Hi,
So, like a good student I'm avoiding clipping throught the mix. Pay attention on each channel that I don't see any red thingie.

Problem is, when I export the result mix into WAV/MP3 through cubase, the end result is low in volume.

Now, I know there is this "volume war" where new songs are pumped up in volume and it's too damn high (or not), but I end up with something I need to put on a (let's use android music player scale...) 12/14 to hear it like a "regular" song where I put it on 5.

Any reason that the final mix volume level is, in fact, lower than the cubase track?
How can I maintain not clipping and lowering all the channels to "leave room" for mastering/mixing and still maintain a decent level of volume?


Thank you all!

 

hi!

this is the exact problem i faced when i started making music digitally!

luckily, there are many options for you!

i will go over a few ideas, and im sure many others here will have opinions as well~

1. Making sure you are using eqs as well on every track/channel/sound to cut off unused or unneeded frequencies- to give more room to other sounds- you can google "instrument frequency guides" adn it will offer suggestions at what hz certain sounds are most effective- so in other words in a bass track, you dont need lots of highs, and vice versa, with highs, try to zero in on the best sound while losing the lower half of the spectrum, get it? alot of ambient sounds and mid-type sounds sometimes carry his and los, so you need to eq them off while preserving the sound you want

2. make sure to use the full stereo placement options- try expanding the stereo image of some sounds so they don't all have to be clumped together, and tighten some sounds to almost mono to change things up, you'll be amazed at how instantly you have more clearance on your master volume to nudge it up more after adjusting

3. make good use of panning some sounds- not to be confused with stereo width, panning allows the sounds to breathe, so it doesnt get "muddy"

small adjustments can make big differences,a nd placing some sounds all the way to the left or right can be interesting if done right

4. use compression on certain channels to make them pop- very useful on certain drumtracks, but can change dynamics of sound so monitor closely you hi and low shelfs

5. take your flattened audio file and "normalize" it a program like soundforge or goldwave etc etc - experiment with RMS and peak normalization to make your finished mix louder

6. Use compression and/ or limiter on your master track - be careful with this one, as your choices will have broad impact on the audio of your mix- but it is a quick way to boost your track up to professional levels...just make sure you arent adding distortion, or losing los or his in the process- or adding too much white noise "air" by boosting


hope these help you out! good luck

 

Thanks!
I'll try some of these steps.

By the way - how can I expand the stereo width, as you wrote?
And by normalize you mean boost some db in the track or...?

Thanks again.

 

I endorse what the first person said. High pass and low pass filters are your friends. It is also crucial that you have a great monitoring environment. If you're perception tells you there's too much bass as a result of the audio reflections going on in your room you will cut too much bass and low mids which can make your mix sound small. My room is less than adequate so I only use my Beyerdynamic DT 880 Pro headphones and a Focusrite VRM box. Panning again and stereo imaging are also crucial. I've been using Cubase for over 7 years. I have version 6.5.3. However, after trying out Presonus' Studio One v2 I have been making the switch.... no distortion at 0db and it just sounds better in my humble opinion. My mastering engineer has noted that my mixes sound so much clearer. Regardless of the DAW you use, just use your ears. Listen to other well produced and mixed tracks; pan, compress, eq and make sure that you find it has the "WOW" factor! Make great music!

 

Thanks. I'll try that too. But my main issue was the volume level of the mixdown coming out really low compared to how it is when I play it on cubase.
All those tips are great for mixing etc...but in the end I'm still exporting a 50% less volume track and it's annoying (I don't want to just use a limiter or pull the main mixer until it's red) - I just want to mix and that my final result once I play it on the car/iphone/media player, will be in a reasonable volume... I think I'll google a little...I saw a lot of people have this issue.

Thanks for the other tips!

 

what are you using for a monitoring system are you using studio monitors or computer monitors ? and its good to keep the track levels under 0 db's but on the stereo Buss you should have a Limiter wave L2 works good for me just set it at -2 or -3 db and you cant clip and just push it until you start herring it be to much then back off

 

well in cubase you use ASIO while when you playback the wav/mp3 you probably not use ASIO.
i'm saying that because ASIO drivers tend to be much louder than the sound actually being produced.
you must normalize it in a audio-editing program like audacity. you can normalize just below 0db.
for mastering keep it 2-4db below.

ofcoz' i assume that you use the "stereo out" while bouncing and keeping your masterout always at 0db.
you can re-import the bounced file into cubase and see if it's really lower in volume btw.

 

headroom is great but i don't like exporting at such a low volume so that you need to drastic processing to get it loud.
i prefer getting volume close to ending overall volume straight as an export rather than boosting 12db with a limiter. just seems crude and i worry how much it changes the overall sound

firstly i would get it so export volume is a good volume, rather than talking technical overall average RMS, get it so your waveform looks full but not totally squashed with all the peaks chopped off when you open your exported wav etc in an external audio editor

if its too low you could bus/send all channels in cubase to a created pre master where you can boost volume with for eg, a compressor with settings that do little other than raise volume.
Try and find a comp that adds no other colour. I suppose a limiter does same thing but sometimes Waves L2 i find makes it sound a bit more crunchy and digital rather than just adding volume.

Once your export is louder then you can start processing to squeeze loudness out of your track.
hopefully you will only have to boost a minimal amount of db because you had a nice loud export anyway.

I stay clear of normalising end exports to make loud, although ive done it before and it sounds ok i think its just a crude way again