Is 0db really that important?

Mouk

New member
I always thought keeping ur mix at 0db as best you can was really important. But i see some of these videos of big name djs spinning and all there tracks or blowing up way past 0db. Is it that important to keep it around that db all the time? I mean clubs or whereever else ur gonna play usually compress the hell out of it anyways so am i just spending too much time being concerned with it for nothing?
 
The more compression there is, the less dynamic range. Sometimes, that can be a good thing, but all else equal, hitting 0db everywhere will yield the "best" sound quality.
 
Alright I was just checking, cuz i know compression aint better but i see people violating the redline all the time, people that should know better too. Didn't know if there was something I was missing.
 
Who knows, I see people do some crazy stuff while djing and it ain't always based on rules, they just go with it and sometimes it can be a good thing.
 
Redlining on a DJ mixer is a good bit different than redlining on a studio mixer.

Unless the gain on the system you are outputing to is all the way at 0 chances are you aren't clipping. I still try and peak around 0 because it gives me an easier way to normalize tracks before I play them, but really, redlining probably doesn't hurt on a dj mixer.
 
It goes back and forth. Stupid DJs overdrive systems, so clubs turn them down/compress/limit/etc after the mixer, and then as a result, the DJs have to severely overdrive the mixer to get the loudness they want.

I personally enjoy dynamic range and playing with it. Other people want as much SPL with little dynamic range pounding at you all the time.

Listen to a classical (or something like it) radio station, and your local hip hop station, and you will hear the two extremes.

You have to keep in mind that many club owners are forced to adopt a defensive sonic position after dealing with a certain number of system burning moron DJs.
 
I've been on both ends of this, as a DJ and as a FOH sound technician. I've had problems with stupid DJ's that overdrive their signal before it even gets to my mixer so it obviously gets distorted, and they look at me like it's my fault. And I've also been a DJ that needs to turn the music up more so I can monitor it.

The best way to deal with this is to do a proper sound check before you start. Put your end as loud as it will go and tell the technician to adjust appropriately, and keep in mind, what sounds loud in an empty room can sound like a whisper on a crowded dancefloor. So turn it up LOUD. Then simply tell the technician not to touch it or you'll kick his ass, and then adjust the sound yourself.

I know it's even more work to have to DJ and manage the house sound, but personally I like to be in control, and if something screws up, everybody's going to be looking at me, I at least want it to be my fault, and not some technician hiding in a back room making me look like a jackass.
 
yeh!! a sound technition should set everything up first!! boot everything up and level it out with the needles still but on the records so to make sure there is no feed back when all the volumes are full up!!

then bring them back to normal once this is done, as its just a feedback precaution!!

aslong as your not mixing with one tune quiet and the other so high that peoples ears are bleeding, clipping at 0 is not realy a nessesity, but it is always good to keep an eye on the levels as its just a very good practise to keep!! but sometimes you have no choice in the matter!! it depends where you are and how the set up is rigged!!
 
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