Mastering/Maximum volume

[sunnyside]

I am trying to get maximum volume out of my track with LE 7.1.1. Is there a way to pump up the level to It's maximum without it clipping? I've been taking my tracks to a mates house who has the L1 limiter plug in and we're getting an extra 6 ish db out of it. Just wondering if you can get that much extra volume without the L1 plug in?

Can anyone help me?

Thanks!

[Andi]

You can use all kinds of compression / limiting to increase loudness.
For example, the Massey plugins get pretty good reviews, and there's a free trial available:
http://www.masseyplugins.com/?page=l2007

Just keep in mind that louder doesn't equal better.

- Andi

[lwilliam]

I am trying to get maximum volume out of my track with LE 7.1.1. Is there a way to pump up the level to It's maximum without it clipping? I've been taking my tracks to a mates house who has the L1 limiter plug in and we're getting an extra 6 ish db out of it. Just wondering if you can get that much extra volume without the L1 plug in?

Can anyone help me?

Thanks!

6db is actually quite a bit to push the L1. You will definitely be hearing some artifacts. When I use the L1, I try to keep the limiting down to about 3-4db to keep it transparent. Channel compression can also help in that regard: see which tracks are hitting the L1 the hardest and do track compression or put an L1 on it. That will reduce artifacts that occur when the whole track is limited because of a couple of track peaks.

However, you still need SOMETHING to get more gain on the master fader, whether it's master bus compression and/or limiting. That's why any commercial release is always mastered - to get that extra gain. Everyone always says "louder isn't better", and that's true, but louder is definitely more commercial.

I usually use a combination of Waves C4 and L3 when I'm mastering. Sometimes I also use the Waves Linear Phase Multi-band along with the L3-LL. However, the L1 is a good place to start if you don't have anything better.

There are definitely competing products to the Waves Mastering series, though. Some of them are cheaper. The Native Power Pak is still a decent deal and includes the L1 and IR-L reverb all for about $375. I just happen to already have an investment in Waves Platinum and they work pretty well.