Reaper volume low vs other audio sources

[PiersH]

The answer may be obvious but I find that the output volume from Reaper, when played live or played back, is way lower than that from other audio sources (VLC, YouTube etc). I generally have to turn them down to about 25% of theor volume to match levels. After rendering, the volumes are more comparable.

I have experimented with Audacity and Cubase LE and they're both much the same.

Does anyone know why ? Is there any way of increasing the volume, other than just redlining everything ? Is it simply to allow for the volume increase that might come from a complete multitrack mix ?

Any information, fixes or opinions gratefully received.

[nicholas]

Excuse me for stating the obvious, but I have no idea how much experience you have.

One possibility that comes to mind is simply that the recorded volume levels of your media items are on the low side. At what level is the VU meter in the Master peaking?

[valy]

Put a brickwall limiter on the master track (or preferably, a "mix bus" track that feeds all other tracks to the master track) and use it to boost the overall level without driving it enough to get into heavy compression.

It sounds like you might have something in your Monitoring FX chain that's lowering the volume, though. Because the render shouldn't be any different than what you hear in Reaper, volume-wise.

[PiersH]

Actually, simply turning up the input gain on my interface makes volume levels morre comparable. So, yes Nicholas, recorded volume levels were too low. I reckon now to keep the levels with just a little headroom before clipping when I play my loudest.

Again, thank you.

[nicholas]

Originally Posted by PiersH

Actually, simply turning up the input gain on my interface makes volume levels morre comparable. So, yes Nicholas, recorded volume levels were too low. I reckon now to keep the levels with just a little headroom before clipping when I play my loudest.

Again, thank you.

Remember that if recorded levels are low you can use the item volume handle to raise them after recording.

That's preferable to risking clipping ...

[astoni9]

Originally Posted by PiersH

The answer may be obvious but I find that the output volume from Reaper, when played live or played back, is way lower than that from other audio sources (VLC, YouTube etc). I generally have to turn them down to about 25% of theor volume to match levels. After rendering, the volumes are more comparable.

Does anyone know why ?

Normalize the peaks in your file. The other audio tracks may have normalized. I always do this before I upload anything to YouTube because it makes the audio significantly louder. You can search the Help in Reaper to see how to do this. Best!

Bruce