Limiting catches the loudest peaks of an audio source and applies brick wall compression that prevents it from exceeding a set ceiling. Like compression this decreases dynamic range, but in limiting the ceiling is being lowered, squashing the signal.
The natural degradation of the accuracy of the human ear over several hours of listening. The ear is like a muscle - when it is used a lot, it gets tired. When a mixer reaches the point of listener fatigue, he or she needs to rest their ears, or they will start to make poor mixing choices as their ears are no longer accurate.
LKFS stands for LOUDNESS, K-WEIGHTED, RELATIVE TO FULL SCALE. This is the most accurate measurement of loudness we have when analyzing our mixes/masters. It is interchangeable with LUFS.
The default trim and downmix setting for your Dolby Atmos ADM WAV file. This needs to be changed to “Direct Render” before exporting to avoid red flags at QC when submitting for DSP release.
Repeating a section of a song over and over again. Mute - An action that stops the sound of a channel from playing.
The perceived volume of a mix/master. This can be measured with meters and analyzers that portray loudness levels through LKFS and LUFS units. This helps a mastering engineer keep songs cohesive from one to another in an album sequence.
The section of the frequency spectrum between 60Hz-200Hz.
A plugin within your DAW that communicates data from the DAW to the Dolby Renderer in real time.
LUFS stands for LOUDNESS UNITS FULL SCALE. This is the most accurate measurement of loudness we have when analyzing our mixes/masters. It is interchangeable with LKFS.
A parameter that allows you to increase the output volume of a sound processor that made the input sound quieter. For example, a compressor makes sounds softer, so makeup gain is needed to keep the sound at the same volume that it previously was.
The phenomenon when one’s perception of one sound is affected by the presence of another sound. Basically, if two sounds are present in the same frequency range, then it will be harder to distinguish between the two. You want to avoid masking in order to get your instruments to sit well in the mix.
Mastering is the final step of audio post-production. The purpose of mastering is to balance the sonic elements of a stereo mix and optimize playback across all systems and media formats. Traditionally, mastering is done using tools like equalization, compression, limiting and stereo enhancement. It is the final polish that turns a finished mix into a release that’s ready for listeners to experience on all devices, from tiny iPhone speakers to massive dance club sound systems. The term itself comes from the idea of a master copy. All copies or duplications of the audio come from the master. The mastering process ensures that those copies can be optimally played back whether they end up on streaming services, CDs or a vinyl record. In addition to that, mastering helps keep an album sounding consistent and cohesive between tracks.
A plugin for tuning something automatically, especially a piece of computer software that enables the correction of an out-of-tune vocal performance.
A piece of software or hardware that analyzes certain data and visually shows you the results. For example, anything that shows the volume of a sound is a volume meter.
This is the metal stand that the microphone connects to. This allows the recording engineer to adjust the hit and angle of the microphone to best suite the artist and the recording’s needs.
The process of manipulating a sound by processing the middle (mono) of the signal and the sides (Left/Right stereo) of the signal separately, which allows for maximum control of the sound field. This can be done with all tools like EQ, compression, saturation, etc.
The section of the frequency spectrum between 600Hz-3kHz.
The channel that all of the audio of a session flows to. This channel is the sum of all of the sounds in the performance, this channel is what is exported for playback.
Audio mixing is the process by which multiple sounds are combined into one or more audio channels. In the process, a source's volume level, frequency content, dynamics, and panoramic position are manipulated or enhanced. This creative treatment is done in order to produce a finished product that is appealing to listeners. Audio mixing is used for music, film, television and live sound. The process is generally carried out by a mixing engineer operating a mixing console or digital audio workstation (DAW).
A single audio signal that plays out one channel.
MP4 is a container format, meaning it can store various types of audio and video, as long as they are encoded in a codec supported by the MP4 format. MP4 provides strong compression, which is lossy but it can package multiple media types including video, audio, images, and 3D imagery, together with complex metadata, making it possible to deliver interactive elements to viewers. This is the file type commonly used for artist approval in Atmos mixing because of its ability to deliver the 3D elements of the mix to the listener.
A sound processor that cuts off the volume of a sound once it passes below a certain volume threshold. Often used to cut noise between waveforms or cut unwanted floor or room noise in the recording.
A Dolby Atmos object consists of an audio stream that is sent to the Dolby Atmos Renderer plus a metadata stream transporting the panning information.
An object bed is a channel-based premix or stem that includes multi-channel panning, and does not need dedicated panning via Dolby Atmos metadata.
A microphone that picks up sound from all directions.
