Output level/Master Fader conundrum...

[jensen5]

Every time I finish a song and bounce the whole thing down to disk, I have to really crank the volume on whatever stereo system I'm using for playback. Here's what I usually do to wrap up a session:

- Add a Master Fader with Dither plugged in. Not sure what the Dither actually does, but have been advised to use it.

- Bounce down to disk in AIFF format, which I'll usually convert to MP4 and sometimes MP3 format.

I've tried to pump the overall output by raising the Master Fader volume. This works in terms of raising the volume, but it also screws up the balance pretty badly. I believe it pans left when I raise the slider.

Any advice?

Thanks!
Cody

[drunton]

A couple of points, mind you this is all very controversial, so here is my take:

1. If you're original session is 24 bit, then the output will generally tend to be 24 bit. If you save it as 16-bit then you will "truncate" and lose the lowest value 8-bits of data. This can be ok, but tends to add some "quantization noise". So, by adding dither it adds some "controlled noise" that helps to randomize the "truncation noise" and overall everything sounds better - with respect to the noise floor. You're right - just do it - but you can experiment with the type of dither...

2. Regarding output levels, what do the meters look like? If you are runnning very low, then you need to bring all the channels up, but don't clip. If the meters look unbalanced (left/right) then that explains the left volume louder issue. It sounds like you are probably ok, you just need to do some "mastering".

So now, what is mastering - it is some overall compression and EQ to make things sound more balanced on different systems, balanced from song to song on an album, and in general more like what you hear elsewhere. You can get by with adding a Compressor or Limiter across the master fader in addition to dither. The "best" ones are Waves L1 or L2, but you can get by with the digi compressor - of course this tends (no matter which one you use) to screw up the balance of levels and can lead to distortion (based on clipping) if you are not careful. By the way, are you using compressors on other channels? All of this will help bring the levels up to what you typically hear on the radio - just don't fall into the trap of over-limiting the way most of today's music is done - just say "no"....

And, remember, if you decide to get your song professionally mastered at some point, the mastering engineers tend to like the original 24-bit mixdown (no dither, no truncation) and with minimal final mix-bus compression/EQ so they can make the decisions that are best for the song with their higher-end gear.

As I said, very controversial, this could lead to a flame war, etc.. YMMV

[jensen5]

Nice - lots of good information, there. All my tracks are compressed... I'll apply your advice regarding the master fade compressor and hope for the best. In the end, sounds like I should just hand my entire demo over to a pro who can master it

Thank you!!