thread but you are asking specifically in this thread what levels should you be aiming for when mix the song and then when mastering.
Your final output level goal should be based on what platform your music will be played. Do you want to target SoundCloud, iTunes, broadcast, etc. You can get a ton of different replies to this thread because of that. S1 offers many metering options to help you get where you want to go. There are also many mastering videos you can find to teach you. Here is a video about S1 metering that I think will help you. viewtopic.php?f=375&t=26537 |
Bbd wroteI think a lot of this was covered in your prior thread but you are asking specifically in this thread what levels should you be aiming for when mix the song and then when mastering. hey thanks for the reply. i'm not asking about how to use the meters or what the different meters are. i think i got that from the last post. i'm asking specifically if there is some set level or level range that you should target on your final mix before going to mastering and then out of mastering itself. just the level in terms of db. trying to keep the question very specific. the intent of my other post was guidelines for what level to record at to allow for later optimal mixing taking into account headroom, noise floor and clipping. part of your answer here seems to indicate that the final output level can be varied depending on the output vs being a more consistent set of guidelines. if that's the case then that's part of the answer i'm looking for. for some reason i think that commerical / professional music that i listen to online and or music ripped from my cd collection have the same base output levels and that some guidelines must exist otherwise people would have to be always adjusting the volume every time they pulled up a new artist which doesn't seem logical to me. but maybe i'm wrong about that. again that's part of why i'm asking the question. |
|
I hope you are referring to rms levels as this is the most important.
I don't think there is a simple answer for a single level anywhere. Final masters can be anything from -6 dB rms to -12 dB rms. (higher than these values too e.g. almost flat lining near -1 db rms) There is no agreement there. There is more variation in commercial CD rms levels than you think. Pre mastered mix levels can also be at anything. It is almost not that important. Industry has made -18 dB but K System has added in another three. -12, -14 and -20. So you are jumping from one of four pre mastered levels to any one of a number of mastered rms levels in the mastering stage. I have been mastering to a range of -10 to -12 which is a nice range. Loud but transient. (Clients have forced me to master as high as -6 and -8 dB rms and I did not like it. It may be loud but it does not sound good) -14 is a great level to master to now I believe. Loud and nicer transients and dynamic range. It is close to the -16 LUFS standard that Apple likes. And other streaming sites. It pays now to get a handle on the preferred streaming site levels. But for pre mastering stages, -20 being the best quality and closest to the -18 standard. -20 is close to the soundtrack or broadcast level of -23 LUFS which has been mentioned in those circles. They are wanting us to back off on the mastered levels and I agree. I do a lot of work in the premastered stages at -14 because I like -14 a lot. I switch down to -20 for pristine album CD production. My Yamaha digital mixer is also calibrated to -14 so everything agrees there too. But at -20 everything is 6 dB quieter in the mixer. One thing that is important to do is to maintain an uniform SPL monitoring level in your room for all of these levels.
Specs i5-2500K 3.5 Ghz-8 Gb RAM-Win 7 64 bit - ATI Radeon HD6900 Series - RME HDSP9632 - Midex 8 Midi interface - Faderport 2/8 - Atom Pad/Atom SQ - HP Laptop Win 10 - Studio 24c interface -iMac 2.5Ghz Core i5 - High Sierra 10.13.6 - Focusrite Clarett 2 Pre & Scarlett 18i20. Studio One V5.5 (Mac and V6.5 Win 10 laptop), Notion 6.8, Ableton Live 11 Suite, LaunchPad Pro
|
|
Some good info in this old thread on mastering levels:
viewtopic.php?f=151&t=1567 |
|
thnx. great info!
|
|
Or read this article by Bob Katz, where he introduces and explains his K-System.
Bottom line: mastering is preparing for end use. First decide who or what it's for, then choose your dynamic range window (e.g. a K-scale) accordingly. |
8 posts
Page 1 of 1
Who is online
Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 85 guests