Bounce to Disk comes out Quiet and Muddy

[Astar]

When I bounce, I have my Master fader very low because I do most of my work late at night. But even when I raise the master fader to lets say -6db, its still fairly quiet and muddy after bouncing.
I'm using PT 7.3 LE. I select all, then File - Bounce to disk as BMF WAV. 24bit stereo interleaved.
Can someone suggest a way to get my mixes to come out clean? Thanks for the help.

[EGS]

I do most of my work late at night

Ha!!! Wake up earlier? Speaker volume does not equate to mix levels. Try putting a brickwall limiter like the Massey on the master fader. Import your mix and audiosuite/normalize it befor burning. Search the DUC (and Google search) for "mastering", "loud mixes", etc. This question comes up daily on the DUC and elsewhere.

[Astar]

Thanks but I should have given more detail. When I say the mix comes out low, I mean really low. After the bounce, I take the wav file into Cool Edit and usually have to amplify the audio by 22db or more.

[EGS]

You should also search the DUC (and Google) for "gain structuring". The answer to your question exists in GREAT detail in the places I've suggested. You simply have to research the topic a bit. Did you try my above suggestions yet?

[Astar]

Thanks EGS. I haven't tried it yet since I'm at work. In the meantime I searched DUC and found a similar topic http://duc.digidesign.com/showflat.php?Number=937541 So I'm gonna go through that. And you're suggesting to research "Gain Structuring" definately will do.

[Jsswtpmp182]

Don't use your master fader as a source of volume control- If you're mixing at night and need to turn it down, do so by the volume knob on your interface. When you use the Master Fader for volume control you're essentially changing the sound of the overall mix (hence your low levels and muddiness)... Ride the faders into a wall- that'll help.

[Ben Jenssen]

When you use the Master Fader for volume control you're essentially changing the sound of the overall mix (hence your low levels and muddiness)

No, this is not true. Master faders are there to be used, and they do not affect the quality of the audio. Even when you pull them down to very low levels. Remember this is digital audio, not analogue. Ask any pro.

[garret]

If you have to pull the master fader down a lot then you are in danger if clipping the mix bus before the meter all the time which is not what you want to be doing because you will be unaware of it. You should always trim back the tracks before you lower the master fader. It should stay at unity where possible. Whoever told you otherwise is wrong. While lowering the Master fader in a 24 bit mix will not degrad the audio fidelity untill lowered quite low the same can not be said for 16 bit. I suggest you do some more research on this as you appear to be a little confused
Garret

[Ben Jenssen]

I suggest you do some more research on this as you appear to be a little confused

I just wanted to help people avoid getting confused.

There is no audible difference with the output signal if you pull a channel fader down
and increase the master fader or decrease the master fader and increase the channel fader. This is because of the extreme dynamic range of mix bus, which preserves all of the audio data from each channel.
Remember, the mixer has enough headroom to accommodate the signal from 128 full-level, fully coherent channels without clipping (as long as you pull the master fader down far enough to avoid clipping the output DAC or AES/EBU port, etc.).

Source: From the DigiZine online magazine - Tech Talk 4.1.2003
This document talks about the 48bit TDM mixer but applies to PT LEs 32bits floating point mixer too. Scroll down to the last half of the document. Garret, you might find it useful to read the whole thing.