I do a lot of backing tracks for my band. It's a bit different than creating a stereo mix for a release. All of the mixes are dual mono, the left channel has a click and the right channel has all of the backing track audio. I normally mix to a -2dbfs reference for the audio and the click usually peaks at around -.6dbfs. I use 2 busses to take care of the level equalization: a mono fader bus, which is used for automation, that feeds a mono panner bus set to -3db so when it's panned hard right the level on the master is -2dbfs max.
The problem I'm having is that recently I've switched to using a -18dbfs reference and without mastering it's difficult to make the gain up feeding the fader bus. Dynamic range is also an issue, the difference between lead volume and inaudible is around 9 db max when you're working with a band. Leads will normally tickle -2db, loud sections are around -4db and quiet parts are around -6db.
When I was using a hotter signal, it was a lot easier to get the backing tracks loud enough without having to resort to much compression (usually a brickwall on the fader channel was enough).
Any tips on how to get the level back up? Should I stick an Ozone on the fader channel as a mini master? Or should I just make my mix hotter?