Track sound levels & DJing - a question to the experts

[Wiooi]

A question to anyone who uses ableton to DJ:

The thing i find hard about ableton it getting sound levels to be right for DJ sets. No matter what quality of mp3 you are using, there is always that 2 -3dB variation in sound levels between tracks, which can really muk you up if you get it wrong.

I usually take a track as the standard, and set all tracks up in accordance with the standard track. This is a long and tedious process, and does not seem to work properly. I am still sitting there adjusting during sets when previewing songs.

The second method I have been trying since using Live 6 is setting up tracks in accordance with the peak level tool. I have been setting all tracks up so they achieve 1 dB on the peak level. Again, this does not seem to wrok properly, I think the tool is not fully working perhaps.

Does anyone have a trick to get around this? I am interested in any method, even if it seems obvious - I may have missed it :?


Thanks,

Wiooi

[Patch]

hambone1 is your man for this.

[Tarekith]

I typically use the K-14 meter in RND's Inspector plug in to match all my tracks to the same level while warping them. I still might have to do the odd gain adjustment during the set, but usually they're spot on then.

[Wiooi]

thanks for that, works much better than the ableton sound level indicator for sure.

still a pain, i was hoping there was some way to limit or amplify peak output on each channel.

[Tarekith]

Nah, you don't want to use a limiter to match levels, bad for the sound, just plain lazy (no offense).

[djastroboy]

most DJs just turn every knob on the mixer all the way up and hope for the best, letting the house compressor smash everything.
All the other details are lost in distortion.

[3rdordertrauma]

Could pop the tracks in WaveEditor or something similar and in the inspector it will tell you the RMS and Peak Levels of the track. Then make necessary adjustments. Just a thought... I haven't actually done this yet... but I might try.

Cheers,

[vinkalmann]

I typically use the K-1 meter in RND's Inspector plug in to match all my tracks to the same level while warping them. I still might have to do the odd gain adjustment during the set, but usually they're spot on then.

This method works really well. The key is that you want to match average levels across tracks (RMS) and not rely on peak levels. Two tracks can have the same peak levels but have very different perceived volumes because they have different RMS levels.

[andrewbrewer]

you really have to rely on your ears when matching levels.
the perceived loudness of a song is hard to accurately measure, even using RMS meters. if anything RMS meters can be a little misleading.
compare a grungy, distorted punk-rock recording w/ a acid-jazz track (e.g., thievery corporation). chances are, if you bring both tracks to the same RMS, the punk recording is going to "sound" louder ... you're just going to have to trust your ears and pull that punk track down a little if you want to play it out alongside better productions.
this has alot to do with what's going on in the mid-range. its possible for a lower-RMS track to have more midrange loudness ... this will make the lower-RMS track seem louder.
in the end, that mid-range loudness is the result of the mastering/production AND the speakers you play through AND your own ears. so, you're pretty much forced to make subjective judgements.
if in doubt, just use a slowww fade

[Wiooi]

slow fade, never!!!!!!!! I guess thats the problem, its a bit of 'cross your fingers' when you drop one track over another.

I have started just matching the drums trebble for sound levels, that seems to do the trick, and using RND - its excellent

cheers all

-wiooi