CD peak level different than rendered montage!? pls help..

WaveLab
1

Hi there, i just upset some clients…

i mastered their project on WL 7.1 and got a different level rendering and burning the same montage… CD peak level way too low!

  • new montage, cd compatible. One stereo track.
  • source files were loud so i dropped the “track 1” faders to -7dB. (not clip level, not Master Section fader level)
  • mastered by inserting FX into clips
  • mastered by inserting FX into Master Section
  • inserted final mastering limiter (FabFilter) in limiter/dither slot in Master Section to lift and limit to 16 bits -0.3dB
  • Master Section faders at unity gain

All seemed correct, al meters (set to post master section) indicated peaks at -0.3dB
I burned this montage on the fly (rendered to temp file).

Result: Peak level on CD not -0.3dB but around -7dB ! Same setting as track faders??
Rendered the montage to file, all OK at -0.3dB…

It seems that the track faders offset ONLY the montage peak level burned on CD but not rendered to file. THey shoud do neither right?
I put the track faders at unity gain and inserted leveler at -7dB as first master section plugin, problem gone…
So the track faders are the problem here but they are not the last gain stage of course… The final limiter’s ceiling is what counts.

Please help, i don’t get this…
Thanks,
Marc

2

When burning, there is the option to bypass or not the Master Section. I guess your problem from there, no?

3

Thanks, but no, i checked that. The files on CD were nicely limited and processed by the master section plugins, but around 7dB too low in level…

4

Difficult to know where you make an error, but what is sent to the CD is the rendered montage, and WaveLab never do any level adjustment in your back.
Make other tries…

5

I thought so too… the limiter boosts by 11 dB, not 7… i am absolutely sure that what’s on CD was processed by the master section. But 7dB lower than the master section indicates…
Can it be a bug?

6

I don’t think there is a bug here. This procedure is very common.
Now, make sure your plugin settings are saved inside the montage, and the best is for this is to close their windows, before rendering or burning.

7

Okay, i will try this tomorrow.
Thanks!