Acoustica User Forums

Yes I'm aware of that. But always cool to have a reminder .

What I was trying to develop here is :

A track that is hitting the red of the master bus in Mixcraft is quieter than a track hitting the red of Soundforge.

Is that normal ?

Red is just a colour that software developers use, Soundforge probably uses more red than Mixcraft in their meters. So yes, I'd say it's normal. It also underlines the fact that you shouldn't really pay too much attention to the colours on a meter, it's the actual numbers that are important.

Red is just metaphore to say 0db I know that color doesn't mean so much.

So I do it again :

Is this normal that my track at 0db Mixcraft is quieter than the track at 0db Soundforge (at least the 0db Mixcraft track isn't 0db for Soundforge, as if Soundforge had more headroom O_o).

Are you saying that the same track plays quieter in Mixcraft?

Nope it's not the same.

It's my track VS one commercial track.

My track is quieter than the commercial one when exporting by mixcraft.

BUT when I took my track to Soundforge and normalize it + soft clipping, it became as loud as the commercial.

But it was impossible to doing that for me in Mixcraft, because Mixcraft was already hitting the 0 db so I couldn't normalize it nor soft clipping it.

Is that clear ? ^^

It's not impossible in Mixcraft, just ignore the red. Use Voxengo SPAN and you will see the a better indication of the db. You can't rely on MC's little meter, it's just not accurate enough.

Yeah, I saw that my peak level wasn't the same, I used Waves Peak.

So even if the MC's master meter will hit the red hardly it wont clip do you think ?
It will be a big a change for me to know that...

As I say, ignore it, use a a better meter plugin. I'm not saying it won't clip - anything will clip if you push it hard enough - I'm saying that the MC meter will not tell you about that, it's just a rough guide at best.

Alright, thank you for the tips man I didn't know that about the MC's meter !

I will use the Wave Peak at the end of my chain on the Master Bus to really play with the peak.

Thank you !

Be aware: a meter plug-in on the main bus will be measuring before the main fader.
In other words, the meter is measuring what is going to the fader, not coming out.....

It is often common to insert a gain trim plug-in before the third party meter.

Mark Bliss wrote:Be aware: a meter plug-in on the main bus will be measuring before the main fader.
In other words, the meter is measuring what is going to the fader, not coming out.....

That's no problem, just leave the fader at 0db.

It is often common to insert a gain trim plug-in before the third party meter.

Really? What for?

My 2 cents...

I master in Mixcraft (limiting, effects, etc.) then open the output in Audacity. That way I can see what is really going on.

Audacity allows me to put in Peak Limiting (hard limit) and sometimes that will "make it louder." (...allows me to "clip" the peaks independently of Mixcraft without altering the sound...kinda like a radio station limiter)

Be sure that your levels are constant...as far as the output from Mixcraft matches what Audacity/playback software you use. I have noticed that some WAV/MP3 playback software defaults to over 100% levels, so it will always seem "louder" when played back.

Rock On !!!

cremley wrote:...
Audacity allows me to put in Peak Limiting (hard limit) and sometimes that will "make it louder."

Not sometimes - always.

cremley wrote: (...allows me to "clip" the peaks independently of Mixcraft without altering the sound...kinda like a radio station limiter)

Limiters don't clip, they compress. A limiter is basically a compressor on steroids. And a limiter most definitely WILL alter the sound.

cremley wrote:Be sure that your levels are constant...as far as the output from Mixcraft matches what Audacity/playback software you use.

Use an LUFS(LKFS) meter for this, it's not possible to maintain consistent levels without metering.

cremley wrote:My 2 cents...

I master in Mixcraft (limiting, effects, etc.) then open the output in Audacity. That way I can see what is really going on

Why do you think that mastering in eg a separate Mixcraft project doesn't allow you to "see what is going on?".
I'm interested.

cremley wrote:Rock On !!!

I'll try, but it's still a bit early here.

msnickybee wrote:...
Why do you think that mastering in eg a separate Mixcraft project doesn't allow you to "see what is going on?".
I'm interested...

You can view the waveform of the mix.