Adjusting a Channel’s Downmix Volume
Each audio output bus has an adjustable downmix level that is applied only when you
downmix your audio. Each audio output bus’s level is attenuated (or increased) by the
number of decibels specified in the Downmix pop-up menu for the bus, in the Audio
Outputs tab of the Sequence Settings window for the current sequence.
You should leave the default settings unless your stereo downmix has distortion or
is too quiet. If your downmix level exceeds 0 dBFS, you may need to attenuate the
downmix level of some of your output busses. If your downmix is too low, you can
boost downmix levels to increase output level. Typically, the more channels you are
downmixing, the more reduction is necessary for each channel to make sure the
downmixed stereo signal doesn’t exceed 0 dBFS, which would cause distortion.
One of the main purposes of downmix level adjustments is to maintain mono channel
levels when downmixing common 5.1-channel surround sound, for which there are
industry-standard settings. After using the Match Audio Outputs command on a
recognized 5.1-channel surround sound clip, industry-standard level adjustments are
applied to the audio outputs’ downmix levels. You can verify these settings in the
Audio Outputs tab of the Sequence Settings window.