At What Volume Do You Mix?

Im curious to know what volume you use to mix.

the standard is 83-85db. Use pink noise and measure with spl meter.

Anyone care to expand upon that with a bit more detail.

A one line answer probably isn't what dude was hoping for...

Not loud

I like to do my mixing and mastering work for music fairly loud but not damagingly so, plus I try to take short breaks every hour or so to counteract listening fatigue. It depends on the style of soundwork though. If I'm mixing a chambermusic quartet or doing a dialog scene in film sound design, it doesn't call for such volume.

The critical question is: How loud do you want your listeners to listen to your music once it is done?

If you're making club music and you want people to feel the bass in their chests dancing to it, you should definitely know how it sounds at or near those volumes before you put it out there.

It all depends...

However, the old school trick of lowering the volume and if you can hear all the elements in the mix then you're in the ballpark still seems to work.

Loud sessions also dik with your ears and you start referencing against the loudness and it can really tire you.
Try high frequencies loud and you'll know what I mean.

To put it simple I mix at a level that person could be in the next room sleeping uninterrupted. Too low of a level and you lose perception of bass. Too loud and you will fatigue your ears and lose accuracy and detail. A comfortable listening level to me is loud enough that you cant hear a whisper but low enough were you wouldnt have to yell over the audio to talk. Thats as simple as I can put it.

you will want to test your mix at various level BUT if you turn it down to where you really have to concentrate on listening you will notice that at low volume it is very easy for you to pick up if any instruments are to high in the mix or too low in the mix


pretty much if you listen at a very low volume and can clearly hear each element then you can be assuret your that when turned is will most likely be good to go. test on different sized systems though as some can't reproduce the bass and some can yet you want your mixes to translate to both


if you mix at a loud volume it is alot harder to notice if something is too low in the mix since with it turned up loud you can still hear everything and the perspective is not the best

As well as trying to mix at a good volume, if like myself you don't have the greatest monitoring setup, then also check your mix in the car, through various headphones and speakers.

Even playing your track through your cell phone speakers can be helpful.

When they're talking about spl thats Sound Pressure Level, so they're talking about sound in its physical form as it travels through the air.

But if you are talking about mixing it down to a proper level for a cd then -4 to -2 dB would be more like it. Why? Because the sound has been recorded and therefore its physical form has been transformed into an electric one. Once the sound hits the mic, its now changed.

temetrepo wrote:Not loud

Would have expected some bright spark to say 'Low'.

I would add to the OP's question and hopefully draw out a good example from a real mix perspective.

When mixing down to a finished song to a stereo master, what would be the final level for some of the crucial mix elements?

Such as kick drum, snare, bass guitar, synths, hi-hats/ percussion, lead vocal, backing vocal?

And what level would you limit the final mix, allowing sufficient headroom for the mastering process?

clint246clint wrote:




And what level would you limit the final mix, allowing sufficient headroom for the mastering process?

the master fader peaking between -6db & -3db with NO compression/limiting on it will allow the mastering engineer (whoever may be doing it) headroom to apply any final eq then amp it up with the compressor and limiter

Damn, I wasnt lookin for that much info but i love it, thanks, i just got a better set of monitors and noticed alot of what you all are talking about, like ear fatigue, i read about it but since i got my KVK's i really noticed it, i kinda figured lower was better just from that stand point, thanks again fellas

Haze

Zukan wrote:It all depends...

However, the old school trick of lowering the volume and if you can hear all the elements in the mix then you're in the ballpark still seems to work.

I was just about to say this. I find that varying the volume from kinda loud to kinda soft gives me the best results. The most important thing to be aware of is ear fatigue.

You should definetly test your mix at a higher volume, but for me, it's much easier to concentrate at an about 80 decibel level.