What kind of levels am I suppose to be hitting on my mix (pre master)

[chadsxe]

I am working in 24-bit and was wondering what levels I should be hitting when mixing. I am RMS'ing around -18db but peaking at about -12.db.

 

[Torniojaws]

I remember some speaking here about -12 dB, but I don't know if they meant RMS or peak.

 

[chadsxe]

I remember some speaking here about -12 dB, but I don't know if they meant RMS or peak.

Thats the thing. So many diffrent thoughts about it. I got some one teeling -18 db on another forum.

 

[Torniojaws]

However, I've also heard on a Finnish musician's forum that it really doesn't matter, just as long as the song doesn't clip.

 

[Aaron Smith]

-12dB seems like way more headroom than a mastering engineer would need...but of course, I may be wrong. I've heard that about -3dB is enough.

 

[~BURNY~]

I may be wrong.

You are if you are talking about rms power. Peak value doesn't really matter as long as you are using the maximum possible range without clipping.

 

[deathtotaliban]

if you are working with the peak then most say dont let your peaks go over -3 db. i dont know about rms but for peak thats what it is