Why is there two master levels? - quick question.

why is it that on the master track there are to sets of levels. one inner and two outer, this would bother me except they tend to have different values. and when mixing which is the one to be concerned about? thanks.

I had got the same question here: Michael

cool cheers, still, which one should i avoid going above 0 on, is that both?

The two levels you see are "Peak" and "RMS". Peak level (the higher of the two) is the most common that you see on all other DAW's that only use one level. The Peak is the loudest hits in your project (mostly drums with some exceptions). The RMS level (the lower of the two) is the body of music, almost like an average. If this is much lower than the peaks then your mix will appear to be very quiet. If the RMS level is closer to your Peak level then your mix will appear very loud (hence the "Loudness Wars" - google this for a good explanation). Where the RMS falls in relation to the Peak is all user taste. Personally, I like to hear dynamics in my mixes so I don't get caught up in the loudness wars. You canraise your RMS level to suit with a good limiter in the mastering process, or just on the master track when you are finished with your mix. The higher registering on your limiter, the higher you will get your RMS level because the limiter will keep your Peak level not to exceed zero dB. Again the higher the RMS level the less dynamics your mix will have. I usually like to see the limiter just registering - but that's just my taste.

It depends not just on loudness (RMS level). The most of all it depends of a quality of instruments (sound source), song arrangement, recording quality and techniques, and at last, the mix style and quality. I've done some recordings that had -15dBFS RMS in the mix and sounded very little dynamic. I've also done some recordings with very good quality sources, equipment and nice arrangement witch had only -9dBFS RMS in the mix and still dounded very dynamic. Listen to the Bon Jovi from Crossroads Album, they are aboud -18dB and sound not so dynamic as Creed Wetheread witch has -9, sometimes even -7dB RMS loudness. Like I said, there are many dimensions that influences on loudness/dynamics differences.

I've never touched those settings: Michael

really? weird. default "display offset" and "red treshold" should be 0dB for new installations IMO. but on the other side: i don't care. I'm mixing with 20dB "display offset" + 4dB "red treshold" which is basically K-20.