Not because it makes things louder (because it doesn’t) but because they allow you to adjust the gain of the track whilst retaining a peak ceiling. Set The CeilingĪs you probably know, a limiter is very much a usual suspect in your mastering chain. It’s just a psychoacoustic reality we have to deal with. Remember, a slight difference in loudness also equates to a difference in how we perceive dynamics and frequency balance (EQ). Do this by ear and make adjustments along the way so that comparisons are always fair. The easiest way to do this is to use a gain utility on the reference track until it’s playing back at your mastering level. That way, there is no loudness bias between your master and the reference track. Turn them down (or up) to your mastering level! There is only one tip you need to know about using reference tracks… Now that you have set up your monitoring level, you may also choose to use a reference track in the mastering session. I wrote an easy-to-follow guide on how to do that using simply your ears, your amp/speakers, and Spotify. This is why it’s ever so important to calibrate your mastering level and stick to it. However, they can (and will) work as a supplement to your hearing, but nothing more than that. Measuring EQ, dynamics, and loudness are not things you can rely solely on meters for. Peak headroom (space between peak value and 0 full scale) doesn’t matter so much. If you would like a general guideline, around 14 dB of difference between peak and RMS in the loudest moments in the mix is a good place to start. Just make sure there is an appropriate amount of dynamics in the music. The gist of it is that it doesn’t matter, as you can adjust gain in the mastering session anyway. With regard to peak headroom, here is an article I wrote about it.

You might even to choose to take up to a week between mixing and mastering the same song, without once listening to the mix in between. Give your brain time to forget about it for a bit! Then master the wav mix in a brand new session another day with fresh ears. If you are confident in the sound of the mix then just bounce it down to a 24 bit wav file. There are many articles and cheat sheets out there that tell you things in absolutes like needing 6 dB of headroom and such.Īll you need to do is make sure you have a great mix that isn’t clipping.

You can also download a FREE PDF version of this guide so you always have it to hand! 1. I’ve broken it down into a series of actionable steps. This article should help you get going, so you can confidently make great sounding masters for your music.

Not because they don’t know, but because they don’t know what they are aiming for. Mastering in Logic Pro X is absolutely possible, even with just stock plugins!

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