Jordn Posted February 23 Share Posted February 23 (edited) Heey all, I found an archived thread from 2010 that helped my research regarding some slight stereo-out clipping I am experiencing. It's very slight so I know bringing down the dB of all the tracks will do the trick. It seems the quickest way would be to just bring down the dB from just the summing stack folder strips. Does this make sense or is it recommended to highlight all the individual tracks and drop the dB that way? Also, I should add that this is just a static mix and not fully developed yet, so I'm just making a slight tweak. Additionally, here is a pic of an instance of the Stereo Out channel strip not clipping, but clipping being registered on both multi-meter and lever meter plug-ins. What is the correlation here? Edited February 23 by Jordn Added info, added pic Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David Nahmani Posted February 23 Share Posted February 23 First, I recommend you keep your Master fader set to 0 dB. This will avoid many headaches. Second, you can just insert a Gain plug-in at the top of the Stereo Out channel strip and lower the gain there. If you are doing your own mastering then you can even consider using a limiter or adaptive limiter plug-in to reduce the peaks a little, which will yield a louder mix without clipping. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jordn Posted February 23 Author Share Posted February 23 9 minutes ago, David Nahmani said: First, I recommend you keep your Master fader set to 0 dB. This will avoid many headaches. Second, you can just insert a Gain plug-in at the top of the Stereo Out channel strip and lower the gain there. Hi, David, Master fader is always set to 0 dB, something I always understood. And although I've read about throwing the Gain plug-in on the Stereo Out I wasn't aware that was advisable at this early stage of a mix, although it does seem like the simplest most direct approach. How does this affect the export of the final mix (pre-mastering)? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David Nahmani Posted February 23 Share Posted February 23 Just now, Jordn said: Master fader is always set to 0 dB, something I always understood. On your screenshot, your Master fader is set to -0.2 dB. Just now, Jordn said: How does this affect the export of the final mix (pre-mastering)? I'm not sure what you mean by that? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jordn Posted February 23 Author Share Posted February 23 3 minutes ago, David Nahmani said: On your screenshot, your Master fader is set to -0.2 dB. I'm not sure what you mean by that? This is way ahead of the game at this stage, but wouldn't it affect the volume of the export of the mix in a negative way (even if I'm just exporting to review my mix on the go)? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David Nahmani Posted February 23 Share Posted February 23 Just now, Jordn said: wouldn't it affect the volume of the export of the mix in a negative way (even if I'm just exporting to review my mix on the go)? No. It would affect the volume of the mix the same way lowering all your track faders, or all your summing stacks fader would. It's the same result, just easier to do it once on the Stereo Out. And make sure you Option-click that Master fader to bring it back to 0 dB or the signal you're metering with the Level meter will not be affected by the master fader and thus 0.2 dB lower than what you're metering. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jordn Posted February 23 Author Share Posted February 23 3 minutes ago, David Nahmani said: Make sure you Option-click that Master fader to bring it back to 0 dB or the signal you're metering with the Level meter will not be affected by the master fader and thus 0.2 dB lower than what you're metering. Will do. I just threw the Gain plug-in on and am working with it. And what about my screen pic? I've seen this before where the level meter plug-ins (which I usually keep set for True Peak) show clipping where the channel strip meter does not. What conclusion would you come to when seeing this discrepancy? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
des99 Posted February 23 Share Posted February 23 (edited) The point where the channel strip meter is reading the level, and where the meter is reading the level, are different, so if the level changes between those places, the levels will also differ. You have at least one plugin *after* the meter, and you're also pulling down the output fader by -0.2dB as well (via the master fader), which will be after that meter plugin too. So the two meter readings are reading different signals in different places, hence they are not the same. Edited February 23 by des99 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David Nahmani Posted February 23 Share Posted February 23 1 minute ago, des99 said: you're also pulling down the output fader by -0.2dB as well (via the master fader), which will be after that meter plugin too. Yes, that's why I strongly suggest you always keep that master fader set to 0 dB. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jordn Posted February 23 Author Share Posted February 23 (edited) I hadn't realized the Master Fader out down -0.2 dB. Fixed. Also rearranged my plug-in chain. This looks like it's achieving what I need. Do you guys recommending putting the level meters before the compressor? Edited February 23 by Jordn Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
des99 Posted February 23 Share Posted February 23 You need to put the level meters where you want to read the level from. If you want the level of the final mix, you need the meter plugin to be last in the chain, and make sure the output fader is at 0dB and thus not changing the level after the meter. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jordn Posted February 23 Author Share Posted February 23 (edited) 11 minutes ago, des99 said: You need to put the level meters where you want to read the level from. If you want the level of the final mix, you need the meter plugin to be last in the chain, and make sure the output fader is at 0dB and thus not changing the level after the meter. I'm going this route now. I use ADAPTR A/B to check against reference mixes, and Waves CLA NX and Sonarworks Sound ID for monitoring, but those least two have to be turned off before any exports, and will check the levels before exporting. Right now gain reduction of 2.3 dB seems to be the sweet spot. Edited February 23 by Jordn Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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