Ideal Mixing Level

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JD01
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Ideal Mixing Level

Post by JD01 »

Just wondering really what everyone else does with this.

I've generally started mixing at around or about -18dbfs. I find this works for me - all of my recent mixes have been carried out like this.

I know how to set my AI gain so that when i record my guitars and bass they generally track at about -18dbfs and my EZ Drummer template is generally set up so that it mixes pretty well with guitars and bass when they're at this level. My Kick and Snare are set to peak a bit above this, mind.

Obviously everything is tweaked plenty afterwards too, but I seem to have settled on using this value of -18dbfs as a kind of centre point for my mixes and I've found it handy to have everything tracking at about that sort of level too.

I was wondering:
A) does everyone else have a kind of level centre point that they always mix around.
B) if so, what is it?
C) is there anything fundamentally wrong with my approach?

The reason I chose is it, is 'cos its pretty much in the centre of the scale on the Reaper faders and there's a large tick there which makes it easy to judge things against.
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Greg_L
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Re: Ideal Mixing Level

Post by Greg_L »

-18dbfs is "the standard". I track hotter than that usually. I don't care about numbers, but I usually fall around -12 to -10. Drum transients will go higher. I don't care.
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JD01
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Re: Ideal Mixing Level

Post by JD01 »

Greg_L wrote: Tue Feb 07, 2017 10:38 am -18dbfs is "the standard". I track hotter than that usually. I don't care about numbers, but I usually fall around -12 to -10. Drum transients will go higher. I don't care.
Oh, cool. I had no idea it was the sort of standard value - its just where I've ended up... I'll take that as a good thing. I was just trying to make it easier for myself.
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Greg_L
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Re: Ideal Mixing Level

Post by Greg_L »

I don't know all the tech math shit that makes -18 the standard. It has something to do with A/D conversion and -18 in digital is equal to 0 in analog or some shit like that. I've purposefully avoided caring about all that nonsense.

Where it can be important though is at the master bus and with plug ins. You don't want a bunch of hot tracks loading up the master bus into clipping. And some plug ins are designed to "see" a signal similar to an analog signal, so a real hot digital signal can make an analog emulating plug-in work goofy.
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rammer24
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Re: Ideal Mixing Level

Post by rammer24 »

In truth, if you stay under 0db, you're ok. The reason they say that -18 is the standard is because, if you record hotter than that, there's a chance you're overloading something on the way in to the computer. But, like Greg, I pay very little attention to that. I track way below 0db is all I know.
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miroslav
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Re: Ideal Mixing Level

Post by miroslav »

Greg_L wrote: Tue Feb 07, 2017 10:44 am I don't know all the tech math shit that makes -18 the standard. It has something to do with A/D conversion and -18 in digital is equal to 0 in analog or some shit like that. I've purposefully avoided caring about all that nonsense.
TBH...I never pay much attention to any of that stuff...the main reason being that I'm tracking in analog, to tape...so my levels are set there, using the VU meters and analog standards. Once I dump it in the DAW...it is what it is...but it usually comes out pretty much where it should be, and generally hotter than -18dBFS because I record hotter to tape. That said...no matter how hot...as long as it's not distorting in the analog domain, it's going to be perfectly fine in the digital domain regardless of the numbers you get when converting....which is why I pay little attention to it. :D

This chart shows the different metering systems and how they compare....just run a straight line horizontally and you can see what a given number is in one scale VS the others...though the two outer ones VU and Digital are what's important for the A/D conversion levels.
-18dBFS on a digital meter corresponds to 0VU on the analog side. Thing is...lots of decent analog gear can go quite a lot over 0VU and not have a problem, so you could be fine and still end up with much higher dBFS numbers, and then you have to watch what you do when mixing in the DAW.


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Re: Ideal Mixing Level

Post by WhiskeyJack »

Moved thread to Mixing and Mastering subforum.
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Armistice
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Re: Ideal Mixing Level

Post by Armistice »

So this is more "Ideal tracking level for mixing?" than "Ideal mixing level"?

Mostly I aim for -18 without thinking too much about it - if I twiddle a few knobs and change stuff and don't notice that it's getting into single figures, so long as it's not on too many tracks, I've never had any particular problems.

If it all gets too much on one of my 300 track opuses (OK - 40 max) then I just drag all the tracks down by the same amount to clear some headroom.

There were some very complex mathematically based reasons for doing the -18 thing that I read on HR, and they sort of made sense, but as you're reading here, some of our best recorders don't worry too much about it, so I don't that much either.
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Armistice
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Re: Ideal Mixing Level

Post by Armistice »

WhiskeyJack wrote: Tue Feb 07, 2017 1:21 pm Moved thread to Mixing and Mastering subforum.
Damn nosey mod! :lollers2:


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WhiskeyJack
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Re: Ideal Mixing Level

Post by WhiskeyJack »

Well for shit sakes. Is this for mixing levels or tracking levels? I am just an admin. I don't have fancy schoolin or know how to spell big werds proper. give me sometihng to work with.
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Armistice
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Re: Ideal Mixing Level

Post by Armistice »

WhiskeyJack wrote: Tue Feb 07, 2017 11:26 pm Well for shit sakes. Is this for mixing levels or tracking levels? I am just an admin. I don't have fancy schoolin or know how to spell big werds proper. give me sometihng to work with.
You should ban me, I'm out of control! :biggrin:
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