Gain staging is controlling how loud the signal is at every step of your chain, so that nothing distorts and nothing sinks into noise. It's one of the least exciting topics in production, and one of the few that improves every mix you make. If your tracks sound harsh, flat or oddly crowded no matter how many plugins you add, levels are the first thing to check.
The one number to understand: 0 dBFS
In digital audio, 0 dBFS is the ceiling. Everything is measured below it, so your levels are negative numbers: -6, -12, -18. Anything that tries to go above 0 dBFS at the converter or in the exported file is clipped, and clipping sounds like a hard, buzzy crunch that can't be repaired afterwards.
Modern DAWs work in floating point internally, so a channel can pass 0 dB on the screen without clipping inside the software. That's why some producers think levels don't matter any more. They still do, for reasons below.
Recording: leave room above your peaks
When you record a vocal or an instrument, set the input gain so that the loudest moments peak somewhere around -12 to -6 dBFS. Don't chase a level that nearly touches 0. At 24-bit the noise floor is far below the part you care about, so there's nothing to gain from recording hot, and a lot to lose.
- Ask the singer to perform the loudest chorus line while you set the level. People sing louder when they're excited.
- If the meter shows red or clip at any time, lower the gain and record again. A clipped take can't be fixed by turning it down.
- Don't worry that the waveform looks small. You can raise it later without harm.
Inside the project: trim first, then plug-ins
Every plugin has a level it likes to see at its input. Many plugins that model analog gear, such as compressors, saturators and tape effects, are built around a nominal level near -18 dBFS average. Feed them far hotter than that and they distort more than you intended, even though the track meter looks healthy. Feed them too quietly and they barely do anything.
A good habit:
- Put a simple gain or trim plugin first on each channel.
- Set the trim so the track's average level sits around -18 dBFS and the peaks are comfortably below 0. Treat this as a starting point, not a law.
- After each plugin that changes level, such as an EQ boost or a compressor with make-up gain, bring the output back to where it was. Compare on and off at the same loudness, because louder always sounds better at first.
Why clipping inside plugins matters
Some plugin stages clip internally even in a floating-point DAW, and many limiters and distortion units react to what they receive, not to what the track meter shows. A kick drum that peaks above 0 dB before a saturator may be distorted in a way you can't undo by turning the fader down later.
Watch the input and output meters inside the plugin itself. If a plugin has a clip light, don't ignore it.
Faders, buses and the master
Once the levels going into plugins are sensible, build the balance with faders. Keep them near 0 dB as much as you can, so that you can move up and down. If every fader is at the bottom or the top, return to the trim and fix it there.
Group related tracks to buses such as drums, vocals and music. Check the levels on each bus so the sum doesn't get hotter than the parts.
On the master bus, aim for peaks somewhere around -6 dBFS, and take any limiter off during the mix. Your mix doesn't have to sound loud. It has to sound balanced, because mastering raises the loudness at the end. A mix that peaks at -6 gives the mastering step room to work, whether that's an engineer or you.
A simple routine
- Record with peaks around -12 to -6 dBFS.
- Trim every track to a similar average level before any plugin.
- Keep faders near 0 dB and use them for balance.
- After every level-changing plugin, match the output to the input.
- Check the bus meters, then the master peaks, around -6 dBFS.
- Set your monitor volume once and leave it alone, so your ears don't trick you into raising levels.
- Export at the project's sample rate and bit depth, and listen to the file you exported before you send it anywhere.
Do this on three songs and it becomes automatic. Your plugins will behave, your mixes will translate better, and the mastering step will stop fighting problems you created at the start.