Hi all,

I use Sonar 8.5 and master with Izotope Ozone 4

In Sonar the levels are as high as I can go. Any more and the finished product comes out distorted.

However, when I burn to CD and playback the volume of the whole disc is quieter than a normal album.

I mix down to 64 bit, sample rate 48000.

What can I do to get that extra volume without distortion?

Thanks

CDs have to be 16bit, 44100 Hz.

"Loudness" is a mastering issue - first - don't mix as "high as you can go" in SONAR ... generally leave 2-3 db of headroom.

The "loudness" is going to come from compression/limiting in Ozone - specifically with a combination of the multi-band limiter and the final "loudness" limiter. Commercial mixes tend to be around -8 to -11 average RMS these days depending on the type music. I shoot for the middle of that range for most of my stuff.

Start with reading Ozones mastering guide.
Ozone is the one that should take care of the final level.

Thanks everyone, would it really make a difference if I mix down in 16 bit/44.1 ??

MatsonMusicBox


"Loudness" is a mastering issue - first - don't mix as "high as you can go" in SONAR ... generally leave 2-3 db of headroom.

The "loudness" is going to come from compression/limiting in Ozone - specifically with a combination of the multi-band limiter and the final "loudness" limiter. Commercial mixes tend to be around -8 to -11 average RMS these days depending on the type music. I shoot for the middle of that range for most of my stuff.

Meant to say the 'high as you can go' comment as after Ozone, but you're right thanks

However, when I burn to CD and playback the volume of the whole disc is quieter than a normal album. I mix down to 64 bit, sample rate 48000. What can I do to get that extra volume without distortion?

Read up on audio mastering
Read the mastering guide that comes with ozone. Lots of good info in there

Mintmog


Thanks everyone, would it really make a difference if I mix down in 16 bit/44.1 ??

What do you mean by this, actually? If you've been using
64 bit/48 Khz do you mean you have exported the project to a wav-file of those specs or that those are the project settings when you mix? 
 
Or is it a typo, do you actually mean 24/48, which is commonly used good choice to export the stereo wav- file which is then separately mastered?

In Sonar the levels are as high as I can go. Any more and the finished product comes out distorted. However, when I burn to CD and playback the volume of the whole disc is quieter than a normal album.

This has nothing to do with sample rates or 24 versus 32 versus 64 bits. As noted above, your ultimate format has to be 44.1KHz 16 bits in order to conform to CD standards.

I'm guessing you're using some other software to prepare the files for burning, such as CD Architect or Adobe Audition, or maybe a separate SONAR project. Can you explain your process for going from 64-bit 48KHz to a CD? Part of your problem may be that you're maximizing volume at the wrong stage in the process.

Understand that perceived volume depends on averages, not peaks. Ozone's role in all this is to raise the average volume while making sure the peaks are not excessive. We can advise you on how to accomplish that, but only if you describe the complete process. What comes out of SONAR initially? Is it 48/64? If so, how does it get to 44/16?

bitflipper

In Sonar the levels are as high as I can go. Any more and the finished product comes out distorted. However, when I burn to CD and playback the volume of the whole disc is quieter than a normal album.

This has nothing to do with sample rates or 24 versus 32 versus 64 bits. As noted above, your ultimate format has to be 44.1KHz 16 bits in order to conform to CD standards.

I'm guessing you're using some other software to prepare the files for burning, such as CD Architect or Adobe Audition, or maybe a separate SONAR project. Can you explain your process for going from 64-bit 48KHz to a CD? Part of your problem may be that you're maximizing volume at the wrong stage in the process.

Understand that perceived volume depends on averages, not peaks. Ozone's role in all this is to raise the average volume while making sure the peaks are not excessive. We can advise you on how to accomplish that, but only if you describe the complete process. What comes out of SONAR initially? Is it 48/64? If so, how does it get to 44/16?

I record in Sonar obviously, use Ozone within Sonar to master. Mix down to a 64-bit 48,000 sample rate WAV file.

This may be where I'm going wrong though.

I import the WAV's into my iTunes to burn a disc.

I thought the higher rate WAV's would make a better file and iTunes was the only way to get it onto a CD.

Is that wrong??