Question for the gurus

[Herman Munster]

I've been struggling with this issue for a while. I'm not a mastering engineer, but have folks bring me mixes they want louder. Sometimes despite a multiband, EQ, etc., my peaks are still down at -6dB or lower. I often then will use my loudness maximizer of choice, but sometimes wonder if I'm better off raising the volume on the main fader rather than lowering the threshold on the maximizer to the extent I need to. Somewhat of a newb question I admit, but I don't want to create artifact and wonder which way creates less. Thanks.

[tribeofenki]

I'm not a guru, but the 'Loudness War' issue, started by Audiophiles, states:

Why should you rise up everything, just for the sake of it?

Every premaster needs some fine touch, but why always normalize/maximize...

You'll loose Dynamics! Do not do whatever the mainstream does - my 0.02 $

[MASSIVE Master]

If it's straight gain, just increase it wherever you need to.

My -0.02dBFS.

[Edward_Vinatea]

Originally Posted by Herman Munster

I often then will use my loudness maximizer of choice, but sometimes wonder if I'm better off raising the volume on the main fader rather than lowering the threshold on the maximizer to the extent I need to.

Assuming this master fader is from a digital recording software and that your mix levels are as you said in the vicinity of normal output {-12/-6 dBFS} Raising the level of your fader does increase things and makes your maximizer work harder and to a point that clipping and adding artifacts does occur at some point. Setting your fader at your software's 'nominal' operating level and setting your maximizer's ceiling between -0.5/-0.1dbFS is the best approach. You can then decide how much you are going to "squash" the mix with the level of your maximizer's threshold control.

Regards,

[Herman Munster]

Thanks for the replies. So, Edward, if I'm reading you right, you're saying to leave the master fader of my DAW where it is assuming my levels are -6 to -12dB. Then set the ceiling of my maximizer to -1dB or whatever is appropriate. Then bring the threshold down and squash to the amount desired and only after this bring up the master fader/overall mix volume to an appropriate level where I'm not clipping a ridiculous amount????

That's pretty much what I've been doing, but I'm one of the guys who hates the "squash". So, I end up having to move the fader up a good bit. I hate the squash!

[Edward_Vinatea]

Originally Posted by Herman Munster

Edward, if I'm reading you right, you're saying to leave the master fader of my DAW where it is assuming my levels are -6 to -12dB. Then set the ceiling of my maximizer to -1dB or whatever is appropriate. Then bring the threshold down and squash to the amount desired and only after this bring up the master fader/overall mix volume to an appropriate level where I'm not clipping a ridiculous amount????

Not quite. Just try this: move the master fader to wherever is indicated as '0' - then set your maximizer's ceiling at say -0.1dBfs. Now play with the threshold control and find the loudness you are happy with {using this control ok?}.

Best regards,

[Herman Munster]

OK. That answered my question. I use the Loudness Maximizer in Ozone quite a bit and I'm always tempted to pull up the level on the meter instead of using the threshold control. I'll leave the fader alone....