Volume levels in Reason 2.5

[cochise]

Hello. I have a question about the volume of my tracks after i have exported them in Reason. I make sure that my tracks are as loud as possible throughout the mix without the audio clipping. For some reason when i come to export them and play them outside of reason they seem to be very quiet. is there something i can do to resolve this issue? Many thanks
Cochise

[decklyn]

Hello. I have a question about the volume of my tracks after i have exported them in Reason. I make sure that my tracks are as loud as possible throughout the mix without the audio clipping. For some reason when i come to export them and play them outside of reason they seem to be very quiet. is there something i can do to resolve this issue? Many thanks
Cochise

This is a classic question.

The simple answer is learn how to use eq and compression.

Basically, in digital medium, the maximum volume of your track is judged by the loudest frequency band at its peak db level, which becomes 0db, but our ears hear only the average (RMS) loudness of a sound. By reducing the peak:average db ratio of your song you increase the percieved loudness of it at the expense of dynamic variance. EQ work is more to ensure that the entire frequency band is at that same volume as the peak frequency (and for other reasons) but EQ gives the "Full" sound, while compression gives the "loud" sound.

I hope that makes some sense. here I've hosted a little bit of a guide on EQ (it's not mine):
http://www.epicacademy.com/downloads/decklyn/eqtut.zip

You'll need to find some external resources to learn more about compression and how it works, but between EQ and compression, you'll be able to squeeze alot more out of your sound. It takes a life time to learn how to do it well, so good luck!

[megaheadphoneboy]

^ what he said

but if you can, upgrade to v3 to get a much better suite of mastering tools incl an improved compressor and eq and a few other tools. There are also some fairly good presets for those who are just starting out with this part of production.

[cochise]

Thankyou very much