Final Mix Levels

[StressWon]

yo, anyone know why when I mix down my final joint, some levels aren't as they are in the Multitrack? Happens alot lately....

 

[Ash Holmz]

i know what u mean ... the problem lies in digital summing ... meaing taking however many tracks and bouncing them down to 2 inside the computer... that the biggest problem that people have with digital recording and the reason why digital hasnt completey taken over and people still shell out millions of dollars on quality hardware and consoles... somthing is lost when u r bouncing to two track .. never quite sounds the same as it playin in ur daw... also a mixdown through a good console or a good summing box is going to sound wider and open than a digital one because the instuments tend to seperate from each other more in a hardware mix... unfortauntly the problem cannot be solved without spending money .. but some info


experiment with diffrent knids of dither to find which one works for u

try mixing in mono until u cant stand it and then switch it to stereo in the final stages of ur mix.. u will find that ur level relationships (particulary the kick and snare) will match better. if ur kick is way louder than ur snare or vice versa, then in mono its gonna be alot more evident

always record in 24 bit if u dont already...

try a lilttle compression on the mix bus if u havent already..not too much but just to give the mix a lil glue

 

[StressWon]

word, I'll try that

 

[P_1]

always record in 24 bit if u dont already...

Yo Ash, how does this help? Just curious

 

[Formant024]

hmmm, ive been on this subject a few days...the real difference in daw summing agains h/w summing is the fact that hardware saturizes the sound, giving it color making it sound more musical. When summing ITB you have no colouring at all and with 32/64bits floating point algorhymns (or doubles) you have 1500dB dynamic range.., something that hardware would never achieve. This is summing, not to be confused with export ranges when burning a disc where its 16 bit(fixed point) only gives a 90dB max of dynamic range, 24 bit gives you 130dB.

I dont know what you're 2 track meter is burning at, -0,1 dB or 0dB but try and setup a mix that hits -0,3dB instead (without master chain running of course).

 

[StressWon]

hmmm, ive been on this subject a few days...the real difference in daw summing agains h/w summing is the fact that hardware saturizes the sound, giving it color making it sound more musical. When summing ITB you have no colouring at all and with 32/64bits floating point algorhymns (or doubles) you have 1500dB dynamic range.., something that hardware would never achieve. This is summing, not to be confused with export ranges when burning a disc where its 16 bit(fixed point) only gives a 90dB max of dynamic range, 24 bit gives you 130dB.

I dont know what you're 2 track meter is burning at, -0,1 dB or 0dB but try and setup a mix that hits -0,3dB instead (without master chain running of course).

thanks man! I'll try that. i been working with PT now exclusively tho. i'll keep that in mind.

So how u been formant?

 

[LDB]

Stress, you may want to normalize the track. This way the file will be amplified so that the highest peak reaches the maximum available headroom.

Sounds like you're mastering your own material. If not DON'T NORMALIZE! Leave it to the mastering engineer. Also, (If you're mastering your own material) you have diff't dithering modes. Triangular is the safest just in case you decide to send your material off to be mastered but if you're no,t go with a higher dithering mode like POW-r1,2 or 3. Listen back to see which one you like the best. All dithering does is add a small amount of noise but minimizes artifacts when reducing the bit depth i.e cd quality 16 bit. Adding that noise makes it sound a bit fatter with a lower bit depth.

If you're sending the track off to be mastered DON'T use dither at all! Render the track at a bit depth of 24 to 32 and the mastering engineer will normalize the track and add dither. You can only add dither ONCE to a track!

 

[Formant024]

thanks man! I'll try that. i been working with PT now exclusively tho. i'll keep that in mind.

So how u been formant?

Ive been around man, toying with gear but being a bit less productive and dealing with some projects to come (not hiphop related), been helping design on a pre amp and trying to learn the crabs on my vestax which buggin the shiznit out of me hehe.

 

[StressWon]

Stress, you may want to normalize the track. This way the file will be amplified so that the highest peak reaches the maximum available headroom.

Sounds like you're mastering your own material. If not DON'T NORMALIZE! Leave it to the mastering engineer. Also, (If you're mastering your own material) you have diff't dithering modes. Triangular is the safest just in case you decide to send your material off to be mastered but if you're no,t go with a higher dithering mode like POW-r1,2 or 3. Listen back to see which one you like the best. All dithering does is add a small amount of noise but minimizes artifacts when reducing the bit depth i.e cd quality 16 bit. Adding that noise makes it sound a bit fatter with a lower bit depth.

If you're sending the track off to be mastered DON'T use dither at all! Render the track at a bit depth of 24 to 32 and the mastering engineer will normalize the track and add dither. You can only add dither ONCE to a track!

thanks son,,,yeah, I master my own ish. I dont have this problem too much in Pro tools though....

Ive been around man, toying with gear but being a bit less productive and dealing with some projects to come (not hiphop related), been helping design on a pre amp and trying to learn the crabs on my vestax which buggin the shiznit out of me hehe.

yo man, i deejayed for years and my crab walk is still horrible. lol.

 

[Formant024]

^^^ qbert vids demotivate me