Mastering Question

Fun question. :)

What is the maximum db level of the final wav you are exporting? If you are using a limiter, you shouldn't be getting distortion unless your input signal is really hot.

What I do is, depending on the type of music, I'll rip a similar store bought CD track and load in to Sonar. Then load my master wav and play them both and get a rough idea of the volume level and go from there.

I also do the same with my tracks once I get an initial idea of the volume. What I do is, I load all the tracks that I'm going to put on a CD in to Sonar on individual tracks and mute them all. Then I'll play a couple at a time just to try and get an idea of where the levels are and what adjustments I need to make.

If you have CD mastering software such as Sony CD Architect, you can do the same thing a little easier. The problem is, your CD will only be as loud as your loudest track. I like to do it my way because the volume changes are permanent and it makes your masters more consistent and easier for when it comes time to put a group of songs together for a CD.

I find that with the Pro Chanel in X1, it's a lot easier for distorted sound to happen. You can really get in to trouble with the 'Make-Up' knob on the Comp and the 'Output' knob on the Tube Saturation. I've run in to it a lot actually. Sometimes I'll just reset everything and start over.

Some say that a good rule of thumb for individual track recording volumes is -18db, some say go as hot as you can without going over 0db. I go the -18db route because of potential clipping problems. If you have a -18db track and load Sonitus Comp for example, you'll notice you don't have to mess with your input levels. A 0db track with Sonitus Comp and your signal is off the scale.

I don't know if any of this is the right way to do it, but it has served me well over the years.

Good luck!

Bub.

There are many nice tutorials on mastering as well as tracking and FX on YouTube. Everything from very simple to very in depth discussions. There is no one secret setting that will give you perfect results on every track. Just keep in mind that every track has it's own discrete differences and try to find settings that are the best for the individual track first. Then try to balance all tracks for a complete cd consistency. I have clients all the time that were unhappy with the average levels on their cds. I don't just apply a compressor and let it rip. I may have to use drastic settings to acheive what the client wants. The main thing is to try to get the level of the entire cd consistent from beginning to end. Good Luck!

There is a video lesson on "Mastering with T-Racks" using their "T-Racks 3 Deluxe" package.
The video proved to be the best education I've gotten on the "what/where/when and why" of Mastering.
[class="producttitle"]Mastering with T-RackS
If your serious (and do not want to pay some one) I recommend getting and watching the video first.
It really does a great job explaining the chain of events and results.
After viewing you can use whatever plugins you already have to accomplish the job.
 'Groove 3':
http://www.groove3.com/str/access-it-all.html

The T-Racks (by IK) are fairly reasonably priced and they do a great the job.
 http://www.ikmultimedia.com/Main.html?MainPage.php

If I could not afford the "T-Racks 3 Deluxe" package, get a few of the 'singles"
I do not have much money .....and I did waste money trying limiters and such (some spendy for me pushing $200 on sale)
but the T-Racks for me are my go to VST's for master bus during tracking and on the final master setup.
These would be my choices:
Linear Phase Equalizer - Classic Clipper - Brickwall Limiter - Metering Suite

Good luck and have FUN!  Jonny

Here's a standard.  Designed around a specific product, but lots of wisdom in there, even if you don't use their product:

http://www.izotope.com/products/audio/ozone/OzoneMasteringGuide.PDF

Goals of mastering.

Get the peaks to stay under zero db.
EQ adjust for speaker translation.
Get the RMS value as high as you need. This varies depending on how smashed sounding you want the track.
Keep some decent dynamic range; the difference between the peak values and the RMS value of the track. Rock and rollers demand less dynamic range, country artists have more dynamic range (not all but many). 
Craft the fade in and fade out of every track.
Craft the time between tracks.
Level match the overall volume of all tracks taking into account mood and effect of transitions.

In your case, jazz, dynamic range is desired. You can use a compressor to raise the RMS but instantiate it without turning it on. Follow this with a limiter to brickwall the transient peaks but don't push the input, maybe .3 gain reduction under zero. Now go back and play with the compressor to raise the overall volume a bit but be careful because as you raise the compressor output you can go overboard, especially on jazz. You may even skip the compressor and just use the limiter if you want to keep your dynamic range.