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Old 11-12-2012, 07:32 AM   #2212
Rusty Falcon
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Join Date: Sep 2012
Location: Alabama
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Quote:
Originally Posted by k3yPr0gg3r View Post
Just bought a $50 SPL Meter today. I've read SO MANY variations as to room set-up! One says boost to 93dB C weighted on Fast. Another, 78dB A weighted on Slow. I do have Bob Katz's Mastering book, so I'm pretty confident that 83dB is the proper reading to shoot for. However, is that A or C ... Slow or Fast?Thanks
Short answer per Mr. Katz' information is "83 dB SPL (per channel, C-Weighted, slow speed)." (for K-14 using "standardized pink noise calibration signal whose amplitude is -20 dB FS RMS").

Before I forget I want to thank everyone who has participated in this thread for it's long life. I'm new to mixing and Reaper and read this thread from end to end, some posts over and over to get the gist. Wonderful effort and the fact that we had someone PDFing and saving it was tremendous!

I sort of got into reading the Bob Katz K-System stuff myself. His points are valid and could lead to suspension of the 'loudness race' if they ever catch on. For me, I found the material useful for setting up my own mixing at reasonable SPL levels. Previously like everyone I bet, 'louder sounded better' and probably convered up poor mix decisions. When I mix I try and use Mr. Katz' K-14 leveling and information I've found on these Reaper forums for adjusting my Master level meter. I also use the "K-Meter" plugin recommded on Mr. Katz' website since it seems a more reliable reference for the K-System.

Search for posts here by user "billybk1" for information on how to adjust the Reaper Master track meter for K-14. The link for the K-Meter plugin if you want to try it is http://code.mzuther.de/kmeter/.

Mr. Katz' website has two articles that are key:
http://www.digido.com/articles-and-d...es-part-1.html
http://www.digido.com/how-to-make-be...gs-part-2.html

One of the Katz article links provides a link to a 'standardized pink noise calibration signal whose amplitude is -20 dB FS RMS' which might help you calibrate your own mixing setup monitors and volume.

And finally... yep is absolutely correct. All that 83dB or K-System does is try and normalize the SPL level that you mix at. It really does nothing by itself to 'make mixes better'. It simply provides a standardized 'volume' reference level that coincidentally has less negative effect on your ears!
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