Reason sounds 'low'

[Cubicle]

Probably a major retarded question:

Always when I make a tune in Reason it tends to be lower in volume compared to other tracks from youtube/soundcloud (other artists in general).
I tried to higher the levels on my mixer and even pushing my mixer close to the red.
I added a Default Mastering Suite and fucked around with the Punch/EQ Boost Freq/Stereo Imager/Compressor but still not gaining the "regular" volume.

I also want to add that my mixdowns are horrible and I have yet to learn in that matter.

Could any of you enlighten me what I could be overseeing?

Much appreciated!

[lyons238]

um look for the funtcase masterclass video and he explains an eq setting which he puts on the master that makes reason sound better.

[Cubicle]

um look for the funtcase masterclass video and he explains an eq setting which he puts on the master that makes reason sound better.

Going to look into that then, cheers mate!

[DJ Crackle]

Don't concern yourself with your mixdown volume, that'll be handled later. You want your mixdown sounding GOOD and CLEAN, not loud. Just turn your speakers up



Also:
http://dubstepforum.com/viewtopic.php?f=8&t=74832

[Cubicle]

Don't concern yourself with your mixdown volume, that'll be handled later. You want your mixdown sounding GOOD and CLEAN, not loud. Just turn your speakers up



Also:
http://dubstepforum.com/viewtopic.php?f=8&t=74832

Yes but still, there must be something I'm overseeing because my tracks sound so quiet compared to other artists.
In the end they sound really clean tho but just so quiet.

[Basic A]

Don't concern yourself with your mixdown volume, that'll be handled later. You want your mixdown sounding GOOD and CLEAN, not loud. Just turn your speakers up



Also:
http://dubstepforum.com/viewtopic.php?f=8&t=74832

Yes but still, there must be something I'm overseeing because my tracks sound so quiet compared to other artists.
In the end they sound really clean tho but just so quiet.

Your comparing professional mastered tracks to your own mixdowns, and thats just plain never going to work out for you.

Mastering engineers make stuff loud, its the job description. If your mix is clear and crisp, theres nothing left for you to do aside from raise the volume a bit with a limiter or have it mastered. Either way, they arent going to measure up to professionally treated tracks in perceived loudness terms.

[Cubicle]

Don't concern yourself with your mixdown volume, that'll be handled later. You want your mixdown sounding GOOD and CLEAN, not loud. Just turn your speakers up



Also:
http://dubstepforum.com/viewtopic.php?f=8&t=74832

Yes but still, there must be something I'm overseeing because my tracks sound so quiet compared to other artists.
In the end they sound really clean tho but just so quiet.

Your comparing professional mastered tracks to your own mixdowns, and thats just plain never going to work out for you.

Mastering engineers make stuff loud, its the job description. If your mix is clear and crisp, theres nothing left for you to do aside from raise the volume a bit with a limiter or have it mastered. Either way, they arent going to measure up to professionally treated tracks in perceived loudness terms.

Just read a bit through the Moneyshot thread and I'm kind of getting the point here.
I should compare my tunes with other unmastered tunes because mastered tunes are generally "louder" right?

But my point really is, Basic A, comparing my track in my sig to yours results in quite a volume level difference. Does this have to do with your mixdown being way better then mine or?

[jrisreal]

Try a limiter if you haven't already. they can "flatten" your volume level in a way by decreasing parts of the song that are louder and then boosting the overall volume. In effect, your track will be louder without the harmful clipping

[AJGR]

it's your mixing technique not the software.

[Debaser1]

Stay away from the peaking mate. Honestly fuck the volume, concentrate on your mix sounding good. Labels would much rather a well mixed yet quiet track cus than a track thats squashed a loud enough. The whole point of a mastering company is to make things louder and clearer.

[victor w]

Do you mean it sounds lower while you're still in Reason, or after rendering? Your track is supposed to be significantly lower than youtube, or anything else, while working on it in Reason, when you're not boosting the master up to, or close to 0db. Otherwise, take the advice other people have given.

[thefrim]

um look for the funtcase masterclass video and he explains an eq setting which he puts on the master that makes reason sound better.

while were at it his maximiser settings in the video have never let me down and I've used them on every single reason track I've done. pause/copy/save as preset and all that

[-[2]DAY_-]

if you get a decent mix outa reason you can drag that .wav into something else that might offer better compression, limiting, and trim.

If you're on mac, Garage Band would do. IMO it sounds better to bring Reason export in to GB than to try Reason's "mastering suite". but yes your mix ought to be clean and fairly level pre-mastered, but don't worry about volume until after mixdown, then you can use other equipment to raise the level of the 2track.

[Cubicle]

I added a limiter to my drums and my main bassline.
Putting both of my drums at -8db and my bass at -10 so with this limiter on I can actually boost the volume of those without having it clipping if I'm right?
Also took down the volume of the master and everything is sounding way better.

Thank you all for the swift reply!

[Turnipish_Thoughts]

Don't concern yourself with your mixdown volume, that'll be handled later. You want your mixdown sounding GOOD and CLEAN, not loud. Just turn your speakers up

This. Get your mix right, just turn ur amp up if it sounds too quiet. Once you've got it perfect (re: finished track) bounce and normalize, innit. If its still too quiet use a limiter/maximizer e.t.c.

[FuzionDubstep]

Compression and parametric EQ is your friend when mastering in reason, but its got to be used right!.. use compressors on each instrument with limiters on each that have fast attack and release times to make sure the mix isn't affected when an instrument peaks to loud, then the parametric eq's can be used separately one for the low end, one for the mid end, one for the high end and another with little tweaks on the whole spectrum. it has to be used carefully though 0.1db of gain can affect the sound in different ways so be careful! all of this should raise the volume enough without peaking and distorting. but seriously its easier to mix down in reason and master in another program!

[lyons238]

Compression and parametric EQ is your friend when mastering in reason, but its got to be used right!.. use compressors on each instrument with limiters on each that have fast attack and release times to make sure the mix isn't affected when an instrument peaks to loud, then the parametric eq's can be used separately one for the low end, one for the mid end, one for the high end and another with little tweaks on the whole spectrum. it has to be used carefully though 0.1db of gain can affect the sound in different ways so be careful! all of this should raise the volume enough without peaking and distorting. but seriously its easier to mix down in reason and master in another program!

do you think mixing and mastering would be much better with record? i heard the ssl mixer is pretty amazing. while it does not sound like an actual ssl, it still sounds great, or so i heard. also seems like mixing and mastering are much better with record, but i could be wrong.

i dont feel like dishing out the cash or learning a new daw at this point in time. i think in about 3 or so years ill be ready to maybe get logic and start using that for some things.

[FuzionDubstep]

Compression and parametric EQ is your friend when mastering in reason, but its got to be used right!.. use compressors on each instrument with limiters on each that have fast attack and release times to make sure the mix isn't affected when an instrument peaks to loud, then the parametric eq's can be used separately one for the low end, one for the mid end, one for the high end and another with little tweaks on the whole spectrum. it has to be used carefully though 0.1db of gain can affect the sound in different ways so be careful! all of this should raise the volume enough without peaking and distorting. but seriously its easier to mix down in reason and master in another program!

do you think mixing and mastering would be much better with record? i heard the ssl mixer is pretty amazing. while it does not sound like an actual ssl, it still sounds great, or so i heard. also seems like mixing and mastering are much better with record, but i could be wrong.

i dont feel like dishing out the cash or learning a new daw at this point in time. i think in about 3 or so years ill be ready to maybe get logic and start using that for some things.

hmm, I couldn't say I didn't know you could master in record I thought it was just for vocal recordings but ill check it out
and I wouldn't say logic is any better than reason there all as good as each other just depends on what you prefer, but the mastering in reason does suck a little bit :/

[lyons238]

Compression and parametric EQ is your friend when mastering in reason, but its got to be used right!.. use compressors on each instrument with limiters on each that have fast attack and release times to make sure the mix isn't affected when an instrument peaks to loud, then the parametric eq's can be used separately one for the low end, one for the mid end, one for the high end and another with little tweaks on the whole spectrum. it has to be used carefully though 0.1db of gain can affect the sound in different ways so be careful! all of this should raise the volume enough without peaking and distorting. but seriously its easier to mix down in reason and master in another program!

do you think mixing and mastering would be much better with record? i heard the ssl mixer is pretty amazing. while it does not sound like an actual ssl, it still sounds great, or so i heard. also seems like mixing and mastering are much better with record, but i could be wrong.

i dont feel like dishing out the cash or learning a new daw at this point in time. i think in about 3 or so years ill be ready to maybe get logic and start using that for some things.

hmm, I couldn't say I didn't know you could master in record I thought it was just for vocal recordings but ill check it out
and I wouldn't say logic is any better than reason there all as good as each other just depends on what you prefer, but the mastering in reason does suck a little bit :/

well its got a lot more than just neptune for vocal recordings. but i still dont think it has proper mastering...but the main thing is the ssl mixer. maybe watch some vids on it and tell me what you think? im pretty new to production so its hard for me to tell. it looks pretty solid though.

[zerbaman]

The reason your stuff doesn't sound as "Loud" is because of elements such as high quality mixing down, and proffesional mastering. Practise mixing down man, this is a really great forum for info on that kinda thing, just look through some old threads answering questions and discussing techniques, I swear to God, you'll pick it up fast, and when you do, your stuff will be sounding thicker, fatter, and fuller!