Model 12 stereo mix is super quiet--how to get levels up?

[Hammarlund]

I have some tracks which are recorded a bit too low. I am pressing the record button to create a Main Mix and adjusting the sliders during playback so the main meter is maybe 2/3 of the way to the line.

When I then make a stereo mix it comes out super quiet---too low to listen to on any device very well.

Any tips to fix this?

TIA!

 

[-mjk-]

Any tips to fix this?

Mastering.

 

[Max Relic]

Raise the faders. If it doesn't work for you, normalize the mix level in an audio editing software of your choice.

 

[Hammarlund]

Thanks.

Is there any "dirty and not ideal" way (even if it involves a bit of kludge) to get those levels up WITHOUT a DAW?

I confess that I bought the Model 12 because I thought it would be standalone. I know I'm a dinosaur but I don't really know if I want to dive into digital mastering; I just want my teenage kid to be able to record tracks and post them to his friends.

Is there a trick?

 

[-mjk-]

@Hammarlund, sorry there is no trick. You need some kind of editor to raise the output level of your mixes. There is no getting around this. The reason is you have to mix with headroom because you do not have the dynamic compression tools within the hardware environment to render a competitive final product. This is normal. If your kid wasn't going to share them it would be perfectly fine to just turn up the volume on the device he's using for playback. But if he or his pals are playing his songs in a playlist with other songs that would result in a huge volume difference.

If you don't want to work on those mixes yourself, there a a number of online mastering services that will get those mixes up to competitive levels. I've never used a Model series console, but, if there is a good compressor/limiter, you can try running the mix through the machine again to get more gain out of it and then record that result.

If you're talking about just a few tunes, I myself, or several of the other engineers on the forum would be happy to help you out. We'd like to see your kid have something to share.

 

[-mjk-]

Raise the faders. If it doesn't work for you, normalize the mix level in an audio editing software of your choice.

Normalizing has been discussed at length. Since normalizing adjusts the level so the highest peak becomes zero, without dynamic compression, normalizing can actually make a mix sound quieter. Digital Portastudio users recommend not using the normalizer at all while Mastering. Normalizing does have its place however, but one has to understand what it does and where to use it in the chain. We can talk about this in the Mastering Discussion if you like.