What dB should your final mastered project be at?

hardware, software, tips and tricks
Forum rules
By using this "Production" sub-forum, you acknowledge that you have read, understood and agreed with our terms of use for this site. Click HERE to read them. If you do not agree to our terms of use, you must exit this site immediately. We do not accept any responsibility for the content, submissions, information or links contained herein. Users posting content here, do so completely at their own risk.

Quick Link to Feedback Forum
Alissio
Posts: 45
Joined: Tue Aug 09, 2011 12:59 am

What dB should your final mastered project be at?

Post by Alissio » Fri Nov 09, 2012 5:26 am

I am assuming, 0. Is it bad for it to be above +, 0? Will it sound to quiet below -, 0? Please help, thanks.

johnnyng
Posts: 15
Joined: Fri Oct 26, 2012 6:36 pm

Re: What dB should your final mastered project be at?

Post by johnnyng » Fri Nov 09, 2012 5:28 am

read the moneyshot thread, mixing and mastering / gain staging etc is all covered there. I think its stickied, but you can search for it using the DSF google search and it should come up.

User avatar
mromgwtf
Posts: 882
Joined: Wed May 09, 2012 1:06 pm

Re: What dB should your final mastered project be at?

Post by mromgwtf » Fri Nov 09, 2012 6:46 am

Whatever the hell you like, you can mixdown it to -3db, -6db, -12db.
Just remember, the quieter you go, the more noise you get, because floating-point precision in cpus is limited. If you master it to -12db you get less precision, and you get some noise. You can master it to -3db and it'll be ok. And yeah, it's bad to be above 0, because it's clipping. Don't forget about mastering stage, whick takes your -6db mixdown, into -0db loud as fuck banger.
Exilium wrote:distorted square

User avatar
Cryoshok
Posts: 48
Joined: Fri Oct 12, 2012 5:54 am

Re: What dB should your final mastered project be at?

Post by Cryoshok » Fri Nov 09, 2012 6:57 am

Moneyshot thread is your friend. I usually mixdown around -2 to -3 db. Yes it will be quiet which is what mastering is for. If you're just planning on doing a quick master to demo it to someone throw a brickwall limiter on the master channel and give it a boost to bring it to level before exporting.

mthrfnk
Posts: 2731
Joined: Tue Jun 14, 2011 10:05 pm
Location: UK

Re: What dB should your final mastered project be at?

Post by mthrfnk » Fri Nov 09, 2012 8:00 am

+10db is generally what the pro's go for. Keep adding limiters till you get there.
My newest music:
Soundcloud
Soundcloud

User avatar
mromgwtf
Posts: 882
Joined: Wed May 09, 2012 1:06 pm

Re: What dB should your final mastered project be at?

Post by mromgwtf » Fri Nov 09, 2012 1:02 pm

mthrfnk wrote:+10db is generally what the pro's go for. Keep adding limiters till you get there.
:6:

If we are talking about making loudness illusion that sounds like it's +10db by limiters and compression, then it's actually pretty much true. If we are talking about db meter, then lol.
Exilium wrote:distorted square

User avatar
Promise One
Posts: 471
Joined: Mon Jun 07, 2010 3:22 pm
Location: London

Re: What dB should your final mastered project be at?

Post by Promise One » Fri Nov 09, 2012 1:04 pm

-6dB for 24Bit pre masters is normally what labels / engineers ask for.

User avatar
NinjaEdit
Posts: 1603
Joined: Sun Apr 01, 2012 11:16 am
Location: Western Australia
Contact:

Re: What dB should your final mastered project be at?

Post by NinjaEdit » Fri Nov 09, 2012 1:13 pm

He said FFFFFFFFFFFFFFIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIINNNNNNNNNNNNNNAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAALLLLLLLLLLLLLLL MMMMMMMMMMMMMAAAAAAAAAAAAAAASSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTEEEEEEEEEEEEEERRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRREEEEEEEEEEEEDDDDDDDDDDDDDDD.

How do people on this forum get by?

As loud as possible, considering intersample peaks, say -0.5db.

mthrfnk
Posts: 2731
Joined: Tue Jun 14, 2011 10:05 pm
Location: UK

Re: What dB should your final mastered project be at?

Post by mthrfnk » Fri Nov 09, 2012 4:54 pm

jonahmann wrote: As loud as possible
Image

OP: In the digital domain 0dB is the absolute maximum tolerable before clipping ensues, this doesn't occur in the analog domain, however if you're going to be doing a ADC and you do have a hot signal (+1/2 dB's) you only want to have it "clipping" for like 10-15 cycles before it becomes noticeable. Dependant upon what you want the song to sound like the limits you should go by will differ, you could go to 0.3dB for br00tal loudness, although if you're encoding to mp3 I'd say -0.5dB->-1dB is what you'd be better going for.

Also @mromgwtf I was taking the piss. :dunce:
My newest music:
Soundcloud
Soundcloud

joegrizzly
Posts: 273
Joined: Thu Jan 05, 2012 7:22 pm

Re: What dB should your final mastered project be at?

Post by joegrizzly » Fri Nov 09, 2012 5:13 pm

lol

User avatar
mromgwtf
Posts: 882
Joined: Wed May 09, 2012 1:06 pm

Re: What dB should your final mastered project be at?

Post by mromgwtf » Fri Nov 09, 2012 5:21 pm

joegrizzly wrote:lol
this thread
Exilium wrote:distorted square

didi
Posts: 3788
Joined: Thu Sep 01, 2011 7:52 pm
Location: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m_dvT8dttyQ
Contact:

Re: What dB should your final mastered project be at?

Post by didi » Fri Nov 09, 2012 10:05 pm

Cryoshok wrote:Moneyshot thread is your friend. I usually mixdown around -2 to -3 db.
:|
jonahmann wrote:As loud as possible, considering intersample peaks, say -0.5db.
This is correct. Final Master.

Separate mixing from mastering in your mind. Fuck the meters when your mixing (as long as you use a sensible reference level like -18db) because you shouldn't be getting close to clipping at all. When mastering, after whatever processors you choose to use, it is safe to raise the volume to just below 0db. You might want a brickwall limiter at -0.1 or whatever as a safety measure, but that shouldn't really be necessary.
[+]
bennyfroobs wrote:cool it vip is one of the best funky tracks of all time, hands down
[+]
Agent 47 wrote:photek? who is photek

photek is my mate whos a house dj from london lol
[+]
wolf89 wrote:Me and my mates play a game where we remember the worst or most obscure nu metal bands we can and listen to them when drunk

User avatar
ehbes
Posts: 19109
Joined: Fri Jul 15, 2011 2:34 pm
Location: Massachusetts

Re: What dB should your final mastered project be at?

Post by ehbes » Fri Nov 09, 2012 11:12 pm

jonahmann wrote:He said FFFFFFFFFFFFFFIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIINNNNNNNNNNNNNNAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAALLLLLLLLLLLLLLL MMMMMMMMMMMMMAAAAAAAAAAAAAAASSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTEEEEEEEEEEEEEERRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRREEEEEEEEEEEEDDDDDDDDDDDDDDD.
thanks captain obvious
Paypal me $2 for a .wav of Midnight
https://soundcloud.com/artend
Dead Rats wrote:Mate, these chaps are lads.

User avatar
NinjaEdit
Posts: 1603
Joined: Sun Apr 01, 2012 11:16 am
Location: Western Australia
Contact:

Re: What dB should your final mastered project be at?

Post by NinjaEdit » Sat Nov 10, 2012 5:27 am

Apparently it's not obvious.

:studio:

User avatar
skerrick
Posts: 279
Joined: Wed Aug 22, 2012 3:18 am

Re: What dB should your final mastered project be at?

Post by skerrick » Sat Nov 10, 2012 6:31 am

i know fuck all about mastering. do i need an external program? or do i do it via the mixer in my daw and get the levels perfect and THEN then change the master volume in the daw for exporting? or is it through an external program.?
sorry im a noob. will hit up, moneyshot thread but was hoping for a quick answer...
Image


Soundcloud
2manynoobs wrote: one time I accidentally killed jimi hendrix in my dream. He was a puppet in my dream-stratego-game. I made a wrong strategical move and it killed him :(


I felt sad that morning

User avatar
NinjaEdit
Posts: 1603
Joined: Sun Apr 01, 2012 11:16 am
Location: Western Australia
Contact:

Re: What dB should your final mastered project be at?

Post by NinjaEdit » Sat Nov 10, 2012 6:41 am

skerrick wrote:i know fuck all about mastering. do i need an external program? or do i do it via the mixer in my daw and get the levels perfect and THEN then change the master volume in the daw for exporting? or is it through an external program.?
sorry im a noob. will hit up, moneyshot thread but was hoping for a quick answer...
I'm not sure how you can normalise in FL, but you can definately do it in Audacity, which is free.

EDIT: You could actually use Edison.

User avatar
skerrick
Posts: 279
Joined: Wed Aug 22, 2012 3:18 am

Re: What dB should your final mastered project be at?

Post by skerrick » Sat Nov 10, 2012 9:53 am

[quote=]

EDIT: You could actually use Edison.[/quote]

fuck man thats gnarly. need to lurk this. cheers for the pointrer :D
also, new track in my sig, just did an edit of it if you got a couple mins? laytuhz.
Image


Soundcloud
2manynoobs wrote: one time I accidentally killed jimi hendrix in my dream. He was a puppet in my dream-stratego-game. I made a wrong strategical move and it killed him :(


I felt sad that morning

User avatar
NinjaEdit
Posts: 1603
Joined: Sun Apr 01, 2012 11:16 am
Location: Western Australia
Contact:

Re: What dB should your final mastered project be at?

Post by NinjaEdit » Sat Nov 10, 2012 10:24 am

Overall, I liked it. I thought:

Positives:
Exotic sounds
Use of silence
Full frequency spectrum
Interesting strucure
Subbass sound

Improvements?
Recurring vocal hook tying things together
Edit a bounced audio file, eg stutter edits
Set up a distortion send
Buss the drums together and compress if they aren't
Delay wet signal can be affected seperately eg filtered, distorted

User avatar
skerrick
Posts: 279
Joined: Wed Aug 22, 2012 3:18 am

Re: What dB should your final mastered project be at?

Post by skerrick » Sat Nov 10, 2012 11:09 am

Cheers bro, yeah i used ny compression but no compressor. I got one with my soundcard that makes shit sound real clean and nice but its pretty average doesnt really do much... Do you know any good free ones or something i could hit up from anywhere or any others youd recommend? :)
And man im self taught so when i comes to technical stuff if i havent already read it and gained an understanding then im semi lost.. Whats stutter editing? You mean like editing an exported file? Like a 32bit float?
Image


Soundcloud
2manynoobs wrote: one time I accidentally killed jimi hendrix in my dream. He was a puppet in my dream-stratego-game. I made a wrong strategical move and it killed him :(


I felt sad that morning

User avatar
NinjaEdit
Posts: 1603
Joined: Sun Apr 01, 2012 11:16 am
Location: Western Australia
Contact:

Re: What dB should your final mastered project be at?

Post by NinjaEdit » Sat Nov 10, 2012 11:28 am

skerrick wrote:Cheers bro, yeah i used ny compression but no compressor. I got one with my soundcard that makes shit sound real clean and nice but its pretty average doesnt really do much... Do you know any good free ones or something i could hit up from anywhere or any others youd recommend? :)
And man im self taught so when i comes to technical stuff if i havent already read it and gained an understanding then im semi lost.. Whats stutter editing? You mean like editing an exported file? Like a 32bit float?
Yeah, edit an exported file. You can copy a short portion and paste it a few times so that it sounds like it's stuttering. There are other editing techniques like time stretching, pitch shifting, reversing, and spot effects if you do some research.

Try ReaXComp and ReaComp from the Cockos site.

Locked

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 0 guests