Getting tracks loud enough

I have a feeling this question has been asked before but I cant seem to find it in the search.

Comparing the loudness of my track with others on ocremix, i notice that I cant get mine as loud without clipping severly. Looking at waveforms, they don't seem so loud. but after getting everything recorded and getting started on mastering, I can't seem to reach a dB level that's satisfactory without BZZZUZZUZZUZHUZUZUZ.

What factors matter here? Could it be my soundcard? Im using an Audigy 2 PCI card.

What about the DAW? (im use Adobe Audtion)

Or is there some kind of rule of thumb when it comes to such things?

So far I've used compressors and hard limiting but that seems to be not helping much except make the track more stereophonic. Especially the multiband compressor. I love what it does but it still clips.

Thoughts?

Hard limiting is making your track more stereophonic?

Anyways... you need to mix a few things to get your mastering just right. Compression in moderation is good, but don't use too much. Use a brickwall limiter at 0 or -.1db and then bring up the volume a bit. You shouldn't get much clipping if your limiter is set right.

There's a decent set of stuff here:

(pocket limiter, maximizer): http://hem.bredband.net/tbtaudio/archive/archive.htm

Hard limiting is making your track more stereophonic?

Of course not! That'd be stupid. Actually I have a widener on the master track.

Thanks for the plugins. Out of this bunch, you got any favorites? Chances are Im gonna try them all anyway. Soon as I figure out how to get em to work with audition. Through previous experience I find that I'm plugin-impaired.

EDIT: Nevermind. Good ol' manual never lets me down. well, almost. I tried the leveling ampilifier but that just seemed to make the clipping sound smoother. Yes, you read right. Instead of a crunch it's more of a crackle. Then I tried the Pocket limiter which seemed to work better but the volume fluxuates. Im not too experienced with these kind of tools. I'll keep toying with them. Thanks a lot, Zeph.

I can't seem to reach a dB level that's satisfactory without BZZZUZZUZZUZHUZUZUZ

That would be clipping. The audio signal generated is too loud for the computer to write, so it just writes the max value on everything that goes over the max value, resulting in what's called clipping. You can't make the file physically louder beyond that point, so you have to mix them to give the illusion of being loud. Make the soft parts louder (compression), mix the right frequencies louder (EQ, multiband compression), just avoid pushing it beyond the file's physical max level (using a limiter).

After that, maximizers, maximizers/energizers, and side chaining becomes relevant. But that's more complicated

I have a feeling this question has been asked before but I cant seem to find it in the search.

Comparing the loudness of my track with others on ocremix...

(stuff)

Thoughts?

If your track should be louder, the listener should turn up the volume. If all tracks are loud, none are.

There's nothing wrong with having dynamics left, really.

Of course not! That'd be stupid. Actually I have a widener on the master track.

I wouldn't recommend any effects on the master track besides EQ, Compressors, or Limiters.

Trying to "widen" the mix on the master is probably just going to make a mess.

EDIT: Nevermind. Good ol' manual never lets me down. well, almost. I tried the leveling ampilifier but that just seemed to make the clipping sound smoother. Yes, you read right. Instead of a crunch it's more of a crackle. Then I tried the Pocket limiter which seemed to work better but the volume fluxuates. Im not too experienced with these kind of tools. I'll keep toying with them. Thanks a lot, Zeph.

For now, take everything off the master track except the pocket limiter. I'd leave the knee alone for now and only adjust the gain until you get a decent volume level without squashing the mix horribly (depending on how well it's mixed beforehand, this shouldn't really happen anyway). Obviously, there's much more that goes into mastering, but you need to be able to understand the concept of how compression/limiting works and how it changes the sound of your mix.

If your track should be louder, the listener should turn up the volume. If all tracks are loud, none are.

There's nothing wrong with having dynamics left, really.

Still, to a certain extent, there should be enough compression on the mix to bring it up to acceptable volume levels. I don't know about everyone else, but I find it annoying when I have to constantly raise or lower the volume just to be able to hear tracks clearly. This doesn't negate the fact, though, that you shouldn't overcompress to the point where you lose all dynamics either. It's a balancing act.

Yeah, modern music is loud, sometimes ridculously so, but to call poor production "dynamics" doesn't work. Dynamics isn't just about physical sound, it's also about how it's perceived. You can get dynamics at 0dB, and something sometimes peaking at 0dB sometimes at 10dB can be terribly soft and quiet sounding.

Multiband compression on master, followed by limiter to kill clipping. That's my advice. Getting them louder than that is difficult.

meh id like it loud enough. i think what i have is pretty good. thanks guys!

before you go, quick piece of advice I learned the hard way:

YOU CAN'T MAKE A SONG LOL-MAINSTREAM LOUD ON THE MASTER BUSS ALONE.

Limiters, compression, eq, might be fine and well on individual instruments, but on the master track they start to F*** things up. Not just dynamics, but instrument balance, the low end, sound quality, pretty much anything and everything will be compromised if you start limiting like a madman.

Get your tracks loud through the individual mixer busses, not the final one. Then you can use some magic to make it a few db louder.

Mastering really should add cohesiveness, not loudness, to a mix. That's why it's so important - it helps put all of the instruments into the same room, so to speak.

Keep at it - it takes time to develop the ears you need.

Ok I tried everything I could and tried what was mentioned here. I got it louder but not as loud as i could have been. It isnt quiet and the volume difference from the other mixes isnt that different.

I submitted the track. Crossing fingers!