when people say Louder Mix do they mean mastering basically?

like putting a limitor on the mix?

is louder mix/mastering the same?

 

A mix itself can be softer or louder, but a mix is usually not a master.

 

I believe louder mix = louder song (finished product)
If you want to make a loud song, without your mix falling apart, you need to start in the mixing stage (equalizing, compressing, saturating, clipping or limiting). Arrangement, tonal balance and sound choice is also important but mainly you need to keep your song dynamics controlled from the beginning. If you have a very dynamic mix and you put a limiter on the master pushed too hard, you will destroy it.

 

mixing is one thing and mastering another. Although there are many people who do everything together, mixing and mastering at the same time, of course, I don't know if this is really going to sound professional. It is always better to treat things separately. The mix, as they said, can be soft, medium or strong, but you always have to leave a margin for mastering, which is, let's say, the final touch. Each person who mixes and masters will have their own way of doing it, there are no rules in this, maybe there are some ways to go. When you mention the limiter in the master, it is what I said before, yes, there are many people who master everything in the output channel, in the master, and there they put eq, compression, and the limiter at the end, although I have seen very rare, like compress, limit, then compress again with another type of compressor to give it another color and limit again. I don't know, I don't like this kind of thing. But hey, nobody can say that it is better or worse, that will be said when your song plays.

 

the way I see the subject is this. the op's questions are usually relative to either misunderstood topics or about EDM loudness war mixing. In which case, the correct answers to his agenda's real questions are in general viewed as less than desirable ways of doing things.

the correct answer may be one you know " it is how they do this". Not "why", or "would I recommend", or any of it. The answer is the sky is blue because that's what it is right now...

"why am I fixing signal to noise ratio related problems over and over?"

better way to do things? they are working the mix in reverse. Some of these producers of 4/4 electronic music, at the start of building a mix will put a midi plugin rendered to an audio track for the entire song length of a quarter note kick drum loop to use as nothing but side chain source. like right away, I know.

 

Last edited: Aug 1, 2022

I agree but I believe that are some advantages in keeping a limiter on the output channel while you are mixing, it will give a better notion of the sound you get after mastering. You will get that limiter "taste" that most modern songs have while your are mixing. Some mixing engineers use their favorite passive equalizer in the master. Is like you said "there are no rules", if it sounds good keep doing it

 

Last edited: Aug 2, 2022

oh yes yes, sometimes I use it, but as a reference, not to apply it in the mix, I lower it to about -6 db. But in my case I then export the mix without the limiter. I saw this in a very, very old video of a German engineer who put a Brickwall on the master. And yes, totally agree, if someone wants to put a flanger on the master, no one can say it's wrong. Today we use things that in the past many engineers have said are not used.

 

Usually louder equates to mastering, yes. There are exceptions to this rule though, becuase I have heard masters that aren't that loud. Nowadays, most music streaming services will turn your track down if it's too loud, so louder isn't always the way to go anymore.

However, if you need something louder, I have always found that a Clipper into a Limiter gets things loud as hell. Clipper will lop off those transient peaks, and then the limiter grabs a hold and puts everything right underneath the red.

Again, this can be used to ruin a song as well. Clipping too much and Limiting too much can ruin the dynamics and punch of a song, so it's very subjective. Has to be done to taste.

 

No. A louder mix means a louder mix. Not a loud master. Literally.
Generally, if you have a loud mix you basically have to use less processing during the mastering. It's preferable to "fix things" as early as possible, like during composition, or recording or mixing. You don't want to be all "the mix is -14LUFSi but I want it to be -5LUFSi". That's basically the wrong way. You don't paint a car and THEN decide what color you want to repaint it in.
Even though you can use multiple clippers, limiters, upward compressors, saturators, etc in series, it's better to get the production/mixing as good as you want it.

 

Last edited: Aug 3, 2022