Reply To: Clipping

[timmymacParticipant]

This is really where RMS meters shine and should be the default setting in every daw. Using an RMS meter I'll shoot for -20dB RMS over the loudest section of each track and then don't even have to worry about the peaks. It's like 0VU on a console. There's like 24db of headroom above zero! Occasionally, very dynamic stuff might have transients that clip so in that case I'll trim it down a little. Do that and you shouldn't clip the master buss. And it allows your mix to breathe. If you start slapping compressors and limiters on tracks/busses just to tame clips you may find that the dynamics are suddenly all gone and everything sounds smashed.