How low is too low?

[Terry Wetzel]

Hi guys. me again. I've been paying a lot of attention lately to recording levels and gain staging as I comprehend it. I've tried to the keep my recording levels of all my tracks at or below -10dB or lower while tracking (pre level). I try to mix my tracks with the Master fader at unity gain and then add a brick wall limiter set at (not to exceed) -.03dB on the Master fader. Then I add a final Compressor on the Master fader to bring all up as close as possible to that without clipping. During the process of trying to find the optimum level for all the tracks, while at the same time using the Master fader to keep any of the tracks from exceeding unity gain, I find myself needing to go back and lower various levels until I am at a point where the overall volume level becomes too low to judge the mix! Can someone please tell me how low is too low?

[Sardi]

Firstly, limiter should be after the compressor.

Secondly, -0.03dB seems bizarre. Did you mean -0.3dB?

Finally, I must be misunderstanding something, but if it's too low to judge the mix, why aren't you raising your monitoring level on your DAC/interface?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[EGS]

Originally Posted by Terry Wetzel

... the overall volume level becomes too low to judge the mix...

You might want to get something to control your monitor level, i.e. independent of your PTools master fader level. I use this:

https://www.presonus.com/products/Central-Station-PLUS

There are many others to choose from. I'm not a big fan of this company, but if budget is tight, this would probably do the job:

http://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/CONTROL1USB

[Terry Wetzel]

Thanks Sardi and EGS. My bad on which comes first, limiter or compressor. I meant -0.3dB. The Behringer controller is more in my price range and I'll check it out.

[The Weed]

Terry, why not group the mix and lower it all together so the Master doesn't clip? With a mix group, all the tracks are lowered the same amount, staying in the same relation to each other so that it's the same mix, just lowered in dB.

[albee1952]

Originally Posted by The Weed

Terry, why not group the mix and lower it all together so the Master doesn't clip? With a mix group, all the tracks are lowered the same amount, staying in the same relation to each other so that it's the same mix, just lowered in dB.

Indeed^^. I will lower the master fader to -3, -4, but if it still clips there, I will go lower all the Audio/Instrument tracks(select the ALL group, go past the end of the song, grab any volume line and drag it down 4-5db). My master chain is EQ(usually FabFilter set to hi-pass at 32Hz)>Slate VTM(or Cytomic's The Glue)>Waves L2(output set to -.1 and 2db of GR max)>another L2(same settings). If that doesn't get the mix loud enough, I will add a 3rd L2(but usually 2 does it). The last L2 will have dither set to 16 bit if I am going for a 16 bit/44.1K file for CD burning.

[Bob Olhsson]

Unlike an analog console, there is no reason to keep the master fader in Pro Tools around zero.

[29CountsNY]

Terry, doesn't your Focusrite 2i2 have a giant silver knob on the front to adjust monitor volume??
Why are you not using that?

[Terry Wetzel]

Thanks all. I'm happy for any advice given. I am plagued by a memory problem. Sometimes mine works, other times not. in between the time I close a session and log on here seeking advice, I tend to forget details and how to properly express the problem. Hopefully I'm forgiven. Anyway. Yes the 2i4 has a big volume knob but sometimes I forget why it's there! As to not exceeding unity gain, I was told by someone,(I forget who), that I should leave the Master fader at 0db and let the compression do the work of raising the overall level of the mix. Dave. your equipment arsenal is impressive! Weed. I am gun shy about using the all group since I lost an entire song using it. (There are some things that even I don't forget)! However, I will try using it as you describe. Thanks to all.