Master volume

7venthSonMusic

New member
What's up all,

Having a problem on the final mixes for my beats. Ill have everything knocking on my monitors, volumes are great, master is between -3 and 0db l, etc. but when I bounce my tracks down to listen in my car/on my phone the volume is way too low. I'm not an expert on mixing by any means, but I do know what I'm doing. The volume problem is really discouraging because I'm trying to build a beat catalog prior to getting my online presence up and its making me feel like it won't come together how I want it to.

Are the volume issues normal? Do I even need to worry about how loud it is? Any help would be appreciated.
 
If you are burning mixdowns to CD, the volume will be quieter than most professionally mastered CDs (I'm assuming you're listening to CD in your car, but you could be listening to MP3s on your phone or a disc).

You are effectively skipping a step (Mastering). Search the forum, there is plenty here and on the web...

GJ
 
Playing them off of my phone as an mp3. I put light compression and a limiter on the master track after I finished mixing everything to bring the levels up.
 
iPhone?

Is there a max volume control/limiter in-play?

GJ

PS-- If so, or you're not sure, go to: "Settings" > "Music" > "Playback" > "Volume Limit;" and while you're at it, check to make sure that "EQ" is off as well (which can effect sound output).
 
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Android, and no there isnt anything like that. Its not a big deal I guess, i just wanna make sure I mix and master it good enough for an artist to do their thing on it. Can always just try to redo and see if I get better results
 
What's up all,

Having a problem on the final mixes for my beats. Ill have everything knocking on my monitors, volumes are great, master is between -3 and 0db l, etc. but when I bounce my tracks down to listen in my car/on my phone the volume is way too low. I'm not an expert on mixing by any means, but I do know what I'm doing. The volume problem is really discouraging because I'm trying to build a beat catalog prior to getting my online presence up and its making me feel like it won't come together how I want it to.

Are the volume issues normal? Do I even need to worry about how loud it is? Any help would be appreciated.

Yup! I've been having the same issue and I can totally relate to your frustration. Unfortunately I don't have an answer for you though lol. I just came to see if anyone else commented on what could be the problem.

It's frustrating. I feel like the mix sounds great, but then when I go do the "car test" it feels like it's lacking. It's discouraging as I don't know if it has something to do with how I'm mixing or if it's really all about mastering. It sucks, but hopfefully once I understand what it is then it will make me that much better.

Good luck!
 
I'm reticent to get into this guys, as this stuff has been covered before a lot. Mastering is an important step, but it's not the only step. You should be seeking to make your mixes as "translate-able" as possible across as many systems and speakers as possible. That's not all about volume (EQ, balanced mixing, etc.). Which brings things back to your mixing environment-- Is your room treated? What kind of monitors? Are you listening too loudly or too quietly? Are you using a sub-woofer? All of these things can effect the impact of your mix and the song's translation to other systems.

GJ
 
Could you post a sample without the master channel effects? Maybe someone on the board can take the mix and tweak it then report back explaining how they went about making the changes. Hell, I’ll even give it a shot ?
 
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95% of the time these problems stem from the low end eating up the headroom - there's probably a lot of unaudible and/or unnecessary stuff there that's causing the meters to hit red w/o contributing to the sound. It's also most often the hardest area of the spectrum to mix, as most amateur (as in non-professional environment with no or little proper acoustic treatment) monitoring systems tend to misrepresent the lows in one way or the other. There's no simple answer to this, but you can start with highpassing tracks (especially those that are mostly operating in the mid-highs and highs) and see how it affects the overall sound and headroom.
 
Loudness is an art with a bit of science involved. So basically just add a limiter to the master and crank it :) See how that goes! Seriously... people mystify this stuff way too much.
 
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