What does "maximum peak at -6dB " mean

[daniohx]

I was wondering what does that mean when they whant you to "Leave a good volume (maximum peak at -6dB and dont use any compressors or limiters)"


The whole -6db means to leave my Overall output master volume at -6?

I use ableton live can anyone give me a guidence?


Thank you

[gdev1981]

It means that your meters for tracks, busses etc don't go above -6db

I wouldn't worry about it on track volumes but mastering engineers will often ask that your tune overall (the stereo out bus or similar) has some headroom (some -dbs so it is not right at the limit)

to make sure there is no digital clipping or unecessary limiting reducing the quality of your signal.

In a digital DAW like ableton you can go over 0db without issue (assuming it is a 32-bit floating point DAW) on tracks but if your master out or whatever goes over 0db (the top of the meter) you will get digital distortion so it would be best to lower the fader so the the peak (maximum volume) stays under 0db (IE in negative figures).

If you do your own mixdowns/ mastering etc. the rules change because you will be using your own limiter to keep it at or slightly below 0db and then also probably push the peaks up to reduce the difference between the average volume and maximum (dynamic range)

sorry if this is not what you were looking for, hope it helps!

[wrench45us]

I found all this to be very confusing when I started out in my quest to make a few CDs that at least sounded as loud as commercial CDs

The best things I got hold off was the free Elemental Audio's Inspector that tracks rms and peak and some sort of running average pan.
Unfortunately I think that company was taken over by another and now sells an updated version of that plug.

I expect sopmeone will jump in with some information about suitable plugs with similar functions

[gdev1981]

TT loudness meter

shows peak average (RMS) and dynamic range!

http://www.brainworx-music.de/en/downloadrequest

[daniohx]

It means that your meters for tracks, busses etc don't go above -6db

I wouldn't worry about it on track volumes but mastering engineers will often ask that your tune overall (the stereo out bus or similar) has some headroom (some -dbs so it is not right at the limit)

to make sure there is no digital clipping or unecessary limiting reducing the quality of your signal.

In a digital DAW like ableton you can go over 0db without issue (assuming it is a 32-bit floating point DAW) on tracks but if your master out or whatever goes over 0db (the top of the meter) you will get digital distortion so it would be best to lower the fader so the the peak (maximum volume) stays under 0db (IE in negative figures).

If you do your own mixdowns/ mastering etc. the rules change because you will be using your own limiter to keep it at or slightly below 0db and then also probably push the peaks up to reduce the difference between the average volume and maximum (dynamic range)

sorry if this is not what you were looking for, hope it helps!

hey that was a great explanation and I can apply things form it. But my question is a fallowed. When im done with my track They want me to take out the "compressor" and "limitedrs" and lower my Master Volume to -6db or is there a method to do this? or should I leave it at 0(zero).? Im guessing they want this because they are going to master it perhaps. its for a small project with some company.

[gdev1981]

It means that your meters for tracks, busses etc don't go above -6db

I wouldn't worry about it on track volumes but mastering engineers will often ask that your tune overall (the stereo out bus or similar) has some headroom (some -dbs so it is not right at the limit)

to make sure there is no digital clipping or unecessary limiting reducing the quality of your signal.

In a digital DAW like ableton you can go over 0db without issue (assuming it is a 32-bit floating point DAW) on tracks but if your master out or whatever goes over 0db (the top of the meter) you will get digital distortion so it would be best to lower the fader so the the peak (maximum volume) stays under 0db (IE in negative figures).

If you do your own mixdowns/ mastering etc. the rules change because you will be using your own limiter to keep it at or slightly below 0db and then also probably push the peaks up to reduce the difference between the average volume and maximum (dynamic range)

sorry if this is not what you were looking for, hope it helps!

hey that was a great explanation and I can apply things form it. But my question is a fallowed. When im done with my track They want me to take out the "compressor" and "limitedrs" and lower my Master Volume to -6db or is there a method to do this? or should I leave it at 0(zero).? Im guessing they want this because they are going to master it perhaps. its for a small project with some company.

Yeah mastering engineers have great hardware and software for compressing, limiting and EQing so they generally wouldn't want you to bother with any overall compression or limiting.

It's really easy to avoid clipping (going above 0db) without limiting just turn down the master fader so the track doesn't go above say -3db and remove the whole-tune effects on your master bus

[gdev1981]

I wouldn't go near 0db (EDIT: on the MASTER track) without a limiter because as the volume changes over the course of the track it may well go over

[teva995]

i thought generally, you can leave your compressor/eq on your individual tracks if they shape your sound, however you must make sure there are no plugins (compressors multibands eq's etc) on your MASTER track....

and then of course your master track should be around -6db to allow headroom for master engineers to boost some frequencies. Also with your individual tracks, you should make sure they are not above 0db else they may be digitally clipping which will cause distortion...

make sure you dont have any limiters/compressors on the master channel, every other channel is fine

[gdev1981]

i thought generally, you can leave your compressor/eq on your individual tracks if they shape your sound, however you must make sure there are no plugins (compressors multibands eq's etc) on your MASTER track....

and then of course your master track should be around -6db to allow headroom for master engineers to boost some frequencies. Also with your individual tracks, you should make sure they are not above 0db else they may be digitally clipping which will cause distortion...

make sure you dont have any limiters/compressors on the master channel, every other channel is fine

Yeah that's pretty much what I was trying to say,

but depending on your DAW it also doesn't matter if tracks go over 0DB if your DAW 32-bit floating like most are these days(I think a couple of mainstream DAWs are fixed point 24-bit or something still)

[teva995]

yah of course

[jancivil]

I don't mind using a brickwall on the master bus and leaving it near 0 dB. I am doing a very subtle mix atm, nonetheless I am maximizing it from -2dB with a -0.2dB wall. This project has the dynamic range in spades, because that's in the content. I don't have any need to have some other person 'master' it, which to me is often enough someone solving mix problems second hand. "Mastering" used to mean making an audio artifact fit the media it's being made for and ensuring quality control eg., as far as matching levels from track to track. Now it seems to mean maximizing a file because it was too small a sound. This to me is a mixing question, and at times a question of the quality of the source material, recording quality... In any case, I always put a brickwall on the master bus.

My advice to any person new to mixing is to take every single thing you read about it, including what I just typed, with a goodly shaker of salt. A lot of the time someone's talking about something which won't apply to one's area of music, let alone a specific sound or mix requirement.

specific to the OP, if you will need to maximize the master file by 6dB (which is to me extreme), you'll tend to need at least 6dB headroom. IME, this situation is not a given and certainly results in no rule to follow religiously.

[gdev1981]

I don't mind using a brickwall on the master bus and leaving it near 0 dB. I am doing a very subtle mix atm, nonetheless I am maximizing it from -2dB with a -0.2dB wall. This project has the dynamic range in spades, because that's in the content. I don't have any need to have some other person 'master' it, which to me is often enough someone solving mix problems second hand. "Mastering" used to mean making an audio artifact fit the media it's being made for and ensuring quality control eg., as far as matching levels from track to track. Now it seems to mean maximizing a file because it was too small a sound. This to me is a mixing question, and at times a question of the quality of the source material, recording quality... In any case, I always put a brickwall on the master bus.

My advice to any person new to mixing is to take every single thing you read about it, including what I just typed, with a goodly shaker of salt. A lot of the time someone's talking about something which won't apply to one's area of music, let alone a specific sound or mix requirement.

specific to the OP, if you will need to maximize the master file by 6dB (which is to me extreme), you'll tend to need at least 6dB headroom. IME, this situation is not a given and certainly results in no rule to follow religiously.

I agree that you limit the dynamic range in the mix but the OP said he was doing a project for some company so it sounds like he got instructions from a mastering engineer and my advice was simply to help him follow their guidelines.

If the OP was mastering his own track he might want to maximise the track but he was asked to provide a track with no compression or limiting on the master bus and 6db headroom.

Sorry to contradict you there but if the OP maximises his track then he is not following the instructions he has been given (unless you meant normalise)

[zArt]

TT loudness meter

shows peak average (RMS) and dynamic range!

http://www.brainworx-music.de/en/downloadrequest

Is that the TT Dynamic Range Meter?

[gdev1981]

Yeah I got the name wrong