Lately I’ve been getting a ton of questions about gain staging—specifically how to set your mic and audio interface so you’re hitting your DAW at the right level every single time. Before we even start talking about analog gear or plugins, we have to cover the basics, because gain staging is arguably the most important step in recording. You’ll hear people throw out numbers like -18 dBFS, -12, even -6, and it gets mad inconsistent. In this video I show you a way easier method that takes the guesswork out. The main tool I’m using is the Waves WLM Meter, which is honestly one of my favorite plugins I own because it’s so crucial. I look at a LUFS meter the same way I look at a color checker/exposure card for video: if you don’t nail it at the source, fixing it later is a headache. I’m aiming for about -25 to -23 LUFS short-term so you’re not clipping (that nasty distorted sound) and you’re not recording too low and living near the noise floor. When you record in that sweet spot, you get a clean signal that’s easy to work with in post—and once you’re properly gain staging, almost any mic and interface can sound great.