Was really hoping to see a test tone with SPL measurements at the mixing seat, and a DB level for a tone or sweep at that position relative to DBSF, like how the film and television industry works.
Hi Jesco, great video! Since I have acoustically treated my room (DIY using yours and Graham Waks acoustic treatment framework fundamentals), I find that I don’t creep up as much. I generally mix at around 60dB which I find comfortable for my ears. If I do find myself with some volume ‘creep up’, then that usually means I have to have an ear break. I will try your LUFS approach too and see how that goes. Thanks again for the video and all your content.
I personally noticed that using Headphones allows me to know perfectly where I am in terms of Volume, I can perfectly set the volume of a song to a specific level, a level that is loud enough to mix and have a good amount of dynamic range, but also a level that is below the threshold dangerous dB level, I can also easily detect how much dynamic range a song has. But when I recently changed to studio monitors this precise perception of volume went away completely, I tend to stay at a certain level but every certain time I feel the need to increase it more and more, sometimes I reach the max volume of my audio system and I want to go even further. Your tips for setting it correctly are very good, but I am still wondering of the psychoacoustic explanation of why I can measure loudness perfectly with headphones but not with loudspeakers.
Hi Jesco, I like your video on mix volume. I'm a little confused though. If using reference tracks to begin with these will be mastered to -16 to maybe -14 LUFS et cetera depending on the (stream) platform and such. Now you suggest to bring that down to -18 LUFS or lower. Why? I can turn down/up the monitor volume anyway to a nice level to work with and keep an eye on the average LUFS while mixing. It might be that you want to create a mix-LUFS beginning instead of a mastered-LUFS with mastered reference tracks? I hope you can see why I lost you there a little.
How do we regulate the LUFS with music that’s not 1 dynamic level the whole time? What should we do with songs that have quiet sections and loud sections?
Is it really true you can set it to any volume you want? There is of course the 83dB SPL Dolby standard (which would be lower for smaller rooms), which is informed by the Fletcher-Munson curves. I'd think there is a higher boundary set by ear fatigue/damage and a lower boundary set by workable tonal balance and transient perception. A commenter here mentioned here he mixed around 60dB. That might be a measuring mistake, but if true, I feel that might be below the lower boundary, with not enough low end and transients sticking out.
Great advice, but how would you go about if you are mastering at louder LUFS units? For example, my mixes fall generally around -19 or -18 LUFS, but after mastering they can be around -12 or -11, if I play these tracks at this reference volume it'll be quite loud (though maybe thats the point?) and will probably give me ear fatigue.
Was really hoping to see a test tone with SPL measurements at the mixing seat, and a DB level for a tone or sweep at that position relative to DBSF, like how the film and television industry works.
First of all, that shirt suits you really well!
That's a good color on you.
Hi Jesco, great video! Since I have acoustically treated my room (DIY using yours and Graham Waks acoustic treatment framework fundamentals), I find that I don’t creep up as much. I generally mix at around 60dB which I find comfortable for my ears. If I do find myself with some volume ‘creep up’, then that usually means I have to have an ear break. I will try your LUFS approach too and see how that goes. Thanks again for the video and all your content.
I personally noticed that using Headphones allows me to know perfectly where I am in terms of Volume, I can perfectly set the volume of a song to a specific level, a level that is loud enough to mix and have a good amount of dynamic range, but also a level that is below the threshold dangerous dB level, I can also easily detect how much dynamic range a song has.
But when I recently changed to studio monitors this precise perception of volume went away completely, I tend to stay at a certain level but every certain time I feel the need to increase it more and more, sometimes I reach the max volume of my audio system and I want to go even further.
Your tips for setting it correctly are very good, but I am still wondering of the psychoacoustic explanation of why I can measure loudness perfectly with headphones but not with loudspeakers.
The loudness of your shirt is spot on!
Hi Jesco, I like your video on mix volume. I'm a little confused though. If using reference tracks to begin with these will be mastered to -16 to maybe -14 LUFS et cetera depending on the (stream) platform and such. Now you suggest to bring that down to -18 LUFS or lower. Why? I can turn down/up the monitor volume anyway to a nice level to work with and keep an eye on the average LUFS while mixing. It might be that you want to create a mix-LUFS beginning instead of a mastered-LUFS with mastered reference tracks? I hope you can see why I lost you there a little.
How do we regulate the LUFS with music that’s not 1 dynamic level the whole time? What should we do with songs that have quiet sections and loud sections?
Is it really true you can set it to any volume you want? There is of course the 83dB SPL Dolby standard (which would be lower for smaller rooms), which is informed by the Fletcher-Munson curves. I'd think there is a higher boundary set by ear fatigue/damage and a lower boundary set by workable tonal balance and transient perception. A commenter here mentioned here he mixed around 60dB. That might be a measuring mistake, but if true, I feel that might be below the lower boundary, with not enough low end and transients sticking out.
Great advice, but how would you go about if you are mastering at louder LUFS units? For example, my mixes fall generally around -19 or -18 LUFS, but after mastering they can be around -12 or -11, if I play these tracks at this reference volume it'll be quite loud (though maybe thats the point?) and will probably give me ear fatigue.