If You are unsatisfied with level or Sound of your beat after bounce

Question

Its time to go Apogee or Motu... seriously... NOTHING ELSE

Answer 1

We're using the term 'master' as in the final stereo file which is to be put on disc - not the master output object in Logic. Frankly, (again, IMO) you should not be slamming or clipping any bounce. ever. There's a time and place for it (assuming you want a master that loud) - it is the mastering stage, and your ME would not appreciate a 2 track that is already clipping and squashed. So, the idea of a beat that is used in a multitrack session falls outside the 'hot dog waveform' zone.
As far as the -4 dB comment, feel free to provide references. You'll need to clarify whether you are talking about the final master of a track or simply components or stems of a multitrack production. For components or stems, I have previously posted what I shoot for:
my definition of healthy is an absolute peak between -6 dBFS and 0 dbFS (avoiding clipping)
That's all there is to it.
If you're talking about the mastering process that's a different beast altogether -- I read 'Sound of your beat' as a component of a multitrack session, rather than the 2 track master. The only thing I can think of for -4 as a finite maximum is when mastering, while using a limiter which does not compensate for intersample peaking (which is still not an absolute maximum itself - hehe). Otherwise, it should be more accurate to shoot for the range I mentioned earlier.
J
Message was edited by: Justin C