No Headroom, what to do?

[Tibbon]

band selective expansion?

Or a remix?

[Andy Krehm]

Originally Posted by ONDRAY

Is there anything to pay attention to when mastering a .Wav file that has no headroom.

check out these stats. WTF, can I do with this?

Peak Amp: 0.00dB L & R, Max. RMS Power: -9.38dB, Average: 16.12dB

Turn it down before working on it. This scenario is very common these days.

If you are using analog gear, you will likely have to turn the track down a minimum of 4 dB and perhaps as much as 7 to 10 dB. Using a digital only setup, it should be more like 1 to 3 dB but you have to check your plug-ins to make sure they are not overloading, both by watching the input and using your ears.

If the file is clipped or severely limited, your job just became even harder and may not be possible to master to today's average levels without some distortion.

[ONDRAY]

Originally Posted by Tibbon

band selective expansion?

Would you mind explaining this a bit? I've used this on the T.C.E. MD3 by using my ears , with out ever fully understanding it.

[Tibbon]

Originally Posted by ONDRAY

Would you mind explaining this a bit? I've used this on the T.C.E. MD3 by using my ears , with out ever fully understanding it.

Opposite of the multiband compression that the mix engineer must have used to squash the crap out of this. Just separate expanders on each frequency section.

[lucey]

Originally Posted by ONDRAY

WTF, can I do with this?

Peak Amp: 0.00dB L & R, Max. RMS Power: -9.38dB, Average: 16.12dB

Cry. Scream. Demand a Refund, I mean a Remix.

or, maybe ... turn it down a little and do your best? Sometimes the only way to deal with distortion is more distortion. Sometimes the only way to deal with slammed is to use your tools to fake some dynamics. Maybe it just needs a touch of eq?

[inlinenl]

Hi Ondray

faders down - 4 dB line Andy is saying ... dynamic wise you could try to get in
some dynamics again ( slow attack .. fast release ) .... EQ ... parrallel compression on selective bands weiss-ds1 ..

really check if you're processing is uplifting that mix .. otherwise stay out / or try again ...

good luck !!!

[ONDRAY]

Thanks, I tried mastering it how it was and also starting with it turned down -4dB. Needless to say it worked out better with it turned down, so thanks for that hint.

Also, I told my buddy what a wonderful mixdown he gave me to work with. This was a hard techno, grungy distorted sounding track to begin with, so it can't sound much worse . A good little challenge non-the-less.

piece out.

[Chi-Squared]

Originally Posted by ONDRAY

A good little challenge non-the-less.

Last week I got a clipped mix... in mono.

Had to ask three times to make sure he knew what he was starting with.