Audio Meters (mastering/finalizing a project?)

Which is recommended? Burning in wav. format or mp3 format? Thanks

Thanks for the reply. Are most commercial CD's burned using MP3 format or Wav format? Is Wav format better sound quality than MP3's? You can burn 24 bit on to CD?

redbook is the standard.

delivery is all over the map.

make sure you dither before doing either

Thanks for the replies. I have been burning using wav files at 16 bit because it won't let me burn in any higher than 16. Batsbrew - Could you explain dither? Also when I burn my songs and play it on the computer, it reads (Track 1, Track 2, Track 3....etc) How do I add artist, titles composer tags to wav files when burning?

http://forum.cakewalk.com/tm.aspx?m=1825218


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/POW-R

http://duc.avid.com/showthread.php?t=86106

i use wavelab to master.

i use Waves L2 Ultramaximizer with IDR set at 16 bit, dither type 1, normal noise shaping,  to do final dither:

IDR= Increased Digital Resolution with double precision bit re-quantization and dither with 9th-order noise shaping filter


manual on plugin here:
http://www.waves.com/manuals/plugins/IDR.pdf

you only dither once.

and that should be when you convert your audio to redbook standard (assuming you are burning final wav files, that can be used from that point on to create cd's, or mp3's, etc......)

I'm with GH when he says WAV, AAMOF, I uploaded an MP3 file for a song I helped a user with and got asked to send it to him as a WAV. He noted that the quality was better since it was the raw uncompressed file. You do lose valuable info when compression is used. The file size is bigger, but HDDs these days, right?

^ Now, we're getting to the nitty-gritty - Mastering; however, I shall let my sensai explain that to you. Oh, Danny Boy ... (hums tune)

I will say you want to mix at a reasonable level (ie: not loud = everything touching 0dB) You wanna make sure that there is plenty of headroom to increase the volume later. ie: Do not heavily compress or limit (almost never as a DIY unless you REALLY know what you're doing) - especially on your master track. If this done, you will crush/squash/kill your track (dynamic range). This seems to be the consensus for commercial mixes. (ie: Dance. Techno, Rock. Look up info about the "Loudness War" or perceived loudness war.)

As far as putting a number on it, maybe -6dB on average, -12dB, -3dB at the most. This is just for the master. (and this isn't set in stone as every song/mix is different) The individual tracks themselves, that comes down to trail and error and getting the mix right. Do be mindful of your meters; however, do look at the waveform as well or any other visual aid at your disposal, but trust your ears (or someone else's for his or her ears may be more in-tuned then yours.)

Which leads me to say again: Get the mix right - first and foremost. This would include testing it on many speaker systems and having an extra pair of human ears here as well

-6dB is a good start, Having said this, you can creep up; however, leave it at -6 until you get a beter grasp. (My recommendation as mentioned earlier: -6 to -3dB at the most. If you can increase/decrease by .1dB then, do so as well. That small an increment makes a difference)

No. Different VU Meters (digital/analog) have different values, so the increments may throw you off. ie: If the meter reaches -6dB or above, you'll clip. Likewise, if it says -3 or 0. However, many LED digital meters are color-coded. Green/Yellow/Orange/Red.

Obviously, if any red is showing, you are clipping; if it's staying red, well ...

Now, sometimes, it'll reach red, but if it taps, it's okay; yet, only if this can't be help. For instance, the kick on a drumset. However, if there are low end like instruments with the kick, then this may be a problem, but it can be fix. Tell the drummer not to kick so hard or have the mixer person adjust accordingly. However, it's accepted for the kick to knock-in-the-red; however, you don't want it killing the mix because okay doesn't mean "as hot as possible"

Recording beginners will make the mistake of recording hot-tracks. Do not do this!

As Danny said (and I'm still waiting on him) - "if it goes in bad, it'll come out bad." If it goes in loud, it'll come out the same way. Get your source right.

More often, than not many meters will display 0.0 as the no-clipping limit. Pay attention to the peak meters - not just the solid/thick LED lights. Since I can't post a pic:

the i's (peak decibel) have it. The l's (decibel indicator) do not. Don't ignore the colored lights though.

Be very aware though that you can't always trust them, so use the other volume visual aid tools at your disposal.

Remember, you want headroom, even if there's still a little bit after you're done mastering, but most definitely when you're recording/mixing.

Using FX to fix volume was something I was told I shouldn't do. FX (ie: Reverb, Delay, Chorus) = icing, it's not a substitute for turning down volume.

When you say -6dB, is it understood to be 0db (as in go past this point, you see red, meaning you're clipping)?

Again, you want headroom and noting before that you can't trust that the peaks will be constant (in the same spot every time).

As time-consuming as this is, you will have to adjust the tracks' volumes individually or use a volume send while leave the master at -.5 to -.3dB. Essentially avoid recording/mixing down/bouncing @ 0.0. 

Question: Do you have input monitoring on? If you're recording from hardware (guitar/keyboard/drum machine), this need to be on, so you can see how much of the signal is gong into the software. Also, if you are mixing with speakers or headphones, have this on so you can hear yourself.

If you have no such access, get a program such as Audacity which can recording incoming sounds from your computer. It has the Input Monitoring Function which means what it says. It'll monitor all audio coming through your computer speaker (Make sure Stereo Mix is selected).

In fact, this program will save you from mixing down/exporting and importing as you'll be able to see the waveform as it's being created.

Here's a turtorial: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QXOOHOzCHHY (voice)
Here's another: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=21wh0iixiDA

Now, he's talking about recording voice, but in your case, the incoming audio will come from whatever DAW you're using. The second video is about using it as you would your DAW.

Here's another video entitled the "4dB Rule": http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XlY_Yxe0IVE (This is subjective). And he's referring to the individual tracks, but like I said before, the master needn't be touched once you've set it to where ever you desire.

Turning down the individual tracks turns down the Master Track volume. (ie: every track turned down -4dB, the Master goes down by the same amount) Anything done to the Master Track, should be done last.

^ That's fine. I tend to creep the volume up as well.

@ -6dB you still have headroom, so that is good.

No. Input Monitoring must be enabled for the meter (Recording - not Playback) to work. I would say so because though you can turn it down in the software, why not just turn it down at the source? You can always turn it up later in the software. However, if you record it to where it's clipping (and it's not just volume that causes this, but EQ, Compression/Limiting), then it will still clip as that is how it came in from the source had any of those effects been applied.

Get the sound and levels right from the hardware to go into the software than make adjustments within the software.

It's very subjective when trying to attach numeric values because there will be a gazillion different opinions. Also, keep in mind that no boost or reduction may be needed and as the guy in the "4dB Rule" video said: "Leave the mix to rest your mind/ears and come back with fresh ones."

Rarely are mixes/recording right the first time around, so just experiement, but remember, headroom, headroom, headroom!

@Rus W

"@ -6dB you still have headroom, so that is good."

What would be considered no headroom? 

"No. Input Monitoring must be enabled for the meter (Recording - not Playback) to work." 


Not sure if I understood you correctly, but this is what appears when I don't have the input monitoring on. It still shows the recording level showing on the track meter.

"It's very subjective when trying to attach numeric values because there will be a gazillion different opinions. "

I get that, but I'm just getting a general rule of thumb of what to do and what not to do.
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@GH

"This is due to what is done to the processing ...aka ...Mastering.   With limiters and compressors it is possible to have acoustic music extremely loud on a CD. " 

Would you know what db most commercial CD's peak at?  "This is a topic which you should spend some time reading about and studying both sides of the argument as to why they do what they do. I think the pendulum is swinging back slightly in the direction of more dynamics vs make this sucker loud. " 
So are most commercial CD's fighting the loudness war instead of music dynamics? What do they do? Do they heavily compress the music and raise the overall?
"I prefer to come down on the side of keep dynamics in the music but with that stipulated, I still want to have the levels up to a respectable level. " 

When you finish up a project, where does the  master meter peak at ready to burn on to CD? "Many folks might disagree with how I do things but here's my mixing in a nut shell. I mix to have the song sound right and when I look at the wave after export I don't want to see to many "overs" in it..... peaks slamming into the ceiling. I run the master and sound card levels up but make sure none are in the red.  I often have an exported wave that doesn't hit the ceiling at all. So I will use 98% normalization on it. That raises the highest peak up to just under the ceiling.... to 98% of full and that has the effect of bumping the final volume slightly."


I've been reading about normalization but can't get a clear understanding of what it does. Is it part of the mastering stage? From what I read, normalization is bringing the average and peak volume to a target level.  you said if your project is hit's the ceiling you would normalize it to 98%. Question is, how would that bump the final volume? Doesn't it lower the volume to 98%? 
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I think I'm going to keep my master bus meter below 0db. At the most 1db. Does that sound reasonable?
I've imported CD songs into cakewalk and the highest I read so far was .6 db peaking on the master bus meter.


As for normalizer, If I understand how to use it correctly. After exporting my project I would bring it into my mastering program and normalize it raising it relative to 0db to get the best level prior to mastering.

"As for what is considered no headroom. Well, what's considered no leg room in a car or on an airplane? When your legs are getting squashed. "


How would I know if my track has no headroom? Is it by looking at the meters if they reach the red zone, If the level goes past 0db, or if the waveform hits the ceiling?


Thanks