Volume is always too low

[bonehead]

I'm sure this has been covered - i did all the obvious searches but can't find anything substantial.

I'm a newbie to PTLE (6.1)- After years of a buddy's convincing i finally dumped all my old gear (and Sonar) to join the big leagues! So now i'm hooked both on my new system (which is incidentally 5 years old by now - haha - 001 w/ Yammy 01v) and the DUC - i'm on this site every day!

So - one of the obvious differences between PTLE and the Sonar is- VOLUME.

i can't get my tracks 'LOUD' without peaking or distorting. My over-all mixes are cool and clear but the volume is considerably lower than what i used to get w/ Sonar - and are also much quieter than pro CD's / MP3's.

i do not want to resort to over compression - i keep the (Waves) L2 on the Master Fader - but keep it on one of the factory presets ('High Quality CD' - or something like that). I use the PAZ meters for reference - haven't sold my soul to them - not sure i totally trust them - but i have them up there for a visual.

What's the dilly? What's eveyone doing?

thanks (and this is a more better group than the ones in the past - the other had more questions than answers -sorry for all the babble

[RobertM]

Hey, I'm having the same problem, I record my tracks at a fairly high level, but my final mastered session is always low and I need major compression to bring up the levels.

[Zetajazz44]

This will help: Mastering

This is a great thread that was started about 3-4 weeks ago. The volume 'can be had'.

[mfym]

I believe what everyone is doing is compression. Use a 4-band EQ, compressor and limiter on the master fader. It's fast and dirty and it works. You can also raise the level too high this way so it's even louder than a commercial CD.

You should first group all the tracks used in the session and raise the level as much as possible together, without going into the red.

You don't have to use the compressor with it providing any compression, just use it to add level. Alittle compression won't hurt your mix though, and will actually allow you to raise the level better.