The Complete Guide to GAIN STAGING Like a PRO

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The Complete Guide to GAIN STAGING Like a PRO
If you need help producing professional sounding mixes, it all starts by understanding what Gain Staging is, and how to gain stage your mixing sessions for a better mixing experience… Today is your lucky day!
I’ve compiled some of my most helpful tips into a one-stop resource that you can use to improve all aspects of Gain Staging.
Enjoy and let me know what you think in the comments!
TIMESTAMPS:
0:00 Intro
0:43 The #1 Gain Staging Mistake
12:00 Gain Staging When Recording
21:05 Gain Staging & Compression Confusion
23:07 Gain Staging VST Instruments
27:30 Cubase Gain Staging Hacks
38:26 Gain Staging with Analog Gear
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⏰ Timestamps ⏰
Compare CUBASE Versions: new.steinberg.net/cubase/compare-editions/
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Some of the gear and plugins I use in the studio:
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CUBASE 13 ➜ sweetwater.sjv.io/DKa04a
DAW CONTROLLER Presonus Faderport 16 ➜ sweetwater.sjv.io/5bXnGn
STREAM DECK ➜ amzn.to/3OFVHaO
MONOGRAM CC ➜ monogramcc.com/shop/
SPEAKER CONTROLLER ➜ sweetwater.sjv.io/gbvG75
MICROPHONE ➜ sweetwater.sjv.io/b3WVKB
STUDIO MONITORS:
KALI Audio IN-8 ➜ sweetwater.sjv.io/XxQVBM
HEADPHONES:
Audeze MM-500 ➜ www.audeze.com/products/mm-500
Austrian Audio Hi-X65 ➜ sweetwater.sjv.io/vno7MN
Beyer Dynamics DT770 ➜ sweetwater.sjv.io/LPzQ6O
STUDIO MONITOR CONTROLLER ➜ sweetwater.sjv.io/gbvG75
#mixdownonline #chirsselim

[@korkenknopfus]

Perfect guide, Chris. And it is good that you show not only the criteria to make the adjustments, but also to warn about the errors. It is a very common thing to be talking with people who have trouble because they get obsessed with the numbers or with trying to re adjust the pre gain after each plug-in adjustment they do, because they NEED the -18, not taking care to the actual mix. In a forum I participate (not MCC) there was a lot of discussion about this.

[@Somedei]

Best Gain Staging video on the internet

[@mixdownonline]

Wow! Thanks a lot!

[@Studioinsession]

Excellent 👍

[@danpoolemusic]

Brilliant! I understand so much more now! I can spend a small amount of time and get more out of my mixes now! thank you so much Chris! love it!

[@CarloPontevolpe_Music]

The video I needed. Thanks!

[@mixdownonline]

Glad I could help!

[@DougOsborne]

Great video. I hope people practice this and then forget about, as he says, obsessing over a number. One thing to remember: with 24-bit or better recording, digital has no practical noise floor. It has 144 dB of dynamic range, and if your lowest recorded signal is at -143 dB, you will have no noise; if your highest recorded signal is near the top but not exceeding o dBFS, you will have no distortion. Most things we are recording have a dynamic range of 30-40 dB at most, so don't worry whether you are recording digitally near the noise floor or the FS limit. It will sound the same if you bring it up or down (Nyquist theory explains how this works). Only when leaving this world and entering the analog world do you need to worry (even the best gear has some noise floor and some distortion at the top).

[@DalockDeBaddest]

You are a Heaven Sent Pro, Life Saver 🙌🙌🙌

[@borisvillar]

This is the best gain staging video out there Thank you so much You answered so many question for me 👍

[@jazzdude7014]

Like 100! well deserved my friend!

[@mixdownonline]

Thank you! Cheers!

[@MrMusic-nd5to]

Excellent video Chris! Best I've seen on gain staging!!! 🎶🎹🎶🎸

[@mixdownonline]

Wow, thanks!

[@MrMusic-nd5to]

@@mixdownonline More like THANK YOU my brother! 🎶🎹🎶🎸

[@QuaverloveStudio]

Thanks, Chris. I've been guilty of adding plugins after gain staging, then going back and adjusting the pre-gain. Being told not to do that is one thing; explaining why it's not a good idea (as you've done) makes me more focussed on not doing it.

[@VersatileLifestyle1]

I do it like this, and plz let me know the right way. Beat -7 to -10 Rec -6 Vocal -6 to -16 Master -7 to -10 Peak I'm watching your video so i can lean more

[@reghoho]

what should i set the level on the audio interface for my mic for best results?

[@Kaalamardo]

Magnificent job 👏 thanks Chris

[@mixdownonline]

Thank you!

[@black_amadeus]

good summary. thanks. follow since 2019.

[@mixdownonline]

That's awesome! Thank you!

[@jordiguzman]

Hi Chris. I see that on your console the markers are always fixed. How do you do it? Thanks.

[@AlejoFalcesTango]

Greate video in a easy way. Only one think to say that’s it’s important to clarify. Normally the integration of a VU meter around 300 ms. The speed of the VU meter you are using look like a peak metering. I notice that, with the transient of the drum, it react super fast. 😊Have you change something on the plugins ? Or this VU meter has another integration time ? Normally a VU meter should read average (rms) but this one it’s has some Red Bull 🐂 inside 😅.

[@bjdarl24]

Really informative video. Thanks Chris.

[@mixdownonline]

Thank you!

[@xaosm_os]

Gainstaging like a Bro! Thanks.

[@daniel-5377]

Thank you very much, Chris.❤

[@mixdownonline]

Of course!

[@alainpatry]

Nice compilation! Question: When you convert instrument tracks to audio tracks, you can either gain stage them before rendering (ex: in the VST itself) OR you can gain stage them after rendering them to audio and are ready to start mixing? Either method is acceptable, yes?

[@javierpenya]

Great. Thanks, Chris. 👌

[@mixdownonline]

Of course!

[@1loveMusic2003]

You never know which plugins you will end up using so just gain stage and you don't have any worries. I consider it part of session prep like naming tracks and color coding.

[@DMidNyte]

My question is, when a track is in a fader, and running hot, there's the gain stage knobs right there. But if you have 2 or 3 tracks like this, and you pout them in a group, then the group gets hot. We'll you can hit that button again and everything seems fine. But what about putting a compressor on one? Or 2 - 3 other plugs...do you gain stage using the slider? Or the button that inside? And do you have any merch? I would love to have your logo on a hat, or shirt, or even a coffee mug. Mixdown brother!!!!

[@DMidNyte]

I think you answered my problem with gain staging, . Which just leaves me with "Make your mech happen!!"

[@mixdownonline]

Glad the video answered your questions :-) Thanks for your support, but I don't have available merch to sell at the moment, but I'm working on making this possible. Hang on!

[@laserjakk3629]

Chris is simply the best, one they I will travel from Brazil to Canada just to meet you and get a Mixdown Online Cap. If you have a small one, cuz even I'm an adult my head looks like a 12 years old boy hehehe!

[@jvaddison]

Hi Chris, great vid man. Question, so when ive Gain Staged with the pre-gain in mix console, you are definitely saying DO NOT touch pre-gain in mixcon after?

[@mixdownonline]

You can if you want, but you just need to consider that it will affect some of the plugins you might have on that channel, like compressor, limiters, clippers, saturators that will behave depending on the amount of signal they get.

[@pheldonmajors2999]

Thank you so much!

[@mixdownonline]

Of course!

[@MikeBrayton]

I've been doing this for a long time, and the whole concept of gain staging still mystifies me. I work in 32-bit floating point, all my audio files are in 32-bit floating point. Rarely do I experience distortion, even if I'm cranking the levels into and out of plugins, sometimes the faders are completely in the red. Seems like most of the plugins I use have input gain adjustment, so that helps. And if I want to gain up or gain down, I just add a gain plug-in. And if I'm coming in too hot on my 2-bus, or any of my buses, I can just use the gain control on the channel. I'm not certain why there's any need to understand -18 dbfs, unless we're sending the audio outside the box.

[@Satyrator_123-gy8vq]

Ok, when something in your track or chain or your master clips, turn down the levels. But i don't get why it is a problem, if nothing is clipping, but the level is a little too low on the master. We are in the digital domain, so there shouldn't be a real signal to noise ratio issue, as long as you don't use analog emulations correct? So why not simply put a gain plugin in the master and push it to -6dB in this case? Can someone explain?

[@ontrackrecstudioavk3881]

What to do when some instrument sound is too low after sound checking to reduce the gain staging level and the sound is too low to hear

[@MrDeki72]

Hi Chris, Is need to gain stage my mix-bus as well?

[@mixdownonline]

Yes, but no need to gain stage too quiet, so just make sure not to peak your Mis Bus. On my side, I don't go over -3 dbfs on peaks, so I keep some headroom for mastering

[@MrDeki72]

@@mixdownonline Ok. Thank you so much for your respond. :D

[@boudjouraftalal6859]

Very interesting thank you 🙏🙏

[@mixdownonline]

My pleasure

[@jvaddison]

You said something interesting but confusing to me 😊 about eq NOT been effected by the signal amount but by the signal itself 🤯🔨. What Do you mean by "Signal itself"? Do you mean reverb for instance?

[@mixdownonline]

I mean that it the amount of signal level going in an EQ won't affect the way the EQ will react, it still gonna EQ the same way whether it gets a quiet or loud signal :-) Hope that helps!

[@KenshoBeats]

How about some uad analoque emulations that are optimized at different levels from lets say -18 to about -12 dbfs?

[@mixdownonline]

That's exactly the dbfs range I aim. VU metering is an average level, and dbfs a peak level metering. So -18 to about -12 dbfs for gain staging is good to follow.

[@sammytheman8994]

What level should you record guitar DIs, to reamp later?

[@mixdownonline]

I keep the same, average of -18 to -15 dbfs

[@sammytheman8994]

@@mixdownonline thanks!! Why do some people say up before clipping?

[@Only_One_Eye]

THANKS!!!!!!❤

[@mixdownonline]

You're welcome!

[@Studio22mix]

Very good video about gain staging, I totally can agree upon 😊 Now hope that the comments will be respectful because for some people gain staging can be a very controversial topic. People who think gain staging doesn’t matter can be aggressively opinionated about it. For some people the topic can become a matter of life or death 😂

[@mixdownonline]

Lol, I know, some topics can get some people crazy LoL! But 99.5% of comments I usually receive are respectful, so that's good :-) Thanks for watching, my friend!

[@Studio22mix]

@@mixdownonline Ah well, I just came by to check if you did proper gain staging and you passed the test imo 😅😂🤣

[@alanredversangel]

Only part I don't get is, why mixdown a virtual instrument at a fairly low level when you can pretty much normalise the waveform. I guess it makes no difference either way?

[@BigLew4Christ]

It matters because if you push a vst into any effects on the mixer too hot, higher than -18, it may cause the plugin to not process the signal correctly.

[@alanredversangel]

@@BigLew4Christ In what way?

[@BigLew4Christ]

It can cause a type of unpleasant distortion when played back in larger speakers such as car speakers.

[@geondysiavichay371]

Bery good

[@mixdownonline]

Thanks

[@Sample_Props_Official]

Dont talk anymore. You are talking sh**.