Premiere inconsistently reading audio peaks

p.s.

typically I do that adjustment to see it on timeline and then match the levels as desired using edit control ( show volume line and lower or raise slightly as needed ). I do it, listen to mix, do it again, listen again, and get my balance that way ( let's say between background music, voice over, and other sounds ).

Is kinda easy but takes a few minutes ... 

good luck

don't forget to expand each audio track to the same size ( vertically ) so the waveforms are the same basic size . that allows you to visually see what the peaks are.

overlapping the same volumes levels does not add accumulative gain to your edit...it just stays at the highest audio track of the mix.

it may LOOK like the waveforms are the same when too small in UI to see the real peaks...so then you can use the UI stuff to solo each track and try to see that difference in real time, but it's not as good as seeing it visually on the timeline, in terms of accuracy of where ONE OR MORE of tracks are higher.

The three audio transitions have different effects ... constant gain, constant power, and exponential fade. Try them out to find out which works for you.

Neil

When adding any audio together it will get louder, you would expect about a 3db rise when adding two similar level tracks together. I would use some sort of dynamics treatment on the master track to control the peaks.