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Mixing/Mastering / Re: Headroom in Mixdown
« on: January 13, 2016, 09:05:46 pm »So I have a question.
What are the advantages of keeping headroom in your Mixdown?
I understand that this would be useful if you're Eq-ing on the Master Channel.
But I'm not really Eq-ing on the Master Channel except cutting everything below 20Hz and everything after 18000 or 19400Hz.
So does the Headroom,in anyway,help in processing better or help in achieving a better sound?
Yes it can make a difference especially with certain plugins. Most plugins wont clip internally anymore (or at least not very easily) although that used to be a big problem in the past. Most plugins are now double precision (48bit or 64bit), so it takes a lot to clip them.
However, where level does make a difference is with plugins that are modeled after the response of vintage analog gear. The sweet spot for a lot of analog gear that plugins are modeling is an average level of -18 dBFS (O VU.) Generally having your individual tracks averaging -18 dBFS gives you plenty of headroom for mixing and you are hitting the vintage compressor emulation plugins at their sweet spot. I don't think you have to be super precise about it, but it does effect how certain plugins react.