Clipping is half the point. You smash SMASH SMASHHH the peaks and dynamics and CRUSH the life from the song until all you have is a rectangular waveform.

(use a limiter instead)
(limiters are comp's set with infinite ratios)

I'm sorry if I sound bitter and jaded. This is just really getting old...

Making tunes louder overall.

(Insert "beating a dead horse" image here)
(Dead Link Removed)
Yes, it comes in so handy that I keep it right in the root directory so I don't have to type so much.

Anyway - I'd go to the sticky (that says stuff like "Don't post about "how do I make stuff loud?" and what not - It's so overdone and beaten to a pulp that many of us are completely numb to the concept).

I use Adobe Audition 3.0 and I'm really new to compression. So I usually just use presets lol.

I'd start by getting to know the compressor... You don't learn to drive a car by watching - although you might pick up some tips. Same with presets. They're not there to actually be used - They're there to show you what the thing does. Unless you know what you want it to do, you're using the wrong settings by definition. Unless you have an "end game" in mind, then you're just guessing by definition.

But when I add all the tracks together it takes next to nothing before the mix starts clipping, then I gotta turn everything down and I have a quiet song.

Not knowing how to use a compressor isn't going to help here... See the above comment.

Any suggestions?

No. The slim majority of recordings done by professional engineers don't have the potential to hit the volume that a lot of the ultra-pop is being released at. I don't want to sound like Dr. Phil or whatever his name is, but this might be a classic case of "get real" -- Learn your tools first. Spend a few years (at least) getting the hang of things once you know your tools before worrying about goofy stuff like playback volume.

Freakish volume doesn't just happen - It's a team effort in most cases. Every step is limited (figuratively - not literally) by the step before it.

Getting away from the point that MASTERING IS NOT ABOUT VOLUME (godddammmiit!!!!), the greatest mastering engineer on the planet, with the most experience, using the greatest gear ever designed, is limited in potential by the mixes he's given.

Freakish volume doesn't just happen - It's a team effort in most cases. Every step is limited (figuratively - not literally) by the step before it.

Now that is funny. The second sentence, specifically. "Every step is limited[...]" How true.

A loudness maximiser should help in avoiding clipping.

Juno60 wrote: A loudness maximiser should help in avoiding clipping.

Please think about what you're saying before you give "advice". Remember that there are people here who do it for a living and they will call you on it.