RMS % question Mastering

[Julia123]

I have a song that I mastered through Ozone within DP. (I intend to work within DSP Quattro for my final mastering later but it's still new to me so I just went with DP at first) The RMS digit readings in Ozone at the top of the meter seem to average around around -6.0 I set the peak limit at -0.4 When I transferred this 'Ozoned' file to DSP QUattro I did a "Find Peak & RMS".

It reads:
Peak: - .95
- .40 dB

RMS: +21.34%
-13.41 dB

I'm confused since the -6.0 I saw and the -13.41 are different? I don't get the difference in the RMS numbers. Also, I'm not sure what the +21.34% means and don't see it in the Quattro manual.

One last thing, I'm trying to match volume from song to song for a smooth album flow and am having a tough time truly judging, other than "uh--it sounds about right". Any advice on this? Thanks!

[Dan Worley]

The Ozone RMS readings are momentary, probably 300ms. The DSPQ RMS readings are averaged over the length of the song. I don't know what the % means.

As far as getting the volumes unified between songs, the best (and probably only) way is to adjust by ear. I haven't found meters of much use when it comes to that, though the new meters with gating schemes could possibly offer more help.

Two totally different songs (An acoustic ballad vs. heavy metal) can have identical RMS levels, but the acoustic ballad will sound much louder.

[Prime Mover]

Ugh, yeah... that's a toughy. My last album featured basically a string quartet followed by a hard rock song. So tough getting the string tune quiet enough. Talk about maddening. I really learned about different styles of mastering with that jump. I would not have mastered that string piece like I did if it had been on any other album... full of compromises.

[mikehalloran]

Ugh, yeah... that's a toughy. My last album featured basically a string quartet followed by a hard rock song. So tough getting the string tune quiet enough. Talk about maddening. I really learned about different styles of mastering with that jump. I would not have mastered that string piece like I did if it had been on any other album... full of compromises.

There are times when the material is so disparate you want there to be enough $$$ in the budget to shop the final master to a famous mastering house and they'll them, "Do what you do best". Unfortunately, when it's your own project, rarely does that money exist. And then there's the personal challenge involved in getting it just right.

[Julia123]

The Ozone RMS readings are momentary, probably 300ms. The DSPQ RMS readings are averaged over the length of the song. I don't know what the % means.

As far as getting the volumes unified between songs, the best (and probably only) way is to adjust by ear. I haven't found meters of much use when it comes to that, though the new meters with gating schemes could possibly offer more help.

Two totally different songs (An acoustic ballad vs. heavy metal) can have identical RMS levels, but the acoustic ballad will sound much louder.

Thanks. This is quite a crash course. Now I hear what you say about the RMS levels! I started out thinking I was going to be using those but not so much now, more of a check to make sure I'm in line. By matching them by ear to my first song, they are all ending up between -13 & -15. There seems to be a range of what could possibly work, not an obvious technical choice like I thought going into it.

Ugh, yeah... that's a toughy. My last album featured basically a string quartet followed by a hard rock song. So tough getting the string tune quiet enough. Talk about maddening. I really learned about different styles of mastering with that jump. I would not have mastered that string piece like I did if it had been on any other album... full of compromises.

.

Yes, I'm having a hard time trying to decide which baby has to take the hit. Most of the songs benefit from Ozone's final compression and final limiter, but then I have a couple that sound best without much compression or limiting. It's so frustrating that I HAVE to push up the volume/comp to get them closer to fitting with the others, yet I don't want to take away from the 'louder' songs because they sound good the way they are. I am trying to place the quieter ones after tunes with softer endings, fortunately they are going to flow best that way anyhow.

Ugh, yeah... that's a toughy. My last album featured basically a string quartet followed by a hard rock song. So tough getting the string tune quiet enough. Talk about maddening. I really learned about different styles of mastering with that jump. I would not have mastered that string piece like I did if it had been on any other album... full of compromises.

There are times when the material is so disparate you want there to be enough $$$ in the budget to shop the final master to a famous mastering house and they'll them, "Do what you do best". Unfortunately, when it's your own project, rarely does that money exist. And then there's the personal challenge involved in getting it just right.

Yes! I wish. This is my first time doing this. I've always had pro's do this before but can't justify the $$. I have to admit though, I am having a lot of fun with it! Messing with each song's 'sound' and matching from one tune to the next without going to far. Even though it's frustrating I really like the process at the same time. I also think it is going to help me with my arranging as well because I'm personally dealing what is working well, and what kind of help is needed to bring one tune up to par with another.