OT: Mixing Mastering.

[Mr. Tunes]

slamming the mix to the roof is fashion these days, you need skill to do it, but it's not about having a quality mix.
Often, being louder is perceived as being better, but that is not the case with our master limiters - we all know that they kill the dynamics of a mix. For some styles of music it may be cool, though.

tele

well for music styles other than rock/electronica the main thing is that the average peak is fairly high. in rock and electronica, yeah it needs to be fully slammed. they do kill the dynamics yes. it is the challenge of the next wave of producers to find a medium between nice full mixing and also maintaining some of those dynamics. but this is also the nature of digital audio itself. she aint like the old days!

my theory is that volume knobs on stereos are now reduced to a smaller range. the way things are mixed now you dont need to go that high, whereas ten years ago yeah you might've been cranking that dial much higher.

[telebunke]

my theory is that volume knobs on stereos are now reduced to a smaller range.

I like your theory.
Having a loud mix is not really an indication for quality. It's fashion these days to have a loud mid and do lots of master limiting.
It's a little like fashion. For decades black pants + brown shirt + brown shoes was an absolute nono, today (at least here in Germany) mixing black and brown clothes is cool.
Is there any need to get a mix veeeeeeeery loud? To a certain degree, it's good, especially when intended as an effect for the music style. Otherwise the listener can always get it as loud as he wishes by using the volume knob at the stereo.
tele