Professional Sound Volume

lol. Great info in here. i understand yep's posts, but some of the others got a bit to complex. but thanks for the info. Great great thread. All credit goes to me, for asking the question. ;] hahahahaaha just playing :D

I'm just a hobbyist doing his for my own plasure and I refuse to play the squash it game. I aim for roughly -14db rms and can generally get there witout limiting the 2 bus.

volumes..loud n soft 

A good mix will master well. The trick is to take out the unimportant frequencies and be aware of different frequency zones for different sounds. For example: sub cut you vocals quite a bit, Mid out your guitars and make sure your subs are tight and defined. Basically take out frequencies that are not important to each sound. This will give you a lot more volume overall and mastering will not be such a damaging process. That's my 2c worth.