Best way to mix on the dm4800

[Jeff]

Hello all, Do you guys get your best mixes on the dm when Your hitting the stereo bus,
1 Hot around odb
2 Moderate around 8db
3 Soft around 18db
For me it varies so much,sometimes hot mixes sound good other times they sound just squashed. My workload is picking up and causing me to have to mix on my own more often, And I just want to optimize this wonderful instrument.
I'm very interested in the general consensus of you guys on this forum. Thank you in advance.

 

[captdan]

Personal rule of thumb: keep the stereo/summed peaks at - or around - -6 to -10db.
You're dealing with 24 bit digital; there's a great deal of head/foot room. There is simply no reason or need to hit 00 on the 2-bus. And, even if you do, there's still headroom available before clipping.

Related issue: if you do your own mastering (or send it out), you or your ME are going to run the 2-mix up to 0, or -.1db RMS. (MP3s are often struck at -.3db). Therefore, it's helpful to have some room to 'grow' - to bring the perceived volume up to 'radio friendly' levels. Additionally, headroom allows increased opportunity for signal processing enhancement; compression, exciters, dynamics processors all add perceived volume (which has to be trimmed internally), so the more headroom available, the better the final product.

The overriding issue: GAIN STAGING!!! This is a process that starts from the recorded track, and is controlled at every stage throughout the mixer and the recording process. Trimming/boosting and attenuation make for clean recordings.

But you already knew that, right?

CaptDan

 

[Jeff]

Hey CaptDan thank you for the reply, it made sense and helped a lot. I'm pretty good with the gain staging, it's just getting used to the digital stereo buss opposed to the analog stereo buss. It can be difficult for me at times trying to figure out exactly where it should be when I print my mix. However, Your reply really clears things up for me literally lol.