Final mix levels

Just been browsing through previous threads about final output mixes and just want to explain what I am doing and what would be the best way to get the final mix done.
Have 7 tracks that have been written for a half hour film , the music is mostly acoustic guitar with synth and the odd cello , oboe and harp( all garritan). I have them finished and have incorporated sound files of sea and bird cries etc but want to bounce them for final output at a realistic level, balancing them all up to a similar level at the same time. Would logic compression be the way to go? I have compared my unfinished music levels with professional cd's and my outputs seem way too low . The pro cd recordings seems to bring their peaks to just under clipping. is that the way to go? using such things as limiters and the like I have no experience so would appreciate any info on their uses?
Marto

Did you see this?
http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?threadID=388347&tstart=15
Also, within this thread there are links to some helpful articles on the tc site.
This might help too:
http://www.soundonsound.com/sos/aug04/articles/computermastering.htm

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    index: 0
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    output:analog-stereo: Analog Stereo Output (priority 6000, available: unknown)
    output:analog-stereo+input:analog-stereo: Analog Stereo Duplex (priority 6060, available: unknown)
    output:analog-surround-40: Analog Surround 4.0 Output (priority 700, available: unknown)
    output:analog-surround-40+input:analog-stereo: Analog Surround 4.0 Output + Analog Stereo Input (priority 760, available: unknown)
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    output:hdmi-surround+input:analog-stereo: Digital Surround 5.1 (HDMI) Output + Analog Stereo Input (priority 360, available: unknown)
    output:hdmi-stereo-extra1: Digital Stereo (HDMI) Output (priority 5200, available: unknown)
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    output:hdmi-surround-extra2+input:analog-stereo: Digital Surround 5.1 (HDMI) Output + Analog Stereo Input (priority 160, available: unknown)
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    Gerardo O.
    RF Systems Engineering
    National Instruments
    Attachments:
    attenuation level.JPG ‏33 KB

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