[Ardour-Users] Peak levels on master bus vs single track

[Alf Haakon Pietruszka Lund]

On 02. mars 2017 21:39, Robin Gareus wrote:

<snip>

> The signal level of a sum of 2 signals may be higher (up to 6dB in case
> of 2 signals) or it may be lower in case some parts cancel each other out.
>
> If you sum two tracks both having the same sine-wave at -6dBFS, the
> result (on master) is 0dBFS [1].

One of the reasons I was surprised was that it was 'the sum' of ONE 
TRACK peaking differently in Master Bus. I should have mentioned in my 
OP that I was checking with a single track as well as with combinations 
of tracks.

Paul's answer really is the right - the track meter (peak) is configured 
differently from the master meter (RMS / K).

And if I understand those readings I did correctly [1], the Master Bus 
peaking at 0.9 is not really 'clipping'...

Regards, Al F

[1] http://manual.ardour.org/meters/ & 
http://www.digido.com/how-to-make-better-recordings-part-2.html