Gainstaging..Lets have a talk. - TranceAddict Forums

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Posted by Hides in Shadow on Aug-29-2019 06:56:

Gainstaging..Lets have a talk.

There is a lot of conflicting stuff on youtube and the web about proper gain staging.

However, this video seems promising...

I have somewhat a few questions,

What is the optimal plugin audio volume level sweet spot? From what I read from a youtube user that it was -18DBFS and everyone agreed with him.

I also read that your tracks shouldn't be peaking over -10 dbfs, some say as long as your not clipping but if you want your mixes to breath with sufficient headroom -10 is the way to go, but then how does that work?

Anyone want to share some tips and pointers, I think this may be the first thread about gainstaging on this part of TA.

Posted by Mel David on Aug-29-2019 19:35:

🦉 You don't need to overthink it. If you have a commercially released track to compare to, you just try to match the audio levels of its individualised parts. Usually your hardware or plugins have led indicators to guide you with green usually good, red is close to clipping, etc.

🦉 One thing I know about op-amps or transistor amps, is the sweet spot is about 70% gain. You don't want to go too loud to avoid clipping & harmonic distortion, and being too quiet results in low signal:noise ratio.

🤠 Anyway, what I like to do is set the gain knobs, use an amp insert FX, or normalise the audio tracks, so that with all the mixer faders at their default 100 (unity gain) values, the individual mix parts are already at the level required for the mix. Then when you need to fade out or automate a fader, you have the full digital resolution available from 0-100.