Gain Staging

Gain staging is the practice of managing volume as audio passes through your signal chain — from the recorded source through plugins, channel strips, buses, and the master. The goal is to keep each stage at a healthy level: loud enough to sit well above the noise floor, but with enough space below clipping that peaks pass through cleanly. Poor gain staging pushes plugins into unintended distortion, makes your metering unreliable, and forces you to fight the mix later. A common approach is to keep consistent, moderate levels early and leave the loudest decisions for mixing and mastering, so every processor receives a signal in its sweet spot rather than slammed against the ceiling.