Mastering Software, what are you using

[funk]

Hi All.
I am just curious as to what mastering software if any of you are using and if you feel the results for "paid mastering" is as that much better than what you have done is worth the expense.

As we all know a good mix is far better by its self than a bad mix with the best mastering,
so assuming the mix is the best we can get it, then what ?
I have been in two minds with this of late as mastering to me years ago was about getting the most volume out of LPs
with out the needle jumping all over the place and to have the gaps between the songs the same and all the songs the same volume and same sort of sound.
It seems now individual tracks are being mastered and released which seems daft as when you do a whole cds worth of tracks you have to have them all done again.... is the way im thinking.

As for software the best i have found which is also free ( for use up to about 4 mins a go) is the AAMS auto mastering software,
http://www.curioza.com/
seems to work great on some settings and not so good on others depending on what type of style of music you are using as a ref.
i have been happy enough with the results and for free? cant grumble at all.

in the uk there are great guys who go that much further to getting your tracks sounding great like adam van ryne
and very reasonable prices per track about £70ish
http://www.vanryne.com/work.html

so... what yall think ? whats out there.
oh and do you compress a final mix ? on the LR main outs ?
Cheers all, i understand its a large subject and everyone is going to submit "their" way of doing it and there is no real right way of doing it let your ears do the work..
but at the mo im all ears and open to new ideas and ways to do this.

[anyhorizon]

iZotope Ozone. Pretty remarkable.

Peter

[Old School]

Hi,
I have had occasion to use some professional mastering houses (some of them very expensive) for some of my clients. The results, for the most part, were not impressive. Only one house made what I considered to be an impressive improvement on a track and when I sent him more work, he failed to duplicate that level of brilliance.
What I have found is that my power amp was holding me back. Most modern power amps color the sound far more than you realize, especially (but not limited to) the extreme low and high end frequencies. The power amps I have personally found to improve my mastering have been a phase linear and a David Hafler from the last century. These boat anchors will reveal things that you could not hear before and if you can't hear it you can't fix it. Just check out the technical specs on these units (Phase linear 400 and a David Haffler DH200) Trust your ears.

Have a blessed day in Christ,
Mike W.

[Crash]

I spent the last year investing in 2bus toys and so far liked the results. I used to use Final Mix with the Massenburg parametric on the master and that is a quite powerful combo to get your mix to gel a bit. I have since gone external boxes and no longer use software for the most part though I occasionally still use the Massenburg on the master.

My set up now is Digital out of the d8b into an Apogee AD8000 to convert digital into analog, soft limit on. The signal leaves the AD8000 and hits an A-Designs Nail, then an A-Designs EM-EQ2 pultec type EQ.From there I am hitting aq Clariphonic M/S and then back into the AD8000 to go back from analog to digital. After the conversion there, I am hitting a Waves L2 for some slight limiting before hitting my Masterlink. The monitoring of this chain happens at the "digital in 1" on the console, this allows me to listen to the "Master L/R" pre processing or post with the hit of a button. I can bypass any link in the chain at that particular unit itself.

While I like the recall of software, I hate having to be an ITguy when it comes to software updates and computer upgrades. I have seen many of my engineer buddies bitch that their rock solid rigs all of the sudden go tits up when there is some sort of upgrade. Then they get to spend hours trying to untangle that web.... The d8b plugs are about as far as I want to go with that sort of thing.

I never feel like I own software. I am old school like that I guess.

[funk]

Hi pete, iZotope Ozone.i will check that out, thanks

Hi Crash, i have not tried using, Massenburg on the master, having only just got it via the crac ( you guys rule )
but will have a go at it.
"
My set up now is Digital out of the d8b into an Apogee AD8000 to convert digital into analog, soft limit on. The signal leaves the AD8000 and hits an A-Designs Nail, then an A-Designs EM-EQ2 pultec type EQ.From there I am hitting aq Clariphonic M/S and then back into the AD8000 to go back from analog to digital. After the conversion there, I am hitting a Waves L2 for some slight limiting before hitting my Masterlink. The monitoring of this chain happens at the "digital in 1" on the console, this allows me to listen to the "Master L/R" pre processing or post with the hit of a button. I can bypass any link in the chain at that particular unit itself."

Wow,,, i tried to follow that but got lost after "out of the d8b" .... between when you converted it digi to analog out then analog to digi back in, at that point when you listen, what would you say the difference in sound was that you could not get inside the d8b ?

I know what your saying about about being an it guy, i tend to stick with what works and not get dragged along with the new hype, my friends cubase keeps crashing and he thinks its because he just keeps adding things to try.
cheers chash

hi Mike, yep, i tend to agree with you with what i have tried so far, i dont think the expense on a single track for me was worth it, good tracks speak for them selfs, i will check out those power amps, my old one was a quad 303 for years then upgraded to a 405, i have now sold that and just use powered mons, but do miss my quad.
cheers mike

[Crash]

Hey Funk, I was happy with what I could get out of the d8b with Final Mix and the Massenburg but I still felt like I was not getting that finished record sound with those plugins alone. There is as sheen and presence I get with the outboard boxes that is missing when I don't use this stuff. I think a lot of it is that am not asking any one box to do a lot of what it does, if that makes sense. The Clariphonic is an interesting box that I am still wrapping my noggin around but it is so far very much like audio crack. You could easily over do it, especially with some of the bands. At the moment I am sort of living with a bit of "lift" in the Focus band a touch of "presence" in the Clarity section and have liked the results.

I am sure there are many ways to get there be it software or hardware but this where I am this week.

[funk]

Hi Crash, yea i know what you mean about "not getting that finished record sound" thats why i used AAMS but some times when i wash it through AAMS its no better, infact i would say worse depending on what you are aiming for.
i am trying to keep my sound as clear as poss ( as we all are) so im using less boxes between instrument and the hdr,
once all my tracks are down in there rawest form possible i try and keep them like that as much as i can, using eq and a bit of comp on bass drum and bass, for me at all starts with bass drum and bass, i can spend hours editing all the notes so they snap together with the bass drum right n tight, this i find in any track is time well spent and no amount of effects will get results as good as this, alot of time but gives the track that solid grounding to build on.
I will check out Clariphonic, not heard of that.
Cheers Crash thanks for your input.

[46041110]

谢谢！！！！！

[arjepsen]

Uhm... who is this 46... guy?

[funk]

No idea,