Why −10 to −6 dBFS?
Many plugins, especially ones modelled on analog gear, are designed around a working level well below 0 dBFS. Hit them much hotter and every compressor works too hard and saturators distort more than you meant. Go much quieter and you'll turn it up later, raising the noise with it.
How do you set the level?
- Find the loudest part of the performance and watch the peak meter on the track's input, before any plugin.
- When recording, set the level with the interface's gain knob, not the track fader. The fader comes after the plugins; it doesn't change what they receive.
- For a take that's already recorded, use clip (region) gain to bring its peaks into the window.
- Check again after each plugin: a plugin's output should be close to its input level, so you judge what it does, not how loud it is.
How does Ovrtone do it?
Ovrtone measures the level before and after every plugin on every track. Its engineer aims for vocal peaks of −10 to −6 dBFS into the chain and each plugin's output within 1 dB of its input, and measures before and after every change, so you can see where each track sits against the window.