How else could I state that? I want them as hot as they can be without clipping, distorting, overdriving.... www.thesaurus.com.....

I want them nominally as loud as they can be so I can CUT them when mixing.

Put your thumb and index finger a 1/4 inch apart. If that is my track, I can only boost it so much to blend it with the other tracks before I run out of "boost". Now put your thumb and index finger as far apart as they will go. If that is my starting point, I can always come DOWN. If I have nothing to work with, I can't make a quiet track go any higher than as high as it will go. I CAN, however, make a loud track be softer.

Nobody said I was slamming VU meters against the limits. Where did that come from? I specifically said I was NOT doing that. I would rather have a soft roar than a loud whisper. I am not going to get into a debate of -6 or -9 or whatever. My ear is my meter. When it sounds good to me, that's the right level no matter if it's analog, digital, digilog, anatal... whatever.

3 posts in and my original train of thought is gone already.

I am using the new 1040XTRAEZ form this year. It has just 2 lines.

1. How much did you make in 2023?
2. Send it to us.