Marcello

Right, I'm noo much of a newbie for this maybe.

I see man thanks but I have the free version where you cannot select Spotify settings. In any case I can see it in the meter. The problem with my track is that if I set the true peak at -1 and set the Limiter Threshold so that the track won't exceed -14 LUFS integrated (as suggested on Spotify website) , it will sound too freaking QUIET!!! I made a low version then when I upload on Loudnesspenalty.com it shows me thet Spotify won't decrease my volume, so fine right? no indeed cause it's too quiet comparing to those artists song on spotify! Then I did another one higher in volume, and on Loudnesspenalty.com it shows me thet Spotify will decrease the volume of -6 db! So too loud right? But when I listen to the other tracks on spotify (different songs) comparing them with this version it sounds like the same volume!! SO How come?? This doesn't make any sense to me honestly.

Thanks for the tip! Ozone 9 standard is at 100 Euros, quite good considering it costs 450

Ok thanks. I see the difference in RMS is 15.7 Left and 9.0 Right so it's about 6 db difference, I guess is too much?

Sweet then I'll keep working with Ozone 9, is pretty rad, but unfortunately I have it only for 10 days for free, it costs shitload of money

On my master is just a problem with Left Right balance I think? not sure how should I adjust this.

Really? thanks! To me mine it sounds much thinner though compared to the other

Guys, thanks for the advices, I did a master with LANDR where you just drag and drop basically and it's automatic, I didn't do anything. Then I tried with Ozone 9 to make one by myself with EQ and stuff, but is the first time I do it. Woud you take a listen? What's the best in your opinion? How's the LUFS and peaks are they ok? too hot? too loud? Consider LANDR master is in mp3 high def, since I will just pay for the wav once I'm sure. The other is WAV. Ozone 9: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1zih7N970u5bafP2YI8NnUFJy1YgruRuP/view?usp=sharing LANDR: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1kwDKRtfo3DLAsNb8CZjrFZGGuZRlYJX1/view?usp=sharing

Hi guys, anyone using Ozone 9 knows what does this mean? Why on the right the peak is at -1 and left at -3.4? and also RMS is different? I suppose these should be equal??

Thanks! I agree with you on the dynamic, I have firstly tried to make my track quite dynamic, having some parts very quiet and then some distorted ones, then I made it listen to a friend who doesn't know anything about recording and he said that he didn't like it because he doesn't need to stand up to turn down the volume of the stereo when the explosive part starts, so it was maybe too dynamic and I reduced it, in the way that there is not a huge difference between clean and distorted parts. ANyway I will play with it a bit and see.

That's good I turn up the monitor, but when I listen to my song on my iPhone for instance (loaded in local WAV), as I suppose in all smartphones, there's a maximum volume level which is not that high, so if I listen to the master I did at -14 or -12 on my iphone at maximum volume is not that high, or at least much lower than the songs I have on my iphone in local, if I use normal earphones and I'm in the middle of the traffic jam I will barely hear it. Different story for home speakers or car speakers, you can turn up the volume as much as you want more or less so -14 won't be that much of an issue. That's the problem for me, but I suppose that's how it should be. Even if, as I said, I compared a Mogwai song in flac (High Def), which in youleanmeter shows at -5 LUFS, with the one on their Spotify profile and the volume is the same! So it seems that spotify didn't really turned down the volume, I'm sure if you try with other artists songs, downloaded one with the same song on Spotify, to your ears the volume will be the same, maybe they pay Spotify for a louder version? no idea. So this thing that Spotify turns down the volume if too high it doesn't seem to apply for major artists, to me the downloaded versions with the one on their spotify are exactly the same volume, even if on the meter it shows -5 LUFS! So the thing that I still don't understand is, Why major artists songs are mastered at -5 LUFS?? I'm not speaking about thos on their spotify but those downloaded in the original format. And why they sound much higher than my track if that is at -14? If -14 is the suggested volume balance, why major artists songs are all breaking the rule?

Ok great thanks for your suggestions! Even though to my ears -14 it sounds very low. I have compared a downloaded version of a Mogwai song in high definition (flac) with the one on their Spotify, and to my ears the volume is the same! Even if the flac version if analyzed in youlean meter is at about -5 LUFS! How is it possible? very strange

This is my song, how it looks to you? Loudnesspenalty.com says I should turn it down by 2.2, to me it seems already quite low, to my ears at least.

Thanks for the link i have a read. The thing is that if I would follow this rule my song would sound much much less higher in volume if I compare it with other artists songs

Ok I see but then let's do one thing at the time. Let's suppose Online platforms don't exist and we are in the 90s, what would be the average standard volume for a track do you know? Because if Mogwai ,which is a huge band, has their album song at -5 LUFS then it should be ok for a standard album volume? Then after that I would make another master with lower volume exclusively for the online platforms what do you think? Or should I find a balance? If I should follow these Spotify rules it says that I should turn the volume of my track down -3.3, too much!

I know this thanks, but the problem here is, should I make a different master version for each bloody online platform? Seriously? Since I'm paying for each master. Anyway for regular album, like CD, Vinyl, WAV file, what would be the standard volume instead? Also I have a reference Mogwai song I downloaded in flac format, so quite high definition. When I analyze the song in the youlean meter it seems that is clipping, also if I upload the track on https://www.loudnesspenalty.com/ to see how much would be reduced in volume uploading the song in the different online streaming platfoms, it says it would be reduced like -8 for spotify and youtube. So after that, I have listened to the song in the Mogwai spotify profile and compared it with the one I have in local in high definition by just listening to them and to my ears the volume is exactly the same! So it seems that spotify didn't really turned down the volume. Am I missing something here? What should I do? of course I would like my song to sound higher in volume, like the Mogwai one, but then it would be turned down in spotify, even if would be, is that ok? Or should I have 2 master versions one for the CD, Vinyl and local WAV file and another for Spotify which would be lower? Is there a standard volume I should refer to?

Hi guys! one question, I have done a master with those online mastering tool automatically. Now I want to check if it's too loud or not, I'm using Youlean Meter but I'm not sure how to use it. It seems that is clipping but when I compare it with an artist reference track I have downloaded online in .FLAC format (so I suppose it's how it should be) that's also clipping. So, I know when you upload the track on the online streaming platforms it turns down the volume most of the times, like on spotify, but I suppose there should be a kind of "standard volume" for proper Albums? That's what I would like I mean, I understand this can work for spotify but I also listen albums from downloaded tracks mostly in local so what would be the correct volume threshold? are these too loud? If yes, why then all the tracks I have downloaded in High Definition from different artists are also clipping if I check them out in Youlean Meter?? Also if I just listen to the reference track I used on Spotify and compare it with the one I have downloaded in flac and analyzed with the youlean meter, it's exactly the same volume, so it seems that spotify didn't really turned the volume down, how come if in this analyzer is clipping? Only thing I notice is the Loudness range in my song is higher than the reference track, but if I just compare the tracks to my ears, mine is way more quite than the reference track. These are the two songs mine and the reference track as you can see they both clips REFERENCE:

Man thanks but be very carefull with FreeG plugin! I have put it on some busses and on the master fader, and basically after months of investigation I discovered what was applying a sort of stereo widener on my Track! It was the freeG! After you use it just remove it from the tracks! it mess up everything!

Yes I think I just need to set pre-fader, thanks!

Guys, from my understanding and from what my friend told me is that GAIN STAGING is about gain, and not about the volume fader, otherwise would be called Volume Staging and not Gain Staging I understand the volume should be at 0 when you gain stage, ok, but then when you raise the volume fader up it affects the fader showing you that you are clipping, while you shouldn't cause the gain has already been set not to clip at volume 0! I also understand the volume fader is at the end of the chain and the gain at the beginning, but my goal now is to gain stage the guitars so that their sound would be sweet and not distorted by the too much input level but either from the guitar amp sim. In Reaper you are able to switch off the volume meter so that only moving the gain knob will show you if you are clipping or not. Otherwise you will get confused, for instance now I would like to review all my tracks to see if I did the gain staging right initially, but I cannot without re-setting all volume faders at 0! I have already done the volume balance! I don't know if I have been enough clear, I think Glenn got my point here. I want to see only how the gain is affecting the clipping, not the volume!!

Hi there, a friend of mine recording engineer using Reaper showed me he can disable the Track volume Meter maintaining only the Gain, in this way he can raise the volume up and down and it won't clip, while moving the Gain knob it it will still affect the peak meter. This because the gain staging should be done considering only the gain amount, not the volume amount, if the volume bar affects the peak meter it just creates confusion, because you might think is clipping but is not! maybe the volume bar is just too high, because it's the GAIN that you should adjust. So how do I disable the volume track meter in Cakewalk? anyone knows?

Hi there! I have deleted the Click Bus by mistake, how do I bring it back?

Thanks I check it out! This is the master from LANDR I did, I'mm not really an expert and I'm mixing with headphones at home but on forums the claimed is very hARSH and distorted, like if it's clipping? What do you think about it? CHeck when the drums starts Nice track by the way! love it https://drive.google.com/file/d/1S3W_Qmo-_AVZnhkxHCO5F7fU-FIvKkBB/view?usp=sharing

Not ignoring but to be honest I was expecting LANDR to work decently, probably it doesn't work properly because my mix is not good enough, you have to feed him with a good mix in order to work. I think that I still didn't learn mixing so Mastering would probably be next level up, so maybe I will try to ask help from a friend who has a recording studio.

yea fair enough fine but I know what I'm doing I grew up with chaotic hardcore music and this stuff is ok, I wasn't expecting an opinion on the composition I was more asking about the mix itself and the sound.