Jump to content

Final mixes coming out softer than normal, sounding weak


Recommended Posts

I have been having this problem for awhile now and dont know how on earth to solve it. I am experienced mixing and engineering and this makes matters even more confusing. To get right to the point, my final mixes played up against the average track are considerably softer...my mixes played at maximum level are the equivalent of most songs played at half volume. I dont understand how mine are coming up so short. I am being very reasonable with compression and making sure I am pushing the red only in the loudest points of the song..I keep my output level around -3 or -4 db for most of the song and sometimes put compression or limiting on the stereo out. While in Logic my mixes sound great very heavy and hard hitting. However, once I bounce them and listen in iTunes they are considerably softer and sound as if some of the meat has been taken out of them...I have no clue what the problem is ..I would love to send someone one of my mixes to see what I am talking about.. Anything pop up right away to anyone? Is there a setting in Logic that lowers the final mixes by 10db or so..because that is what it seems like it happening..no matter how hard i push the mixes, if i crank them to the max or if i just sorta push them..i cannot get even close to an average track (and i dont mean radio hip hop, i mean the average cd track thats over compressed but not drastically overdone).

 

I am using a MacPro running Logic 8.0.2 with OS X 10.4.11. My audio interface is a DIGI 002 (this might be the problem-i hate the sound of this thing!! any suggestions?) and my monitors are Mackie HR624 (which I am also starting to hate because I cannot hear any low end in them at all and it over accentuates all the top end so that I hear stuff when I am mixing and then dont hear it in my car). I am basically running all of my mics, keyboards, guitars, etc into a small Mackie Mixer and then running the mixer into the inputs of the DIgi 002..please if anyone can help I would greatly appreciate it.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

did i say softer than before? mm..i know i said softer than normal in my post..by normal i mean the large portion of my iTunes library..which is mostly professionally recorded/mixed and mastered records, but I hold myself to that standard as a producer..there is no reason my mixes should be so soft im talking about 60-70% as loud as your average track..I have many producer friends who are able to get just as much level in fruityloops, nuendo, cubase, protools as a song on the radio or a well recorded/mixed record like say radiohead, dr. dre, beck, something with lots of dynamics and power..unfortunately none of them know logic so I dont know if this is a logic problem or a setting that got turned on or a misconfiguration in my setup!..Ive become embarassed to play my tracks around theirs because they think ive mixed my tracks at a really low level when really im trying everything i know in the books to give it as much level as possible!!
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I am experienced mixing and engineering and this makes matters even more confusing.

 

Apologies in advance, then, if this comes across as "gee, thanks, Captain Obvious", but...

 

Are you comparing commercially-released songs/albums in your iTunes library to your own mixes?

 

All those commercial releases have been "mastered". Your songs haven't.

 

Mastering is an additional step (usually done by a different person, the "mastering engineer", but often done "DIY" for low/no-budget releases) after the "final mix" and before the song ends up on a commercially released CD or on iTunes. During mastering, additional processing (which can include EQ, esoteric mid-side processing, compression, multiband compression, "loudness maximizing", and limiting - and sometimes even additional reverb or other effects) are applied to try and make the final product sound "balanced" on different playback systems (not just your studio monitors), make it sound "in context" with other songs on an album, and to "make it competitively loud" - and "competitively loud" has gotten louder and louder and louder over the years. A lot of (sometimes careful, sometimes not) processing and work can go into those commercially-released tracks during the "mastering" stage after the "final mix" is done to get them to be twice as loud as your raw mixes.

 

If you just turn up the volume when listening to your mixes, and turn the volume back down when comparing it to a commercially-released song in iTunes, does it sound OK?

 

Maybe your friends with Fruity Loops and what-have-you are just clipping the ever-loving crap out of their tracks if they're at "commercial" loudness levels without mastering, and you're (as you should be) more careful with your record levels?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 10 years later...

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Restore formatting

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

×
×
  • Create New...