2. Gain staging: levels from start to finish
What gain staging is, why you don't need to record hot at 24 bits, how tracks add up and where the level gets set at each stage.
Gain staging means keeping a reasonable level at each point in the chain: the interface, the track, the plugins, the buses and the output. It isn’t an advanced technique, and it’s what prevents most distortion and odd-sounding plugins.
Why you don’t need to record hot
A belief inherited from the days of tape and 16 bits says you have to record as close to the maximum as possible. At 24 bits that’s no longer necessary: the digital noise floor sits far below any real noise from your room or preamp.
What you gain by leaving margin
- No clipping when the take gets better than you expected.
- Comfortable plugins: many that emulate analog gear are calibrated for moderate levels.
- A mix with air: tracks add up, and if each one comes in hot, the master saturates.
The numbers at each stage
Set with the iD44's gain. It's the only stage where a mistake stays forever. Superior Drummer 3 works by the same criterion, at −10 to −6 dBFS per channel.
Set with the event volume or a gain plugin at the start of the chain, not with the fader. That way each plugin receives a similar level, no matter how the track was recorded.
It's what you hand over to mastering. It leaves margin for the limiter to do its job. If you go over, lower all the tracks together or the bus, not the Main channel.
The only irreversible thing is the recording: a clip can't be fixed. Everything else can be corrected later with a gain move.
How tracks add up
That’s why a mix fills up all at once, even when each track is low:
- Two identical tracks rise by 6 dB when summed.
- Two different tracks at the same level rise by about 3 dB.
- A 20-track mix can rise quite a lot, even though each track has moderate peaks.
Gain or fader
- Gain: before the plugins. It defines the level they work with.
- Fader: after the inserts. It defines how much of that track is heard in the mix.
If you have a fader very low so a track doesn’t bother you, and that track’s compressor is behaving oddly, it’s probably getting too much level. Lower the gain and raise the fader.
Check it
Load a take and see which zone the peaks land in. If it falls in the green, you don’t have to think about this again until you start mixing.
Recording monitor
Play a signal or load your own DI/take and look at the level and the spectrum: that's how you know whether your take was recorded well before moving on to the mix.
- •Level — the peak should fall in the green zone (−12 to −6 dBFS): strong, with plenty of headroom.
- •Clip — if it touches 0 dB (red) there's digital distortion: lower the interface gain and re-record.
- •Spectrum — a metal rhythm guitar has body in the low mids and energy at 2–5 kHz; very high “fizz” gets tamed in the mix.
- •🎸 Bass — a synthesized riff with dynamics: ideal for hearing compression.
- •📢 Pink noise — an even sound across the whole spectrum: ideal for “seeing” the EQ.
- •🎵 Load your audio — your own file (MP3, WAV, OGG, FLAC, M4A…); it's processed locally in your browser and isn't uploaded anywhere.
🟩 Ideal zone: −12 to −6 dB. Avoid touching 0 dB (clip).
Common mistakes
What NOT to chase yet
Quick path: levels
Quick path
- Record with peaks of −12 to −6 dBFS, adjusting on the iD44.
- When you start mixing, leave each track with peaks of −12 to −10 dBFS.
- Do it with the event gain, not the fader.
- If the Main channel goes above −6 dBFS, lower all the tracks together.
- Don't put a limiter on the mix to gain volume.
Expected result
Expected result
Tracks with no clipping, plugins that respond as expected and a mix with margin to the end, without having to think about levels all the time. What comes next is how you hear yourself while recording: monitoring and latency.