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MP3 or Audio CD levels

Posted: Mon Oct 06, 2008 11:25 am
by pianomanky
Hey guys... I was wondering if there was a standard volume level a normal audio MP3 or CD should be set at when recorded.

For example if you normalize a track, or set the master volume of it, what DB should the final product be at when finished to put on a CD.

I would think there would be a standard that everybody uses so that one song wasn't louder or softer than another.

Does that make any sense to anyone?

Posted: Mon Oct 06, 2008 11:40 am
by Diego
Hi!

It's not a matter of "dB", but a matter of RMS dB...
All commercial CD are mastered not to go over 0 dB (generally you master around -0.2 / -0.3) but as you may hear there are big differences between one disk and another; that's the "perceived" volume that count.
I advice you to read something about the mastering process; I find it a good starting point: http://www.soundonsound.com/sos/jun01/a ... an0601.asp

HTH,
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