Help with making DJ mix consistent volume

Hi,

I use serato to mix on vinyl and record the mixes using serato but some songs are lower volume wise than others. I am trying to get a 90 minute wave to be roughly the same consistent volume without damaging the track.

I watched a video on YouTube where the guy uses a hard limiter to -8db, then amplifies the track to -0.1db but when the track was limited to -8 it sounded distorted even though nothing was clipping.

Does anyone have any advice on this? Thanks

I fixed the typo in the topic title.

This is one of the challenges of making a “live mix”.
The best way to make a “studio quality mix” is to not do it “live”. Just import the tracks into Audacity (or a DAW) and mix the tracks there.
The best way to make better “live mixes” is to practice and develop live mixing skills :wink:

So really what you are asking is (no offence intended, just defining the task in hand), “how do I make a not very good live mix sound better”.
One problem that you face is that because it is a live mix, the volume inconsistencies probably vary, especially during crossfades. Correcting this is time consuming, but can be done using the “Envelope tool”: http://manual.audacityteam.org/o/man/envelope_tool.html

A quicker way is to “compress the dynamics”. That can be done using a compressor or limiter. There are downsides to this approach. Excessive use of compressors can make the mix too even, resulting in a tedious monotony. Excessive use of limiters can distort the sound, though some limiters are better than others in this respect. Audacity 2.1.1 includes a good limiter: http://manual.audacityteam.org/o/man/limiter.html

Thanks - I will check out the envelope effect. Live mixing on a computer doesn’t feel right to me. I have used ableton live and didn’t like it for djing, only production. The problem is really that some songs in the mix are recorded at a lower volume or are compressed differently so some are louder than others and it’s not a massive deal but I’d just a tad annoying when skipping through the mix and having to change volume.