(Incidentally, I just learned the hard way: RMS and crest are useless in and of themselves. This is why high-pass filters can give you more mastering headroom without changing the sensation of loudness. Also, pitch matters: a really high-energy sub-bass will output a lot of dB's but still sound quiet, because our ears are bad at detecting those frequencies. For something to sound loud, the sustained energy needs to be high, which is where things like RMS and crest factor come in. The actual peak energy is high, but the sensation of loudness is low. Something can reach the maximum output of your computer-which is when it clips-and still sound quiet. Either way, the decibel is a measure of energy, not sensation. Computers are calibrated differently (0db = maximum the computer can output). Traditionally, the decibel is calibrated to human hearing (1dB = minimum a human can hear). Listen to any other music and realize that nothing will sound loud if your speakers are turned down.Well. If something reaches the maximum volume in your computer and it doesn't sound loud enough for you, that means your speakers are too low. However, it doesn't make sense to turn off your speakers and say "my mix is too quiet", does it? You need to establish reference points. There is a mathematical relationship that creates a connection between signal strength and our "loudness perception". I can layer 1,000,000 different instrument notes together and have it be within the maximum volume, so long as I were to make sure none of them exceeded the max volume divided by 1,000,000. When things have too much power, you must turn them down. "Is this some kind of a limitation to prevent the normal users with the standard versions of DAWs from creating professionell soundtracks with more layers or is this quite normal?" This is not a limitation, it's just a cue for you to learn some physics and practice mixing. Listen to any other music and realize that nothing will sound loud if your speakers are turned down. Sounds super quiet, but it doesn't change the mathematical strength of the signals being processed. I can raise the master volume to the maximum yet turn my speakers down. Loudness is just how we perceive amplitude. Amplitude has to do with intensity, power, energy. Amplitude has little to do with how something sounds. You need to stop thinking about sound in terms of "how loud it sounds". Is this some kind of a limitation to prevent the normal users with the standard versions of DAWs from creating professionell soundtracks with more layers or is this quite normal? What's the background behind this phenomenon? So I'm obviously some kind of limited with a certain number of layers (and settings) per soundtrack if I want to have a good/high volume without clipping in the exported version - although my DAW is designed to have an unlimited amout of layers. The master volume of my DAW rises with adding more layers to the track (even if they're at the at the same volume level in the mixer the master volume goes up) and goes faster close to the clipping point without being loud (loud = good volume level). I just want to know if you have the same problem with your DAWs.
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