Got a question about gain staging and leavin faders at unity

[H-Conscious]

What's up guys. I decided to join after reading the money shot thread and seeing how great this place was for info.

I know Macc has stressed getting your levels right at the source, so lately I've been adjusting everything before it hits the faders. The one thing I'm confused about is if setting those levels is more of a rough estimate. Then when you are working on the track if something needs to be adjusted you use the faders. Ideally you get the levels right at the source, but lets be honest as an amateur there's no way I'm gonna be able to nail that first shot.

I'm probably over thinking this, but I over think most things in my life. That thread was a wealth of information and I'm just trying to make sure I'm getting all this right so my mixes improve.

[fragments]

I always turn things down before they hit the faders. I think its good practice. Personally I get better results staying well away from 0db on the master.

[legend4ry]

All it means is that the resolution of the faders gets lower as the fader goes down.

You'll be able to make less intricate changes if the fade is only as 1/4th of the way from the bottom rather than at unity.

[xtcvsmistycold]

plugins esp. analogue emus are probably gonna work best at -20

-20 the equivalent to the +4/1.23 Volt reference

it's not just for fader resolution

yh it's obviously rough just put a trim plugin as the first plugin turn everything down and laugh

[nowaysj]

The source is the sound generator. So if it is a synth, turn down the main output on the synth. If it is a sampler, same, if multiple samples, turn down the volume of the individual sample. If it is an audio file, turn it down. Always correct upstream.

At the very end of the process, you'll have faders available for slight volume balancing.

Yes you are overthinkng.

get back to producing.

[xtcvsmistycold]

plugins esp. analogue emus are probably gonna work best at -20

-20 the equivalent to the +4/1.23 Volt reference

it's not just for fader resolution

wow interesting point never thought of it like that

[H-Conscious]

Thanks for the help guys. Much appreciated.

[3za]

plugins esp. analogue emus are probably gonna work best at -20

-20 the equivalent to the +4/1.23 Volt reference

it's not just for fader resolution

wow interesting point never thought of it like that

Why did you quote yourself?

[outbound]

I have a gain plugin at the beginning of most channels, allows me to get the right level there before it hits any plugins (so easy to forget that these can and will distort, not all are running at 32 bit floating point so be careful!)

This also means I'm usually getting into the right ballpark before we get to the faders so I don't need to mess with them that much

[Molzie]

Come on bro

[Hashkey]

All it means is that the resolution of the faders gets lower as the fader goes down.

You'll be able to make less intricate changes if the fade is only as 1/4th of the way from the bottom rather than at unity.

+1 if you want to make volume adjustments don't touch the faders, use clip Gain. Many plugins work ideally at a fixed rms. Exceeding or going lower will not give you proper results