Craig, first and foremost the tracks mix levels are in good order and not over 0db. My history began with the 788 to 2488 with those machines I did struggle to get the CD master volume up and always felt that I had to re-visit the mix to get the CD volume. My first burn CD on the DP24 had the volume up just like the big boys. The key is DP24 mastering tool suite particularly the normalization function. The manual does indicate that the normalization is done after you done master compression steps (multi-band compression) and master equalization. In addition the NSD (noise shape dithering) for burning the CD (16bit) reduces the potential quantization distortion dilemma on the CD master. Reading information on audio science on these processes helps to understand the benefits of the DP24 functions. The manual walks through the steps, I admit it took me a month to get the hang of it, then 2 months later I finally understood how to get the maximum quality in my mastering process, trial/error process-can't get around that. I'm making my first release this month-79 minute live concert with studio dubs from a 23 tracks mix down. I love it. There is no escape from the work to understand how to work a device/machine/DP24; your labor makes the quality. No doubt way better than the 2488-no more hard drive crash nightmares-that drove me to find the DP24
