concepts one cannot do without
start your recording and mixing at “0VU = -18 dbfs” to have enough headroom
have most channels close to this level or -24dbfs
this should aid your gain staging
Normalise yourself, the less the compression the better
-16 LUFS music, -23 LUFS television (highest recommendation although -13 LUFS music good)
LUFS meters most preferred during mastering
PPM more preferred for fast transients, drums, etc
VU preferred general mixing(easier) so long as its reference to 0 dbfs is set properly