How do I set audio levels in vegas 11?

[Grzegorz Kwiatkowski]

John,

I think you forgot to mention about the VU meters. The reference VU should be around -3 and not exceed 0.

[John Rofrano]

[Grzegorz Kwiatkowski] “I think you forgot to mention about the VU meters. The reference VU should be around -3 and not exceed 0.”

Actually no. If you gave a broadcaster audio at -3 dBFS they would probably reject it. Re-read my post. You need to conform to the specifications of the broadcaster. In my example above for PBS I use Wave Hammer as a brick wall limiter to ensure that the audio never goes above -10 dB. If you send PBS audio that is above -10dB you will get your show rejected. Using -3 dB for home video or creating music CD’s is fine but broadcast audio must conform to the specifications of the broadcaster which I have never seen that loud. You are correct that any audio should never go above 0 dBFS or you will experience hard digital clipping.

~jr

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