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[Jason Poff]

Hey everyone,
  I'm looking for opinions on what rms level to shoot for when mixing a jingle for radio. "Loud" is a big deal, but from what I understand, too loud just causes the stations dynamics processors to clamp down even harder. What do you all think?

Jason

[lucey]

RMS being low in a mix is not a big issue as long as it's in the ballpark.  Clipping and HEAVY limiting at mastering is the issue.

Are you going to have it mastered?  If so, just make a good mix ... dont go for an RMS number through mixing, go for a great mix.

A very good mix can be mastered a whole lot of ways ... at that time you can see what works best.



On second thought ... it's a jingle so I don't know what's appropriate.  I was thinking about music.

[Ronny]

Jason Poff wrote on Fri, 15 April 2005 23:25

Hey everyone,   I'm looking for opinions on what rms level to shoot for when mixing a jingle for radio. "Loud" is a big deal, but from what I understand, too loud just causes the stations dynamics processors to clamp down even harder. What do you all think? Jason

RMS levels do not give 100% accuracy in determining perceived levels, as all material is different and perceived level depends on the immediate ear response to the previous level heard. I suggest that you use RMS only as a starting point and your ears as the deciding factor.

It's true that Optimod and similiar broadcast limiters can't react as effectively on hypercompressed material as they can on material that has some dynamic content intact, but there is more to it than that, AGC's, phase rotators and pre-emphasis (especially on freq's above 5k) also play an important role, in why you should allow material destined for airplay to breathe some.

[bobkatz]

When we participated in the "What Is Hot" competition done by Tardon Feathered, we sent a bunch of material through the Optimod. It was 100% clear that the higher the RMS, the more distortion came out of the Optimod, but there was NO difference in perceived output level no matter how low your source was, and sources ranged from about -16 dBFS RMS to -3 dBFS! So, make a nice sounding recording that is not purposely hot---just compress it if necessary to sound good, and stop there. I'll bet you this will fall around -14 dBFS RMS for typical rock. And will sound better on the radio than hotter stuff, at least if you believe our Optimod tests.

BK