What dB should the master channel be at?

How loud should your master be? Shoot for about -23 LUFS for a mix, or -6db on an analog meter. For mastering, -14 LUFS is the best level for streaming, as it will fit the loudness targets for the majority of streaming sources. With these targets, you’re good to go!

How loud should my master be dB?

At What Volume Should I Mix? This brings us back to our original question. So long as your mixes give the mastering engineer room to work, and cover your noise floor, then you’re in a good range. I recommend mixing at -23 dB LUFS, or having your peaks be between -18dB and -3dB.

What should my master peak at?

I recommend 1dB of headroom, so your master should peak at -1dBFS before you convert it to an mp3 or AAC file. The simplest way to ensure 1dB of peak headroom is to use a maximizer or mastering limiter in which you can set your output ceiling to -1dB. All good maximizers and limiters provide this function.

What should my dB levels be?

Sound is measured in decibels (dB). A whisper is about 30 dB, normal conversation is about 60 dB, and a motorcycle engine running is about 95 dB. Noise above 70 dB over a prolonged period of time may start to damage your hearing. Loud noise above 120 dB can cause immediate harm to your ears.

How much headroom should I leave for mastering?

6dB
Headroom for Mastering is the amount of space (in dB) a mixing engineer will leave for a mastering engineer to properly process and alter an audio signal. Typically, leaving 3 – 6dB of headroom will be enough room for a mastering engineer to master a track.

What dB should Bass be at?

Subbass should be peaking at -12dB, so you keep enough headroom for the rest of the song. If mixing with headroom is not working for you, a general rule of thumb is to keep the subbass lower than the kickdrum by about 2 to 5 dB.

What level should I mix at for mastering?

This brings us back to our original question. So long as your mixes give the mastering engineer room to work, and cover your noise floor, then you’re in a good range. I recommend mixing at -23 dB LUFS, or having your peaks be between -18dB and -3dB.

What happens if the peak level of an unmastered mix hits 0 dB?

As a mastering engineer, I really only care if the peak levels of an unmastered mix hit 0 dBFS (decibels relative to full scale) on a 24-bit mix file. Once a peak hits 0 dBFS and becomes clipped off from its natural state, this is damage that can’t be undone.

Do you hit 0 dB on the master fader when mixing?

Everyone should have good intentions of never hitting 0 dB on the master fader of your DAW mixer when mixing, but in reality, the mix level can creep up as you work and you can run out of headroom. It happens. One thing that has become common these days, at least for me, is to receive two versions of the mixes for a new mastering project.

What level should I Master my audio at?

If you want to err on the side of caution (or if you’re mastering really loud music), try dropping it to -0.3 dBFS, which will avoid such peaks in even the worst case scenarios, and without a noticeable reduction in level.