Re: [LAU] -3.0 dB

----- Original Message ----
> From: Fons Adriaensen <fons@email-addr-hidden>

> On Mon, Sep 21, 2009 at 06:19:51PM -0700, carmen wrote:
>
> > On Mon Sep 21, 2009 at 06:17:04PM -0700, Norval Watson wrote:
> >
> > > I have read that it is good practice to aim for a maximum
> > > level of -3.0 dB when mixing, mastering, normalizing etc.
> > > in the digital domain.
> >
> > two mono chans at -3 should sum to 0db, afaik
>
> They could sum to anything between -inf and +3dB,
> depending on how related they are.
>
> And even for decorrelated signals, where RMS
> of the sum will 3dB higher than each channel
> separately, the peak level will increase by
> more than 3dB, up to 6dB.
>
> What is the 'correct' level for any recording depends
> on the type of music, the context, where and how the
> recording is going to be used, etc.
>
> If you are participating in the loudness war (see
> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Loudness_war) you will
> try to squueze out the last fraction of a dB.
> Usually with disastrous effect on the quality of
> the sound or music, even if it does not clip or
> distort.
>
> If you go for a more musically enjoyable result it
> depends very much on the type of music. For anything
> 'heavy' you'd want to maximise the loudness without
> clipping. In that case a fast peak limiter at -1dB
> or so will do wonders without affecting the sound
> too much.
>
> For anything classical or when you want to preserve
> the natural dynamics of real instruments and performers.
> peak levels are less of an issue, and your decisions on
> level should be based on what your ears tell you, and be
> guided by a meter that does indicate both RMS and peak.
> Ardour's meters are near to useless for this, jkmeter
> will do a good job if you learn to use it.
>
> Ciao,
>
> --
> FA

Thanks Fons !
I believe I am still thinking in terms of 4-track cassette recording where a "hot" signal is all-important to minimise the dreaded tape-hiss ...
The music I am mixing is radio, iPod-friendly trip-hop with 95% synthetic instruments, and the vocals have a lot of effects as well.
Norv

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Received on Wed Sep 23 04:15:04 2009