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Hello,

A question regarding the optimal levels for a final master to CD. I have a bunch of MP3s that vary in quality. Basically some are louder than others. For the ones that are low in quality what is the optimal level on the meter? Should it reach 0.0, just below that or what? Plus what is the best plug-in tool to bring up the levels without interfering too much with the original?

So for example should I use a multi-band compressor, normalise (though normalise doesn't really do much if the signal is already not that great), leveler( I use Wavelab 5), what is best.

Anyway, I hope you get my drift.

Thanks in advance for your response(s)

some things need their dynamics...you have to go with what sounds best. the simplest thing would be to pick a level(probably not the loudest, densest tune but something dynamic that's still pretty loud when normalized)and then go from there.

songs that are too low when normalized could be limited(the quickest, easiet way to do it)with a high threshold, quick attack and release(infinte/1 limiting), then normalized again(making the overall volume higher even though the peaks remain the same). do this a little at a time to avoid distortion. songs that are too high could be normalized lower(< 100%).

there are other ways to do it. the best way is the way that works and sounds good to you. there is no standard, however. commercial cds vary in loudness considerably depending on the material and the decade it was recorded and mastered in, as you've no doubt seen...

Thanks GaryB for your VERY QUICK response!!!

Perhaps I should rephrase a bit my original post, I meant more low in volume rather than quality (though quality is an issue too). But is there a plug-in you would recommend in say within Wavelab, or a different plug like Ozone? Just a plain volume increase, multicompression, etc...????

To boost the tracks that are lower in their loudness, you could give Peak Master from WaveLab a go.

A real CD mastering(glass CD) uses a dB celling of aprox. -0.5 not 0.0 dB.

The best plug would be something like a Ultramaximizer, for example L2 from waves.com. Maybe Ozone has something like this, I don´t know.

You only need to boost the main loudness of the tracks, so a multi band comp would be a bit too much for this task, anyway it would do the job, too.

Look here for a quick and clear mastering tutorial: http://www.har-bal.com/mastering_process.php

I found it very useful for me

in addition

http://www.tweakheadz.com/perfect_mix.html

is still usefull, too.

Thanks for the replies, particularly for the Harbal and Tweakheadz links. Extremely useful and interesting reading! Very much appreciated!