I cut music for a few dance studios... and I make CDs for them to take to dance competitions. My question is about volume and levels.
Mostly I just take a song and cut it shorter and don't mess with its volume. But even if I edit together multiple songs... I still make sure all the volumes match... and that the final song is near 0dB according to the audio meter on my software.
The dance competitions don't adjust the volume of their sound system between dances... they just play the CDs.
But there's one studio director who says all my music plays quieter than every other studio's music at a competition.
So... is every other studio setting the levels on their CDs too high? Like... higher than 0dB?
Let's say I was using the following song. The song pretty much peaks at 0dB according to my software's audio meter. And I wouldn't mess with it.
For years I've been saying:
1. My levels are set correctly
2. Playback volume depends on the volume of the sound system at the competition
But she keeps saying "everybody's music is louder than ours"
I'm guessing all the other dance studios have no concept of audio levels... so their music levels are set way too high. And the first song of the day sets the volume of the sound system at the competition.
Then one of my songs comes along... and it's quieter than all the rest.
Any advice? Should I just boost all my music by a few dBs in an attempt to match everyone else?
Mostly I just take a song and cut it shorter and don't mess with its volume. But even if I edit together multiple songs... I still make sure all the volumes match... and that the final song is near 0dB according to the audio meter on my software.
The dance competitions don't adjust the volume of their sound system between dances... they just play the CDs.
But there's one studio director who says all my music plays quieter than every other studio's music at a competition.
So... is every other studio setting the levels on their CDs too high? Like... higher than 0dB?
Let's say I was using the following song. The song pretty much peaks at 0dB according to my software's audio meter. And I wouldn't mess with it.
For years I've been saying:
1. My levels are set correctly
2. Playback volume depends on the volume of the sound system at the competition
But she keeps saying "everybody's music is louder than ours"
I'm guessing all the other dance studios have no concept of audio levels... so their music levels are set way too high. And the first song of the day sets the volume of the sound system at the competition.
Then one of my songs comes along... and it's quieter than all the rest.
Any advice? Should I just boost all my music by a few dBs in an attempt to match everyone else?