Setting the correct mix level

One of the most common conversations among both beginners and seasoned music engineers is about the right loudness level for mixing music. There is some personal preference at play but the most important thing to consider is Headroom, which is how much dynamic range a mix has over the target mix level. For instance, if I am mixing a piece of music to a target of -10 dB LUFS, that gives very little room above that target for signals to go over before they distort. However, if I set my target to -24 dB LUFS I have a lot more range to play with.

This might seem like something that is not consequential – can’t you just compensate by turning certain things down? The reality is our ears and brains don’t perceive loudness equally across the spectrum of frequencies. You can look at something called the Equal Loudness Curve if you want to get the exact details, but the core concept is that we as humans have evolved to hear sounds that fall...