Groups / Headroom

[timh]

Hey all - I have a quick question about groups and headroom.

I'm working on a mix down where the drums are consisted of 3-4 different eq'd sounds eg bass drum that are then in a group, which subsequently is routed, along with other groups such as snare and loops, to one channel which serves as a master drum buss.

The master buss is peaking around -8db, which is what I am aiming for - but I was wondering about whether a similar amount of headroom should be left in the groups and individual tracks, or if it is ok to drive these a little louder.

I can't notice a difference in the resulting sound either way, other than volume, so was wondering what is considered best practice?

Thanks!

Tim

[ARDJ]

levels are def a mixing stage, and require a lot of small moves to figure out where things should set. This question takes up about 5 chapters in probably the best mixing book known to man:

http://www.mixingwithyourmind.com/