03-29-2018, 02:05 PM
(03-29-2018, 01:54 PM)lulwut Wrote: Yeah, the mix engineer leaves 6dB in the final mix for the mastering engineer. That's what I was trying to say. The tracks need to utilize the full resolution of the recorder to give them presence though, so they don't sound flat and lifeless. A track that peaks at a hair under 0dB on the recorder won't be at that level when the mix engineer plugs it into the console because he should be starting with all of the faders pulled back to around -10dB. This assumes your DAW works like a regular recorder and mixer, of course. I know it's all one big piece of software, so the lines between the different components may be obscured.
In digital at 24 bits you have TONS of headroom. Recorded tracks need to be peaking between -6 and -3 max. That's yo allow for transients that are so fast that the meters don't show them. Plus, when you have lots of tracks (our last song had 39 tracks) you need to leave that headroom for the sub and master buses. The same D/A converter sees them all and you can't get near clipping them. If you were to record all tracks close to zero, you'd have to trim them all down with the input gain. All of the effects and processing in the signal path is affected by the gain of the tracks.
You can read about 24 bit tracking if you're interested. I'm pretty familiar with the recording process. I've been doing it for like 30 years. Not saying I'm a great mixer or anything, but I know how to record solid tracks.
I can do a quick mix and mater of this demo I posted and you will hear that it will be loud and very clear, with life.
