Output mixing on Digi001

[MichaelWolf]

Hi All, still using digi001 with Pro Tools LE 5.3.1 on windows XP
recording great sounding demos, really works for me.
The only problem is when mixing (I prefer to bounce to WAV) I get a low output volume (compared to regular CD's)
Is there a way to add extra volume to the stereo mix ?

[Darryl Ramm]

The usual way is to bus compress/limit to squeeze the living life out of anything and run the output just a little below 0dBFS. That way your stuff can sound just as "loud" and as awful as a lot of the crap out there.

What type of music is this? What CDs tracks are you comparing to? What compression/limiting do you have on the output bus or similar? What output level is the master fader showing as you bounce the mix? If you think you have to master like this for release then that is your call, otherwise resist the temptation to totally crush stuff and let folks turn up the volume if they want.

[EGS]

You could always pull your wav bounce into a new session and apply "careful" amounts of multi-band/full-band/compression/limiting/EQ/dither/normalize. Monitor on big/medium/small speakers plus headphones. A FAR better option would be to hire a competent mastering house. Hope this helps!!!

[albee1952]

what you are missing is part of the mastering process. If your stuff will go to a mastering house, then don't do anything(leave that to the ME). If you need to self-master, my suggestion is 2-fold; 1-don't get too fancy. 2-keep it simple and try this:
#1-make sure the master track(and you should have one) is never clipping(if it IS, back it down a bit, or lower everything in the mix until you have no clipping)
#2-hi-pass(insert your best EQ plugin and set to HP at 30Hz, give or take)
#3-warm it up if needed(I use Slate's VTM, but don't know what you might have on the old setup)
#4-Brickwall limiter set for 2-3 db of reduction, tops with the output ceiling at -.02(I like Waves L2)
#5-Another Brickwall limiter(same settings as above). With a really low-volume mix, I have gone as far as 3 instances of Waves L2 to get volume that will blend with commercial CD's.

With that old of a setup, your options are likely very limited as there are some very good mastering plugins out now, but none will likely work on the old beast Maybe buy a used copy of wavelab 6(which works on XP) and get some VST mastering plugins(mastering in wavelab is a much better platform than any older version of PT)