Saying “set the volume to 20%” is meaningless as it depends so much on the speakers/amp and your ears.
I always play tone before starting so that I can set myself a reference level. In my experience, If tone is at a comfortable level then everything else should be good.
There is also the argument that as the day progresses your ears become “tired” and you find yourself turning the volume up anyway.
"Kiss the yellow" is my rule. The db meter should mostly be in the green, with the loudest portions just slightly peaking into the yellow. Background music should always stay in the green, unless there's a reason to raise it.
I edit for TV a lot so the standard is different. Everything goes to audio post. We output everything that goes on a major network to roughly -12db because there are strict technical requirements. I think it's because of transmission equipment that could be damaged if the signal is out of range.
"Loudness" is somewhat subjective, but I wouldn't mix to zero. Just as a matter of "best practice" and to ensure the best audio quality possible. Everyone's mileage is different though ¯\_༼ •́ ͜ʖ •̀ ༽_/¯
I think most editors don't use scopes or mixers at all. It's just not a skill that's required much anymore.
Depending on where your deliverable is going there’s zero harm in working up towards digital zero. Probably best practice to go for a little under just in case though. The audio level clipping id guess is from producer/client notes constantly coming in asking to “make it louder” all the time and not understanding they probably need to compress/eq/etc versus just bumping levels up.
Fewer and fewer editors these days make content that goes to broadcast. People that edit for YouTube, TikTok, etc. don’t really understand the importance of mixing properly.
If you’re an editor, you should know that the decibel meter is the only thing you can rely on. How loud you have whatever speakers or headphones turned up is up to you.
Please read this, it’ll help explain what you’re missing: https://blog.simplecast.com/a-massively-oversimplified-guide-to-loudness
Here is a free loudness meter plugin.
https://youlean.co/youlean-loudness-meter/
I hope this helps!!
I think people are misunderstanding the question. How loud are the speakers / headphones in your setup? What volume is your preference. I know people in my team have to increase the volume when they review my work because they personally listen to things louder, even when the audio is mastered to a correct standard (-14 lufs in my case).
I usually spend 80% of the day at a volume I find comfortable (30% on my setup), but when reviewing an export I’ll go louder as it helps pick up on smaller details imo.
Everyone had different ears though, and a surprising number of people probably have some light hearing damage and never get it checked.
This number is subjective and can change. For example I can listen at 40% in my office but if the AC is on I need 80% to hear the same detail.
My guide to mixing is throw multi band compressor on dialogue track. Put a hard limiter on master to -3. Mix dialogue to fall in -6 to -18 range. Then mix music and sfx to sound “correct” and not interfere with dialogue.
When reviewing listen on a small speaker, built in laptop or something similar and once you set your initial volume everything should sound good on that level. If it all sounds good on that it should sound better on quality sound systems and headphones.
Using anything less than 100% digital volume in your software will actually degrade sound quality by limiting bit depth. If you want to maintain fidelity, always set your software to 100% and adjust volume with your hardware (audio interface, speakers, etc)
That's only regarding playback of course - like everyone else says, rely on meters to get your levels right for the mix.
Yep the percentage is meaningless. However people have different ears. I like it to be decently loud tho when I'm doing anything where audio is important. Some of my colleagues use really soft volumes and it just prevents you from making out the detail and mistakes in your mix. Stuff should feel about as loud as it's supposed to be in real life.
I use 30-40% on Windows
And 25% on Mac
edit: Why the downvotes? I think its a stupid question too. But I literally just told him what my percentages are, nothing wrong with that is it?
I have 3 pieces of hardware between my computer and my speakers. I use meters. Anything else is irrelevant and highly subjective.
The only correct answer here. Meters, meters, meters.
Yup. Even my own tech is irrelevant and subjective to another editor.
Saying “set the volume to 20%” is meaningless as it depends so much on the speakers/amp and your ears. I always play tone before starting so that I can set myself a reference level. In my experience, If tone is at a comfortable level then everything else should be good. There is also the argument that as the day progresses your ears become “tired” and you find yourself turning the volume up anyway.
Mix to -12 db
"Kiss the yellow" is my rule. The db meter should mostly be in the green, with the loudest portions just slightly peaking into the yellow. Background music should always stay in the green, unless there's a reason to raise it.
This is the way. Although, I sometimes go up to -6. Been seeing ALOT of editors just blasting the audio levels until they clip. What’s that about??
I edit for TV a lot so the standard is different. Everything goes to audio post. We output everything that goes on a major network to roughly -12db because there are strict technical requirements. I think it's because of transmission equipment that could be damaged if the signal is out of range. "Loudness" is somewhat subjective, but I wouldn't mix to zero. Just as a matter of "best practice" and to ensure the best audio quality possible. Everyone's mileage is different though ¯\_༼ •́ ͜ʖ •̀ ༽_/¯ I think most editors don't use scopes or mixers at all. It's just not a skill that's required much anymore.
Depending on where your deliverable is going there’s zero harm in working up towards digital zero. Probably best practice to go for a little under just in case though. The audio level clipping id guess is from producer/client notes constantly coming in asking to “make it louder” all the time and not understanding they probably need to compress/eq/etc versus just bumping levels up.
Fewer and fewer editors these days make content that goes to broadcast. People that edit for YouTube, TikTok, etc. don’t really understand the importance of mixing properly.
……but it goes to 11……That’s one more
If you're controlling volume from the OS, your setup is wrong.
I use 11. It's 1 louder
If you’re an editor, you should know that the decibel meter is the only thing you can rely on. How loud you have whatever speakers or headphones turned up is up to you.
Enough reddit for me today. Imma go out and drink beer.
This has to be an out of season April fools, come on... I personally enjoy 37% volume, who needs decibels
Please read this, it’ll help explain what you’re missing: https://blog.simplecast.com/a-massively-oversimplified-guide-to-loudness Here is a free loudness meter plugin. https://youlean.co/youlean-loudness-meter/ I hope this helps!!
I think people are misunderstanding the question. How loud are the speakers / headphones in your setup? What volume is your preference. I know people in my team have to increase the volume when they review my work because they personally listen to things louder, even when the audio is mastered to a correct standard (-14 lufs in my case). I usually spend 80% of the day at a volume I find comfortable (30% on my setup), but when reviewing an export I’ll go louder as it helps pick up on smaller details imo. Everyone had different ears though, and a surprising number of people probably have some light hearing damage and never get it checked.
Damn, thank you. Felt like everyone was missing the point here. I of course appreciate all the expertise but yeah
You didn’t explain it very well
This number is subjective and can change. For example I can listen at 40% in my office but if the AC is on I need 80% to hear the same detail. My guide to mixing is throw multi band compressor on dialogue track. Put a hard limiter on master to -3. Mix dialogue to fall in -6 to -18 range. Then mix music and sfx to sound “correct” and not interfere with dialogue. When reviewing listen on a small speaker, built in laptop or something similar and once you set your initial volume everything should sound good on that level. If it all sounds good on that it should sound better on quality sound systems and headphones.
Using anything less than 100% digital volume in your software will actually degrade sound quality by limiting bit depth. If you want to maintain fidelity, always set your software to 100% and adjust volume with your hardware (audio interface, speakers, etc) That's only regarding playback of course - like everyone else says, rely on meters to get your levels right for the mix.
Yep the percentage is meaningless. However people have different ears. I like it to be decently loud tho when I'm doing anything where audio is important. Some of my colleagues use really soft volumes and it just prevents you from making out the detail and mistakes in your mix. Stuff should feel about as loud as it's supposed to be in real life.
Because it would change setup to setup. I don't think it makes sense to copy others here. But I stay at 50% when no headphones on.
I use 30-40% on Windows And 25% on Mac edit: Why the downvotes? I think its a stupid question too. But I literally just told him what my percentages are, nothing wrong with that is it?