How do you compare and reference your compression and limiting levels with other professional masters?

1 Why compare and reference?

Comparing and referencing your compression and limiting levels with other professional masters is a great way to check your work, learn from others, and avoid common mistakes. By listening to how other masters handle the dynamics, loudness, and balance of their tracks, you can get a better sense of what works and what doesn't, and how to adjust your own settings accordingly. Comparing and referencing can also help you avoid over-compressing or under-limiting your tracks, which can result in a loss of clarity, punch, or impact.

2 How to choose reference tracks?

The first step to compare and reference your compression and limiting levels is to choose some reference tracks that are relevant to your genre, style, and target audience. You want to pick tracks that have a similar vibe, energy, and mood as your own, and that represent the sound quality and standards you are aiming for. You can use tracks from your own collection, streaming services, or online databases, as long as they are high-quality and uncompressed. You can also use tracks that have different levels of compression and limiting, to see how they affect the sound and perception of the track.

3 How to set up your reference tracks?

The next step is to set up your reference tracks in your DAW or mastering software, so that you can easily switch between them and your own track. You can use a separate track, a plugin, or a dedicated app for this purpose, as long as you can control the volume, mute, solo, and bypass functions. You also want to make sure that you level-match your reference tracks with your own track, so that you are not influenced by the loudness difference. You can use a metering plugin, a loudness normalization feature, or your ears to do this.

4 How to listen and analyze?

The third step is to listen and analyze your compression and limiting levels in relation to your reference tracks. You want to focus on the overall dynamics, loudness, and balance of the track, as well as the individual elements, such as the drums, bass, vocals, and instruments. You can use different listening modes, such as mono, stereo, mid-side, or frequency bands, to isolate and compare different aspects of the sound. You can also use visual aids, such as waveform displays, spectrum analyzers, or dynamic range meters, to see how the compression and limiting affect the shape and range of the signal.

5 How to adjust and fine-tune?

The fourth step is to adjust and fine-tune your compression and limiting settings based on what you hear and see from your reference tracks. You don't want to copy or mimic the reference tracks exactly, but rather use them as a guide and inspiration for your own creative decisions. You can tweak the parameters, such as the threshold, ratio, attack, release, knee, makeup gain, ceiling, or dither, of your compression and limiting plugins, to achieve the desired effect on your track. You can also use parallel compression or multiband compression, to blend or control different parts of the signal.

6 How to test and validate?

The final step is to test and validate your compression and limiting levels by listening to your track in different contexts and environments. You want to make sure that your track sounds good and consistent on different speakers, headphones, devices, and platforms, and that it meets the loudness standards and specifications of your intended distribution channel. You can use online tools, such as loudness penalty or loudness war analyzer, to check how your track will be affected by streaming services or broadcast systems. You can also get feedback from other mastering engineers or listeners, to see how they perceive and respond to your track.