Recorded Mixes from Traktor Pro are really quiet

[Cook]

i play the master at 0 and the recording at +2 if i ever see it in the red, i just turn down the booth knob on my mixer (ive got master to my speakers and booth into my A8, and it records from the A8)

[RobDeLarge]

I have em' both on + - 0.
It has worked well on my tunes remixes and such.

[MaxOne]

What do you set your recording volume at?

I just make sure it's not in the red by some way... I figure it's a digital recording so as long as it doesn't clip it's better to stick to the quieter side, then I normalize in Peak Pro...

But Audacity has the same function, normalize is normalize

[Jester]

I use master at around -5db and record at -2db. They do come out a little quiet but nothing a quick audition session cant fix. Normalising will make it louder, you can use audacity or mp3gain to do that if you like, both free.

[DJWilliams]

but what's the point making it quiet in the first place if you're going to make it louder by normalising? Does this method reduce clipping? I don't understand.

[sarasin]

If you record it hot....you record the distortion that it creates with it when it clips.

If you record it cold (really below the clip line), you can always boost the volume by normalizing. This will not ruin the audio quality at all.

However, if you record it too loud, normalizing will not remove the distortion and noise created. It will make it all softer...but the distortion will still be there. Just also...softer.

[SirReal]

If you record it hot....you record the distortion that it creates with it when it clips.

If you record it cold (really below the clip line), you can always boost the volume by normalizing. This will not ruin the audio quality at all.

However, if you record it too loud, normalizing will not remove the distortion and noise created. It will make it all softer...but the distortion will still be there. Just also...softer.

While I agree with you and do the same thing if I have to, I must point out that Normalizing does change the audio quality as it also raises the noise floor. Now this may be imperceptable to ones ears BUT needs to be mentioned.

[keithace]

i record cold and use the "volume" setting in Soundforge to push the level of the mix...i never use normalize for raising the volume of a mix...maybe i should start...or atleast do it last...

"All this function does is it expands the highest peaks of amplitude to their greatest allowable levels (which should be just below 0dB), raising the amplitude of softer sounds by the same proportion...

So in effect you're boosting your track volume to its highest possible without affecting the audio quality and without clipping/ distortion."

[SirReal]

i record cold and use the "volume" setting in Soundforge to push the level of the mix...i never use normalize for raising the volume of a mix...maybe i should start...or atleast do it last...

"All this function does is it expands the highest peaks of amplitude to their greatest allowable levels (which should be just below 0dB), raising the amplitude of softer sounds by the same proportion...

So in effect you're boosting your track volume to its highest possible without affecting the audio quality and without clipping/ distortion."

That's not really true, normalizing raises the over all level of the track, also bringing up the noise floor with it. If you wanted to expand the dynamics a bit you might try a multiband expander. If you're really curious about this stuff check out any Mastering suite plugin's ie Waves and you'll begin to see the differences. That being said, Normalizing is the easiest & cheapest way of increasing the volume of a mix to its maximum level. But the better practice is to establish your gain staging for maximum maximum levels when recording.

[sarasin]

Yeah...look normalizing is not the best method to use.
But its the quickest and easiest for non producer folk.

Don't over do it....