I understand the concept of leaving headroom when mixing a beat to leave room for vocals and mastering but I don't understand why its not a common practice (from every tutorial or article I've read on the subject, I am by no means an expert) to use a gain knob on the master track to lower the volume as a whole. Would there be some sort of change In my audio that I'm not aware of? Thanks
Creating Headroom via Gain Knob
- Thread starter Czarkasm
- Start date
MilDlrDime
Chrap-a-holic
You can lower the master fader for head room, just makes everything quieter. There are just other ways of doing it without lowering your master volume and losing loudness(ex: Cutting out unwanted frequencies)
and on the other hand I imagine a tutorial for "How to get more headroom" showing them opening their DAW and lowering the master volume isn't going to be very successful so that's may be another reason you don't see it.
Wallengard
Manipulator of energy
The best way for me to make sure there is plenty of headroom is to simply lower the volume plenty already at the start. As in if you start with a kick drum and lower that by 12db in the audio clip or what ever you choose to use, and mix everything in relation to that you'd essentially never really have to worry about clipping the plugins if your faders are set to 0, and just lower the output of any plugin that you add next that happens to clip the channel.
That's how I do it. It's a pain in the butt to go back on a 60 track project and start gain staging everything in retrospect.
That's how I do it. It's a pain in the butt to go back on a 60 track project and start gain staging everything in retrospect.
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Your way seems to be a widely accepted method and although I don't think it's bad, i'm just wondering why you don't simply lower the master fader? Of course it's good to develop good habits but i'm just trying to understand the underlying reason, if any, that people don't do this.
Wallengard
Manipulator of energy
I do that for control over the signal going through any plugins I have in my effect chain. If I have a source peaking at -2dbfs, and then add EQ's, compressors, distortion units and what not, raising the sum output of the channel, quite easily you'd go above the digital zero and clipping can occur in any plugin, not just the channel output or the master output.
If I'd (for the sake of conversation) intentionally boost all my vst's outputs to max I'd get some serious distortion and clipping of the signal coming out of any plugin in the actual effect chain itself, simply lowering the fader won't (in most cases (I have been told otherwise on the forum but I failed to actually replicate that myself with the plugins I used)) get rid of that.
I've learned that the fader is like a filter in a way, it only determines how much of the original signal going through it is let through the other side. So if you have clipping in your chain before the fader, the fader will only determine how much of the already clipped signal is let through.
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bandcoach
Zukatoku - Mod Scientist
lowering the master gain is a final stage action not a beginning stage action
along the way when you are mixing you should be aiming to ensure that your headroom is always foremost in your mind - this is why I subscribe to a "level reduction" method for each track until everything can be heard without cluttering the mix: if you can do this well then you will not need to move the master fader
note for beginners if moving the master fader changes your listening levels then you have your daw connected up incorrectly: you should be using your control room outputs for your monitors not your master fader
along the way when you are mixing you should be aiming to ensure that your headroom is always foremost in your mind - this is why I subscribe to a "level reduction" method for each track until everything can be heard without cluttering the mix: if you can do this well then you will not need to move the master fader
note for beginners if moving the master fader changes your listening levels then you have your daw connected up incorrectly: you should be using your control room outputs for your monitors not your master fader
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Ametrine
Audible Chocolate
Controlling volumes early on definitely makes life a lot easier later when it comes time to start mastering a track. Typically, I'll just pull the volume in my VSTs down when I start working.
Later on in the mixing stage, I'll start using the faders to get even more volume control.
I almost never touch the master volume fader because it doesn't really need any more adjustment. Once I'm done mixing, I raise my volumes up through my compressors to get a lot more control. This pretty much starts the mastering phase for me. (Doesn't necessarily mean I use much compression).
I guess the bottom line is that you should be watching your levels the entire time that you're mixing and not just the end.
Later on in the mixing stage, I'll start using the faders to get even more volume control.
I almost never touch the master volume fader because it doesn't really need any more adjustment. Once I'm done mixing, I raise my volumes up through my compressors to get a lot more control. This pretty much starts the mastering phase for me. (Doesn't necessarily mean I use much compression).
I guess the bottom line is that you should be watching your levels the entire time that you're mixing and not just the end.
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Nutek Studios
New member
There is more to headroom that just turning down a fader lol, you have to learn to properly gain stage throughout the whole signal chain. Inputs and Outs. I don't really use a Master fader and if i did, i would never touch the master fader, it's best to group all the channels and bring them all down but the two bus or master.
Paschalis I.
MusicProductionTips.net
It's simply because the gain knob is not really the first gain knob in your recording chain.
The first gain knob is the gain knob of your sound card.
Of course, you can decrease the volume inside your DAW if you wish, but if you "burned" the signal
from your audio interface to your daw then the sound will be burned no matter what you do.
The only way is to record again.
And no, the gain knob won't change your sound at all, but also it won't "heal" it
if it's already burned as i said before
Yumid
New member
No leave your master fader at 0 always when you're trying to shoot for -6 pre mastering. Control your whole volume with the sum of everything, not the master fader. You're looking to get your mix peaking at -6dB when your master fader is at 0. If your mix is peaking at -3 and you just turn your master fader down until the peak hits -6dB thats not right and doesnt make any sense to me. Im not basing that off anything so I could be wrong, but it makes sense to me so let me know if I'm wrong.
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