Volume mix vs riff.

[yawroN]

Hi, I'm using RW standard with PODXT Live. (winxp)

I have headphones and studiomonitors hooked up to my POD. When playing and recording the volume is right on, and I'm just beneath the limit on the master dials. (Also I think this is the limit of what my ears can take...)

The problem is when I mix a song to wav. Compared to any other cd or mp3, the volume for my song is a lot lower.

Any help appreciated.
Jorgen

[DeathMonster34]

Hmm...i use to face this exact problem a lot and still not exactly sure of how to resolve it. I'm only 17 and i'm learning about all this from my cousin's producer/engineer. I asked him about this and he said that the problem was that i'm not using compressors to make the volume high without clipping the signal. That could be it or you've recorded everything at a low volume regardless of the fact that the monitors were at a high volume. Let me ask you this. Does the master knob at the top indicate any clipping? Is it set at 12'o clock?

[yawroN]

The master knob does not indicate clipping when set to 12 (allthough very close)
I am not using any compressors either.

If I were to raise the volume on either the POD or RW master, using compressors to stop clipping, then
1. it would be too loud to play through the headphones (I can adjust the monitors seperately from the POD master, but I mostly use headphones)
2. Using compressors would "color" the song (or rather discolor..) (?)

What I don't get is that when recording and during playback, it is as loud as I feel it should be and can be compared to a "normal" song.
It's the mix that mixes down the volume somehow.

Now, I'm not exactly producing songs here, but I often listen through what I've made on cd, mp3 etc. - and turning the volume up for my songs results in scary loud sounds when I forget to turn the volume back down...

Thanks
Jorgen