Headroom in Audio: Why I Don't Aim for -6 dB

I don't think about headroom while I'm mixing.

I'm mixing into a compressor.

A clipper.

Saturation.

Multiband.

And a limiter.

I'm listening to the track.

Does it sound big?

Is it clear?

Does it feel comparable to finished records?

Sometimes I'll get the mix sounding right.

Then I'll look at the limiter.

Nearly 8 dB of gain reduction.

I didn't aim for that.

That's just where the mix ended up.

It's only when I remove the limiter and move towards mastering that I look at the level.

I don't aim for headroom while I'm mixing.

I create it at the end.

What Headroom Actually Is

Headroom is simply the space between the loudest peak in your mix and 0 dBFS.

The digital ceiling.

If your loudest peak reaches -6 dBFS, you have 6 dB of headroom.

If it reaches -2 dBFS, you have 2 dB.

That's all the number is telling you.

But headroom doesn't tell you whether the mix sounds good.

It doesn't tell you if the kick hits.

If the bass is clear.

Or if the track feels big.

It's a measurement.

Why I Don't Aim for -6 dB

You'll often hear that a mix should peak at -6 dBFS before mastering.

I don't mix that way.

If I'm constantly watching the master and trying to protect 6 dB of headroom, I'm thinking about the number.

I'm listening for something else.

Does the track sound big?

Is the low end clear?

Does the kick hit?

If it sounds right, I keep working.

I deal with the headroom when I remove the limiter.

What Happens When I Remove the Limiter

The limiter comes off.

Then I listen.

The compressor.

The clipper.

The saturation.

The multiband.

Whether they stay depends on what they're adding.

I take them away.

Put them back.

Listen to what changes.

If they're part of the sound, they stay.

If they're not adding something I want to keep, they can go.

That's why I treat the limiter differently.

It's part of the sound while I'm mixing too.

Driving the whole track into it creates another level of glue.

For peak-energy tracks built for the dancefloor, that pressure is part of the sound.

They have to be pushed.

But when I move towards mastering, the limiter is still the first thing I take away.

Then I listen to what the rest of the chain is actually doing.

Then I look at the mix.

Where are the peaks?

Where is the level sitting?

I use a clean output trim at the end of the chain to bring the level down.

The processing stays exactly where it was.

I'm just changing the final output level.

By that point, the mix already sounds the way I want it to sound.

Now I can think about mastering.

What If the Limiter Is Taking Off 8 dB?

Does that mean there's a problem?

Not necessarily.

The track I mentioned earlier sounded fat.

Clear.

Big.

So I wasn't worried about the number.

If the limiter starts changing the track in a way I don't like, that's different.

The kick disappears.

The low end starts moving strangely.

The mix gets smaller.

Then I'll go back and find out why.

But 8 dB of gain reduction isn't automatically a problem.

The sound tells me there's a problem before the number does.

So How Much Headroom Do You Need?

There isn't a number I aim for.

I'm not trying to land at exactly -6 dBFS.

I look at what I've got.

Then work from there.

If I need more room, I can create it.

Turning a clean mix down doesn't change the mix.

It just changes the level.