Commercial CD Quality

I have burnt my first CD with Pro Tools 5.1.1 and was quite dissapointed to hear that my CD sounded not as loud as commercial CD's. What can I do to get my CD to sound as loud as commercial CD's. I am running Pro Tools on a Windows platform. Any help will be appreciated.

Simple answer. Buy Waves L1 Maximizer or a bundle that includes it.

If it just was that simple... Yes, with L1 you gain loudness, but take care: it can also destroy your sound (check also if the bass drum is still there). If you set the threshold too low, you get ugly distortion. Please note, that right EQing is an important part of loudness, too. Instead of L1 you can try Maxim as well. If you want a CD that is as loud as the Limp Bizkit CD take your mixes to a professional mastering studio. Good luck!

Is the main quality of a commercial cd it's loudness?

Keep in mind the tracks you bounce from protools must be MASTERED. Mastering is an entire different process usually (on "commercial cds") being in a mastering studio... Look in the DUC for mastering, Just me wrote here about 2 posts about "quick/home mastering" that'll fit your needs. Still, Waves Plugins or other "mastering" plugins should be used.

Hi again, Yes, it helps to do all of the above. However, simply just download a demo of L1 Maximizer at and choose 16 bit highest resolution mastering preset of L1 after you insert at the master fader. See if you like it. Eventhough it is a very complex plugin this preset alone makes a big difference in most cases. I posted a link of a mix that i di a while ago here and a lot of people liked it. I used L1. Try it first and see if it works for your mix. Your ears are the final judge.

Thanks for all the suggestions guys. Will try it over the weekend. I've got to stick my brain in the books now ... writing exams in the morning.

If you haven't already bought other plug-ins, you can always throw a stereo compressor and limiter on the master fader to squish and raise the level. You should be able to burn a CD then that has levels comparable to a commercial CD. Hope this helps.