Master Buss Too Hot -quick remedy versus best remedy

[Michael Fogarty]

On 2/18/2024 at 3:40 AM, bvideo said:

Red-lighting the prochannel EQ is definitely worth avoiding when expecting it to show useful levels.

But just for fun, I overloaded the master bus with an audio track & the master bus input gain. Reduced the master bus master fader until the master bus meter was never red. Then enabled the prochannel eq & set a mild curve. The prochannel overload light was full on.  But I did not hear any artifacts while the audio played. So the red lights didn't seem to correspond with audible artifacts.

Of course some other VST or prochannel effects could react badly when processing "out of range" data, even when processing in floating point, so there might be several reasons for not fixing master bus overload using the master fader.

I don't use prochannel.

[Michael Fogarty]

thanks, everybody. I am just going with lowering the input gain which was my initial question.  I was looking for confirmation, not direction if that makes sense and I got it. The individual tracks all sound fine, and he wants a really hot mix. I am using a clipper on some tracks. The mixes already sound a thousand times better so I am not going to start from scratch. The client is stoked. I also added keys as a bonus.

Thank you, and thank you again.

[Craig Anderton]

Although perhaps not relevant because so many buses are involved, don't overlook Cakewalk's offset mode. It's a feature every DAW should have, but few do.

[John Vere]

13 hours ago, Michael Fogarty said:

I don't use prochannel.

I don’t use it on the master I only turn it on to check this situation and once it goes out after turning down the input gain I bypass it again. As long as my LUFS are good I’m happy. 
I used to master as a second step but now it’s a simple process of just getting an export perfectly done.