Here is an update from my audio experiment on Sunday. I have been doing some research and along with the feedback provided by readers, I remixed the track from scratch. The source is 2.0 PCM 24 bit, and the goal is to create a track that sounds better than what a pro-logic decoder can produce.

I received a few different and conflicting remarks, so I thought it would be best to create each track at the same peak level, and to leave enough headroom for any dynamic adjustments. Even though I used the same processors, my overall approach on the new mix was totally different.

 

Below are some graphs that show the sound levels between the old mix, and the new. 

If you look at the top blue line in the Old Mix (right graph), you will notice that it pretty much runs constant at 0dB, which is as high as a digital signal can go. This blue line represents the surrounds, which is constantly higher than all other channels. The lower purple line is the LFE, in the old mix it peaked near 0dB at the end, when that massive space ship was entering the Earth’s atmosphere.

Now, comparing to the New Mix (left graph), the surround channels do not dominate, and the LFE is not as high either, peaking at -10dB.

The following graphs show RMS instead of Peak levels:

In the Old Mix (right graph) the surround channels are represented at the top line, and as shown in the Peak level graph, are constantly higher than all the other channels. I did not notice that on my setup, but one commentator did mention that it sounded like everything was coming from the surrounds. This would explain it. On the New Mix (left graph) the surround channels are generally at lower levels, but there are some moments where they stand out. The purple line is the LFE, which is lower, but there is a higher level of range.

You can try the New Mix out and let me know how you like it. They can be found here.