Right or wrong, I don’t ramp my songs up to 0 or in other words no headroom. I was taught that it is the same idea as giving a final mix to a mastering engineer; they need a bit of room to work. While it would be nice if streaming services didn’t mangle our submission, we know they are going to.
BIAB 2025 Win Audiophile. Software: Studio One 7 Pro, Swam horns, Acoustica-7, Notion 6, Song Master Pro, Win 11 Home. Hardware: Intel i9, 32 Gb; Roland Integra-7, Presonus 192 & Faderport 8, Royer 121, Adam Sub8 & Neumann 120 monitors.
Here is something else you might want to consider? I calibrated my monitor speakers using this guide from Presonus and has worked well for me. Since you already have Studio One Pro you have the tone gererator built into it. The only other thing you need to do is download a dB meter app to your phone and follow the guide. How Do I Calibrate My Studio Monitors?
BIAB 2025 Ultrapack- Studio One Pro 7 Windows 11, Mac Mini M4 with Logic Pro 11, Melodyne Studio
You also have tons of experience. Would you agree with the other basic statement I made: "In the end, I think Mario has it right: send your audio in the best quality they accept..."?
Yes, absolutely.
For ideal results, the goal should to learn what that "best quality" is for one's most used platform. That said, AppleMusic standards are not going to cause problems with most services and platforms. Those of us who master for clients need to know their exact needs and have the tools & experience to use them. I posted a couple of mine.
In the extreme example I cited, I drove the couple hours to the K-Love broadcast HQ to get an exact rundown of their technical specs. Having had a Class 1 FCC license in my background when I managed a 10W FM station didn't hurt (yeah, I speak broadcast-geek). That's a market of 520 stations and translators—artists who get regular play reach an estimated 20–30M listeners not counting internet.
BIAB 2024 Audiophile Mac 24Core/60CoreGPU M2 MacStudioUltra/8TB/192GB Sequoia, M1 MBAir, 2012 MBP Digital Performer11, LogicPro, Finale27/Dorico/Encore/SmartScorePro64/Notion6 /Overture5
The only other thing you need to do is download a dB meter app to your phone and follow the guide.
Outside of monitoring SPL at live events, I don't see the use.
It does not replace calibrating studio monitors to one's listening position with a dedicated measurement microphone and apps for applying and storing the settings. At $299, ARC Studio isn't bad but, with only 9 bands of adjustment, isn't great either. Here's a rundown of Room/Monitor Calibration Apps & Hardware ranging from $299—$12,000.
The nice thing about a box is that is stores the settings in your monitoring chain. 'Apps-only' such as the ARC 4 App require the settings to be inserted when you monitor and bypassed when you export the audio or bounce to disk. There is a workaround for Mac using an Aggregate Device to host the app but Windows does not have this functionality—again, the box makes it a non-issue.
BIAB 2024 Audiophile Mac 24Core/60CoreGPU M2 MacStudioUltra/8TB/192GB Sequoia, M1 MBAir, 2012 MBP Digital Performer11, LogicPro, Finale27/Dorico/Encore/SmartScorePro64/Notion6 /Overture5
Good for you, I guess, but the industry does not use this except when mastering to CD where -0.1 dB is the goal. As Matt already posted:
Quote
Right or wrong, I don’t ramp my songs up to 0 or in other words no headroom. I was taught that it is the same idea as giving a final mix to a mastering engineer; they need a bit of room to work
Although there is no hard industry standard, no one I know wants to see tracks submitted that exceed -3 dB, I include myself.
BIAB 2024 Audiophile Mac 24Core/60CoreGPU M2 MacStudioUltra/8TB/192GB Sequoia, M1 MBAir, 2012 MBP Digital Performer11, LogicPro, Finale27/Dorico/Encore/SmartScorePro64/Notion6 /Overture5
Here is something else you might want to consider? I calibrated my monitor speakers using this guide from Presonus and has worked well for me. Since you already have Studio One Pro you have the tone gererator built into it. The only other thing you need to do is download a dB meter app to your phone and follow the guide. How Do I Calibrate My Studio Monitors?
Another useful post, thanks for sharing. Here is how I'm understanding the factors at play; there are many.
https://soundcloud.com/user-646279677 BiaB 2025 Windows For me there’s no better place in the band than to have one leg in the harmony world and the other in the percussive. Thank you Paul Tutmarc and Leo Fender.
I agree with the ARC. I have the version 3 with the calibration mic. I also use Sonarworks reference that is calibrated for my AKG K240 headphones which pretty much gives me a good Idea of what my actual mix sounds like without the room.
BIAB 2025 Ultrapack- Studio One Pro 7 Windows 11, Mac Mini M4 with Logic Pro 11, Melodyne Studio
I agree with the ARC. I have the version 3 with the calibration mic. I also use Sonarworks reference that is calibrated for my AKG K240 headphones which pretty much gives me a good Idea of what my actual mix sounds like without the room.
The ARC 3 upgrade to 4 can’t have been handled worse. Though I purchased 3 + mic directly and emailed the receipt to Customer Support, they wouldn’t let me just purchase the ARC box (comes with 4). Finally, they had a sale and I had enough Jam Points to get the box with another mic at lower cost. I should sell that extra Measurement Mic on Reverb.
As for the differences between ARC 3 and 4, I wouldn’t spend $99 just for that. IKM has so many bundles etc. that 4 is likely to be included in the next thing you buy anyway.
I went for the Slate VSX system a couple years ago. It’s pretty good but I can’t say that I prefer it to calibrated monitor speakers. Nice to get a different perspective now and then.
BIAB 2024 Audiophile Mac 24Core/60CoreGPU M2 MacStudioUltra/8TB/192GB Sequoia, M1 MBAir, 2012 MBP Digital Performer11, LogicPro, Finale27/Dorico/Encore/SmartScorePro64/Notion6 /Overture5
That's exactly how I have acquired a lot IKM products is with them bundle sales and have received many great deals over the years. Thanks for the heads up.
BIAB 2025 Ultrapack- Studio One Pro 7 Windows 11, Mac Mini M4 with Logic Pro 11, Melodyne Studio
Video: Band-in-a-Box® 2025 for Mac®: VST3 Plugin Support
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Band-in-a-Box® 2025 for Macs®: VST3 Plugin Support
Video: Band-in-a-Box® 2025 for Mac®: Using VST3 Plugins
With the release of Band-in-a-Box® 2025 for Mac, we’re rolling out a collection of brand-new videos on our YouTube channel. We’ll also keep this forum post updated so you can easily find all the latest videos in one convenient spot.
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Band-in-a-Box® 2025 for Mac is here, packed with major new features and an incredible collection of available new content! This includes 202 RealTracks (in Sets 449-467), plus 20 bonus Unreleased RealTracks in the 2025 49-PAK. There are new RealStyles, MIDI SuperTracks, Instrumental Studies, “Songs with Vocals” Artist Performance Sets, Playable RealTracks Set 4, two new sets of “RealDrums Stems,” XPro Styles PAK 8, Xtra Styles PAK 19, and more!
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È stata aggerate la versione in Italiano del programma più amato dagli appassionati di musica, il nostro Band-in-a-Box.
Questo è il link alla nuova versione 2025.
Di seguito i link per scaricare il pacchetti di lingua italiana aggiornati per Band-in-a-Box e RealBand, anche per chi avesse già comprato la nuova versione in inglese.
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Le téléchargement se fait à partir du site PG Music
Pour ceux qui auraient déjà acheté la version 2025 de Band-in-a-Box (et qui donc ont une version anglaise), il est possible de "franciser" cette version avec les patchs suivants:
Band-in-a-Box 2025 für Windows Deutsch ist verfügbar!
Die deutsche Version Band-in-a-Box® 2025 für Windows ist ab sofort verfügbar!
Alle die bereits die englische Version von Band-in-a-Box und RealBand 2024 installiert haben, finden hier die Installationsdateien für das Sprachenupdate:
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