How much headroom do you leave on your final master?

  • Thread starter Thread starter Soem
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Soem

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Curious about this. Please also write down your style (or post soundcloud link).
 
3-6db all styles - in some cases it might be as much as 20db - i.e. if I am mixing for high dynamic contrast - any style
 
A shitload!
I always start at 0db and keep pulling the volumes down the more instruments I add and the more I mix em all into the mix. I usually end up having them all ranging from -20 to -10.
Better have enough headroom then too little or end up competing in the loudness wars...

Styles I'm concentrating on now are hiphop, (boombap or oldskool, https://www.futureproducers.com/forums/music-genres/rap-hip-hop-r-b/da-good-old-shit-409052/ <-- this stuff) and progressive techouse/minimal .
I have a soundcloud clip online but that's merely for my friends to have something online. I still end up making music for the fun of it and jamming for hours, ending up with 8 bars and no recordings. When I finish my study, I'll make a change to that. The soundclip is not nearly something I'd call my style or " good ". Too much of a perfectionist tbh. Also, I keep learning so much stuff every day, so sound quality get's better and better by the day.
 
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-6db as said before. I produce drum and bass, dubstep and industrial.
 
Before mastering:
  • in 16 bits any maximal none clipping peak in the -6 to 0 dBFS range is OK
  • in 24 bits any maximal none clipping peak in the -18 to 0 dBFS range is OK
  • in 32 bits float any peak value is OK
After mastering:
  • -0.3 dBFS (true peak) is usually safe for both CD and 320 kbps mp3.
  • -1 dBFS (true peak) is OK for iTunes (aac) and 256 kbps mp3.
  • -2 dBFS (true peak) is usually OK for lower bit rate mp3.
 
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I land somewhere around -3 to -6 just like bandcoach said.
 
At first, I misread your question. Here is my re-edited response.

Mixing at -12 dB. All genres & styles

Final Master at -3dB
 
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The guy I mix for, he does a lot of different stuff, some stuff super high energy some more mellow. when i finish the mix the amount of headroom left, at least for me, is dependent on the track. slower, softer tracks generally have less with me while I leave a lot of space in fast, intense, or particularly bass heavy tracks.
 
Always always always leave -6db. The more headroom, the merrier. Crank up that maximizer.
 
well i usually make it till the meters almost wont move...almost! that would be bout -10 RMS or -0.0 PEAK ...headroom is few dbs but yes what we gotta achiv is the track almost not making the meters move! ! ! ! you can squash it but having some dynamic range is essencial yeah.
 
laurend said:
If meters don't move, that means you have zero dynamics... almost no dynamics in your case.
Click to expand...

Depends on the type of meter and its ballistics -- it's possible to have a meter which measures the effects of
several peaks before having a chance to "settle" into the dips (especially relevant for "modeled" meters).

-Ki
Salem Beats
 
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I try to stay between -6 to -9. But, I was taught, if it sounds good; it's good.

Sometimes it sounds perfect to you, but it still shows that it's clipping.
 
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