How do I that smooth-loudness in mastering

[steveha2865]

I've been using the Massey limiter for about a year and love it. It's very effective and musical. I don't believe that it will go above 48 KHz though. At least in my PT8 LE system. The price is very good also.

[eokamura]

All the massey stuff rules! I love the TD5 analog delay especially and the demos are free and are functional forever. Can't save your settings or bypass the effect and some other things but the price is right. That said they're very reasonably priced and you should throw him a bone and buy a couple if you download the demos and like them. eo.

[mojobone]

Massey has some cool free goodies for folks that buy one of his plugs, too. I'd avail myself, but I don't think he has VST versions, yet.@OP: Better to do a couple of passes of mild compression than do too much at once and risk distortion-it's a destructive process, though you can usually start over from scratch if you find you've gone too far. To achieve the smoothest possible results, you'll want to use a multi-band compressor followed by a limiter-you can get get a huge increase in apparent volume without much noticeable distortion, but you'll be trading off some punch and dynamic range to get it.

[ernstinen]

Well, if you WANT to make one analog pass, I'd highly recommend the Empirical Labs Fatso. I run all my digital mixes through a Soundcraft board into the Fatso. It emulates all kinds of analog effects, and you can dial in input/output levels to your digital mastering DAW.I know this is "old school," but it makes my mixes sound so warm and sweet. BUT, it's about $2k, so it depends if you want to buy an analog 2-track to mix to and deal with the maintenence, or buy the Fatso that can do everything you want (including compression/limiting). It's a great piece of gear, albeit pricey.Ern

[robchiarelli]

Interesting thread... I see a lot of great suggestions here. Here is a secret:On the mix buss, if you want some punch & level try this:Set your mix buss compressor at 10-20ms attack and 100-300ms release. Allow 3-5 db of compression at about 4:1 ratio.That will give the mix some pop. For Hip-Hop and R&B, the attack can be closer to 20ms. For Rock, closer to 10ms. Then, set your limiter (10:1 Ratio) to 1ms attack and set the release at 1000ms (1 sec) release. Only allow 1 or 2 db of limiting. This will give the mix that smoooooth sound that makes your ears say "yum" and will also get you some gain.Then, follow that with another limiter (∞:1 Ratio) set at 0.01ms attack and 10ms release. Only allow 1 db or limiting to mash out the peaks. Your mix will smoke and the low end will sound natural and full. Rock on...Rob Chiarelli

[southpaw]

Rob, you are the man.. Thanks for taking the time to share this detailed technique! Congrats on your continued success and recent article in Recording magazine! Still enjoying the Guage ECM-87, by the way. ~Jamie

[jude3]

Rob is here. Nice!Did you ever fix the email link in your website?Remember I told you about it at the NAMM show?

[matthoggard]

Thanks for the tips!just tried it on a quick mix and it works great!!! Excellent advice!Thx Rob!

[tinozigzag]

Sorry Guys,but om my Limiter I am not able to see any 'Attac, Ratio or Release'!!Am I using the right limiter?

[mojobone]

Some limiters (also known as levelers) have only a single knob for "amount". For those, I just turn it up 'til it starts to sound crunchy, then back off some.