What level to mix aim at?

What are your mix rms when your're done and are about to send it to the ME?

I always end up at -16

-16 is a bit much, any mastering engineer should never need as much as 16db of headroom.

I'd say about -6 is what i aim for.

-6 in RMS!? :O

I believe Outflow means -6 DB not RMS. I'm guessing he mistook "-16" for DB as you did not state pal.

yeah I kinda understood... I knew what he meant. But i just had to ask. :) Sometimes I master for clients too and I've had mixes brought to me that where around -6 to - 8 in rms.

But my question was "What are your mix rms...?" And of course I meant that I usually have my average rms value around -6 dB.

BIG PIMP DADDY is here giving free advice for a limited time.

The only place to leave headroom is in the bedroom.

boom.

My last couple of tracks were -4 RMS! I don't usually go that loud but it still sounded clean so i'm happy.

Towards the end of the mix I tend to put a limiter/compressor on the master and mix to a 'mastered' volume, then bypass that and then bounce the track down :)