mastering software????

[synnack]

from http://www.0xf8studios.com/index.php?page=faq

While nothing wrong with using mastering plugins or applications to enhance your material, you should really think of mastering not so much a tool or effect, but a series of processes that a well trained engineer performs based on a number of subjective and objective factors. Mastering software or plugins normally attempt to automate the mastering process by combining common mastering tasks to a series of presets that help less experienced musicians enhance their mixes.

Although sometimes these are very nice tools, they are just that, tools. As with any tool they are only as good as the person using them. A good mastering engineer may or may not use these tools, as what is best for one type of music will not fit for others.

So you have just spend countless hours writing, recording, and mixing your music to be the best it can be. Do you really trust a preset in a mastering application made by someone who has never actually heard your music to process fundamental characteristics of its sound?

Although it is debatable, many professionals also feel that the same person that mixes a release, should by nature not the the same person that masters it. This is simply due to the fact that if you are the one who is intimately familiar with the details of the individual tracks and how they are mixed, you will not be able to hear it objectively enough to master it. Regardless of your stance on this issue, its always good to get a "fresh set of ears" at the mastering stage and clearly mastering software or plugins don't do this for you.

[the ar]

Totally agreed.

[rikhyray]

Mastering your own music should be the simplest thing in the world, just a little bit of limiting to get the volume up a bit, and dither to 16 bit. There's no need to amssivel EQ and compress your own songs in mastering, just go back and FIX THOSE ISSUES IN YOUR MIXDOWN.

Seriously, most mastering tools are there because mastering engineers don't have the luxury of going back to the mixdown to solve any issues. Thus we have tools like multi-band compression which give mastering engineers more power when working with "fixed" stereo recordings.

If you're just mastering your work, spend you time getting the mixdown right and stop worry about mastering processors so much IMVHO. If you need tons of plug ins to master your song right, then obviously your mixdown is not done right. Fixing the mixdown is also by far the better sounding option too IMO.

Just my $.02.

I personally feel it is waste of money, unless someone wants to specialize in mastering and is interested in learning it..
Even if someone is on limited budget then I would suggest go do any day job, McDonalds or whatever. and pay proper mastering experts with right experience and setup.
You may spend 4 or 10 times more hours, but cant match them, these people do it everyday, for years have rooms, soft and hardware just for this particular work.
Unless for some demo or myspace, I never put anything on the master and try to deliver best possible mixdown ( in real life it all equals to time spent on it, longer I take better it becomes) In other words try to make the work of the mastering house easier.
In real life my work finishes with delivering the (unmastered) final track(s) the rest is the record company job ( or whoever the client is). In case I have to handle it myself ( the client cant do it, does not have experience/connection in this field), I get better deal since mastering house wont have to undo my "pseudo mastering" faults. If the mixdown is really good they need 10% of the time, still add their magic touch, and almost certainly give serious discount.

[Contra]

Why Avoid Kjaerhus?!?! The MPL-1 limiter is amazing and many mastering engineers think it's the best software limiter (and better than hardware) ever...

must read quotes and links!

[Mike Goodwin]

to me kjaerhus are muddy

like PSP or nomad factiry are

Are you only talking about the Vintage Warmer when you say that? Keep in mind that they also offer a mastering compressor that is very musical. To each there own. I personaly would not use the Vintave Warmer as a mastering compressor, more of an effect. Still it is a great bit of kit.

[ash1]

what about this software

http://www.curioza.com/

[afone1977]

to me kjaerhus are muddy

like PSP or nomad factiry are

Are you only talking about the Vintage Warmer when you say that? Keep in mind that they also offer a mastering compressor that is very musical. To each there own. I personaly would not use the Vintave Warmer as a mastering compressor, more of an effect. Still it is a great bit of kit.

i'm talking about all PSP EQ & Comp stuff,

but if you like it use it,

[afone1977]

what about this software

http://www.curioza.com/

the worst thing ever created,

do you really thing that a software (or hardware) can make an interesting artistic choice and realize a perfect mastering,

no, none software could replace a good mastering ingeneer with good ears ...

and i know this software take a long time to give a result,

a time that you could use in training yourself to mixing

[Johnisfaster]

to me kjaerhus are muddy

like PSP or nomad factiry are

Are you only talking about the Vintage Warmer when you say that? Keep in mind that they also offer a mastering compressor that is very musical. To each there own. I personaly would not use the Vintave Warmer as a mastering compressor, more of an effect. Still it is a great bit of kit.

i'm talking about all PSP EQ & Comp stuff,

but if you like it use it,

anyone who thinks psp neon is muddy needs to try listening to it again.

[afone1977]

Are you only talking about the Vintage Warmer when you say that? Keep in mind that they also offer a mastering compressor that is very musical. To each there own. I personaly would not use the Vintave Warmer as a mastering compressor, more of an effect. Still it is a great bit of kit.

i'm talking about all PSP EQ & Comp stuff,

but if you like it use it,

anyone who thinks psp neon is muddy needs to try listening to it again.

if you want to play this game i could tell this :

"everybody need to try UAD precision EQ to taste what is a trully eq effect"

and it becomes an unfinishing game,

as i say before : "every think is in subjective choice"

if you like what i consider as muddy, use it ...

but searching the best tool is not an ego battle, and people no have reason to be wounded when some other are not agree with ...

[Johnisfaster]

I'm not being upset about this I'm just trying to say, psp neon is just about as transparent as eq gets.

[belmiro]

Agree about the PSP Neon.

It is an amazingly transparent eq, great for mastering and Vintage Warmer2 is an essential peice of kit imo (though I rarely use that on my master channel but on individual tracks).

[afone1977]

I'm not being upset about this I'm just trying to say, psp neon is just about as transparent as eq gets.

it's your opinion, and you have to defend it

i try PSP Néon and find it very insipid,

just another linear phase eq with none specific caracter,

it's what i think about it,

but if you have no other phase linear eq in your tool, use it, it work (but try flux bundle also, because those plugin are certainly good ones, they come from pyramix plateform, a very good solution for mastering)

personaly, i dont buy / use it during mastering because i have better tools (tools i personaly prefer)

[Funkstar De Luxe]

Mastering your own music should be the simplest thing in the world, just a little bit of limiting to get the volume up a bit, and dither to 16 bit. There's no need to massively EQ and compress your own songs in mastering, just go back and FIX THOSE ISSUES IN YOUR MIXDOWN.

Seriously, most mastering tools are there because mastering engineers don't have the luxury of going back to the mixdown to solve any issues. Thus we have tools like multi-band compression which give mastering engineers more power when working with "fixed" stereo recordings.

If you're just mastering your work, spend you time getting the mixdown right and stop worry about mastering processors so much IMVHO. If you need tons of plug ins to master your song right, then obviously your mixdown is not done right. Fixing the mixdown is also by far the better sounding option too IMO.

Just my $.02.

Yes, spend time on the mix down - make it sound exactly as intended. DO NOT masterit yourself. You will only ruin your work. It seems you have no idea what mastering is... If you have recorded music in a non professional environment (ie, anything less than a multi million dollar studio) you need professional mastering more than most.

Read the link I posted, it give good insight into what goes on. I keep having to repeat this here but; mastering is not running your music though a compressor. Of course, if you are a hobbyist, do what you want - it's a lot of fun paying around with fx on a whole mix, but if you're planning to release or play this music at a club it sincerely needs professional mastering. There's no way around it.

@the ar; I'll PM you

[Tarekith]

It seems you have no idea what mastering is...

I've actually run a pretty successful pre-mastering service part-time for the last 3 years. Probably about 400+ tracks mastered so far.