Final mix peaks on CD

[ccriime]

When listening through my studio headphones or iMac, everything sounds fine. But after I burned it to CD with WaveBurner, it's way too loud for a regular old CD player.

The songs range from really quiet to really loud. Any tips for dealing with the loudness? (But please don't tell me to just squash it with a limiter.)

 

[TwoBytes]

It's all in the mix...

automate individual tracks
use a compressor on the final bus
...and then use a limiter 😉

no, really, the last two points are dangerous and more often than not, people screw up the song rather than 'master' the track. See a mastering video like this
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fXL5wvHWCPQ

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ols6lLhvTIw&feature=related

 

[ccriime]

I've reevaluated the problem a bit... The thing is that in WaveBurner (not too mention Logic Studio) the levels never go over 0.00 dB. Why should it peak on a CD?