Adjusting volume for MP3 / AAC – SONNOX : Codec Toolbox

When exporting your song, we use a limiter/maximizer as the last step to maximize the sound.
The ceiling level for plugins when exporting to WAV should be set to「-0.1dB」.

However, recently the biggest platform for sharing has been changing to the internet.
When purchasing a song, many of us do so on iTunes or Amazon.

Many of these services use MP3 or AAC codec.

The problem here is when
the ceiling level is set to「-0.1dB」, the song will end up clipping.

A plugin that will recognize and prevent this from happening ahead of time is SONNOX’s Codec Toolbox.
You can check the clips that will occur after coding in real time.

Tutorial video

Video key point

This plugin must be placed last on the master insert.

After selecting the exported file type, turn on「Codec」and play the song.
Be sure to check the chorus and other parts with denser sound (loud areas).

It will simulate the type selected, and see if it will clip or not.

If it does clip, you can see how much via the master meter.
In this situation, it is going over「0.4dB」.

Lower the limiter/maximizer by the amount the level went over.

You can see the optimal level to export to just by doing this.

In addition, from the「nmr」(noise to make ratio) lamp,
you can see the frequencies that will be changed after turning into the selected file type.

Also, if using Logic and wanting to export to AAC (iTunes),
you can use the plugin shown below.