Mastering Plugins

[sirj]

May 12, 2008, 7:00am, milfus wrote:for just all around use and functionality, I have to weigh in about waves, bit pricey, but they do what they do unparalled in some fields, and a debatable first place in the others, there are a few sets that can match em in diff areas, but I have yet to see a contender that was as well roundedI have to agree with milfus! Waves are the best! Ozone (wich I own also) colors the sound to much.I usually use Waves L316 for mastering. But here comes the best answer if you mix is not ready or has many frequezies or levels not balanced no matter what plugin you use you would never get it right!I read somewhere that your mix has to be A so when mastered moves to A+

[billg]

Voxengo has some nice stuff & it's not very expensive. Their Elephant 2 is a great mastering limiter IMO.

[weslong]

I gotta say, as far as plugins go, it's really hard to beat Ozone 3. Plus the fact that when you buy it, it comes as a multi-installer so you're not stuck having to buy a separate license for each OS. I think Ozone is about the most cost-effective and CPU friendly AU/VST plugin out there.That being said, I don't care for T-Racks. I think it 'colors' things in a funny way and seems to always sound a bit too 'hot' or 'crisp' around the edge. MMmmm....sounds like pizza...Anyway, I know RND has some really great mastering plugins but they are absolute CPU hogs and seem to suffer the need for constant updates as they continually run buggy, at least when I was trying them.I would stay away from those proprietary packages like Pro Tools and M-Audio. I just don't think they're worth the money. If you really do some serious mastering beyond plugins, you'll need to invest in actual rack ware...not cheap..Just my thoughts...

[stoney]

Not sure if it's been mentioned but PSP's Vintage Warmer is brilliant. I use it combined with Waves and sometimes TC Electronics Powercore and UAD for bringing music up to broadcast quality.A good trick is to put the Vintage Warmer on the audio output before you bounce a st mix, it some how glues the track together. You can can put the Vintage warmer on at the start of the mix or at the end (but that's another debate). Then when you master use the other plug-ins for Lin EQ, MB compression and Lim. Analyzers are sometimes useful to.

[rld]

I took a different route and got a TC Electronic Finalizer.I don't use any plugins when I do my final mix.While I don't consider it "mastering", I record my stereo master via my digital mixer into the Finalizer and back to the PC.It has all the bells and whistle I need (though I don't use them all) and gives the final mix a finished sheen, if you will.I've tried a few plugins but don't like the results as much.Of course, a lot of it is knowing your tools and what you are used to using.

[mojobone]

There are many tools that can do the job, or part of the job, at least. The most common tools in the mastering engineer's arsenal are compression and EQ, and the reason that mastering is as much art as science is because each has an effect on the other, (or they did until recently) though it's probably more correct to say that compressors do not affect all frequencies equally. This is why engineers prefer to split the frequency spectrum into three or more bands so that each band or sector can be processed independently. Getting the most out of such a multiband compressor requires a thorough understanding of both EQ and compression. If you have a VST host you can download several free compressors here:http://www.digitalfishphones.com/main.p ... bItem=5and experiment with how they work on either individual tracks or, in a mastering role, on an entire mix.Here's a great resource for learning about mastering; be sure to click the articles link:http://digido.com/and especially:http://www.tcelectronic.com/media/katz_ ... tering.pdf

[grandmatarkin]

I also love the PSP Vintage Warmer... I use it on so many tracks, including the final. As for Ozone 3, it's a great tool with some nice individual elements (I especially like the stereo enhancer). But as was said before, the presets seem to "overdo it" somewhat. Because of this, I will generally only use it for the stereo enhancement and sometimes "mastering reverb".However, the lesson I've learned over the past couple of years is that (at least for me) it's best to get the final mix as close as possible to what you want before you even begin to think about mastering. I think this may be pretty common knowledge, but I figured it was worth repeating It certainly took me a while to actually believe it and put it into practice. Also, if you really want to just stick with ozone, my favorite preset starting point is/was "A+ Mastering" ( I think that's the name ) Good luck!

[mojobone]

The thing about heavy-handed presets, they're meant to show the possibilities; defeat the EQ, adjust the threshold(s) and /or level and you could be in the ballpark rather quickly. I use Finalmix presets quite a bit as a starting point, and often all I need to do is adjust the input level to the processor to determine how much (how hard I wanna whack it)of the preset I'm using and then tweaking the output level to where it needs to be.

[billg]

Sept 5, 2008, 2:44pm, mojobone wrote:The thing about heavy-handed presets, they're meant to show the possibilities; defeat the EQ, adjust the threshold(s) and /or level and you could be in the ballpark rather quickly. I use Finalmix presets quite a bit as a starting point, and often all I need to do is adjust the input level to the processor to determine how much (how hard I wanna whack it)of the preset I'm using and then tweaking the output level to where it needs to be.Hey mojo, that Mackie threeband compressor in Tracktion is pretty useful on the stereo buss too!

[mojobone]

Gee, I only ever use it on the stereo buss, unless I'm parallel processing. (nine times out of ten, it's the punch processor when somebody hands me some crappy live audio) *snicker*Woops, you meant the Mackie Multiband, have to admit I never used it, I'll have to check it out sometime. Presets look cool. I guess I developed my methods pretty much before the T3 upgrade. So many tools, so little time.