mastering software

[leedsquietman]

Thanks a lot

[aisling]

Thanks a lot

another vote of thanks

[leedsquietman]

Rave - That's great, for sure you can link - thank-you.

Thanks Aisling.

[Sibanger]

Love your 'mastering' video Leeds.

The information is great, but also the track is so listenable and soothing.

After reading a lot of your posts over time, I was pleasantly surprised to hear your voice/approach extremely chilled and laid back. (I knew it would be informative)

Nice work for a quick job. Wish the pic quality was a bit higher.

Thanks for sharing some of your knowledge.

Cheers

[leedsquietman]

Thanks - agree totally with pic quality, had to trade off some video quality and audio quality even (sound is 160 Kbps mp3) there as at one point, the video was going to be longer than downloading Live 8 with ALL the content

[kb420]

just got a bonus from my job and was looking into mastering software to finish a few projects any recommendations?
for windows pc? I have live too so I dont know if a vsti would be best?

I've read through this thread a little, and seeing that money is no object, let me recommend Waves Mercury Bundly TDM. (You did say you were using Pro Toold HD, right???)



Here's a great deal on it. Only $10,125. What a bargain!!!!!

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/bnh/control ... details&Q=


Also, don't listen to anyone on this forum. Non of them know what they are talking about at all. If you want to sound better, sound like the pros, you just need to spend more money. Reading books, experience, and good old fashion know-how are all overrated. Everytime you compose, mix, or master, and you don't like the results, just look at getting the next most expensive plug-in or hardware you can find. That will solve the problem, and even if it doesn't, you will know you are using the best equipment money can buy.

[Chang]

Um mpk49guy.... If money is no object why wouldn't you just take your music to a mastering engineer?

You can't buy 20-30 years of professional mastering experience and the golden ears that come with those years.

You can master an entire album by a pro for around $1,500.

[leedsquietman]

Very true. And the results will always be the best this way. Now hands up, who has a spare 1000 - 2000 bucks for a mastering budget ...

Or you can get experienced guys who don't quite have the Lavry converters, Avocet Cranesong controllers and Weiss outboard gear, but who nonetheless have some nice software tools, reasonably good monitors and years of audio engineering experience, such as Tarekith, or (cough) yours truly, for three hundred bucks or thereabouts and notice a tangible, positive difference.

Or you can buy some tools and learn for yourself - the argument that MPKguy will have is that if he learns how to use those tools really well, he can get years of use and many projects completed without paying for outside help - like the old adage, which is better - to buy fish from a fisherman and have fish for a week, or buy a fishing rod, learn how to use it, and have fish for life ?? This only works though if he invests TIME as well as the money into learning how to use those tools effectively. And let's face it, Chang you are a UAD user, those plugins certainly don't come for cheap, and you could argue that they are an unnecessary expense too - but would you get rid of them and use in the box plugins, or cheaper VSTS/AUs ?? Once you get accustomed to a certain quality, you miss it when it's gone - if you never had it to miss in the first place, this is when you baulk at paying that money for expensive tools.

[Tone Deft]

Also, don't listen to anyone on this forum.

oh really, you know better than everyone else?


he didn't say money was no option, he got a $2500 bonus and is spending it on himself, big deal. some of you guys are being really creepy about money, $2500 from time to time isn't a big deal when you're all growns up.

[Angstrom]

Also, don't listen to anyone on this forum.

oh really, you know better than everyone else?

you wanna get your irony detector checked out there TD, I think he was kinda joking.

[Tone Deft]

damn thing's been broken for months, maybe it's fixed in the latest beta.

damnit.

[Superchibisan]

new feature for live9: a sense of humour!

[Chang]

Very true. And the results will always be the best this way. Now hands up, who has a spare 1000 - 2000 bucks for a mastering budget ...

Or you can get experienced guys who don't quite have the Lavry converters, Avocet Cranesong controllers and Weiss outboard gear, but who nonetheless have some nice software tools, reasonably good monitors and years of audio engineering experience, such as Tarekith, or (cough) yours truly, for three hundred bucks or thereabouts and notice a tangible, positive difference.

Or you can buy some tools and learn for yourself - the argument that MPKguy will have is that if he learns how to use those tools really well, he can get years of use and many projects completed without paying for outside help - like the old adage, which is better - to buy fish from a fisherman and have fish for a week, or buy a fishing rod, learn how to use it, and have fish for life ?? This only works though if he invests TIME as well as the money into learning how to use those tools effectively. And let's face it, Chang you are a UAD user, those plugins certainly don't come for cheap, and you could argue that they are an unnecessary expense too - but would you get rid of them and use in the box plugins, or cheaper VSTS/AUs ?? Once you get accustomed to a certain quality, you miss it when it's gone - if you never had it to miss in the first place, this is when you baulk at paying that money for expensive tools.

I agree and disagree with you.

The fish in the pond analogy is a good one. But you got to be a die hard mastering guy. Dedicate life to it. Build room for it. Most people don't do this. They buy (or warez steal) waves L2/L3 and make sinus sausages all day that look like a rectangle of un-dynamic dog shit. They'll do this for years too to no end. If anyone in this thread thinks cut at 30Hz and 15Khz and smash with limiter is mastering your crazy. Not even close.

If I was an aspiring techno or rock guy though, I would probably send my stuff to you and Tarekith to get a better mastering job done Weiss or no Weiss at a decent cost.

Me personally with the television stuff I produce, I pay $70 a track to a pro to master each 1-2 minute bit. But thats ok because I get $4k a track that show up on TV. A tiny risk for me as some wont get picked so I lose $70 here and there.

@ Tone Deft who I have much respect for. I did not realize that the money was indeed an object and this was just a $2,500 bonus to the OP.

To the OP if you just blew $2,500 on the sonnox stuff to learn and become a mastering engineer, return and get your money back quick. Unless you have another $100,000 for a room and a serious inner calling for mastering. imo

Also

If you want to master your own music and become a master engineer, I could think of 100 ways to spend that $2,500 better.

Chang

[leedsquietman]

Agreed that the room and monitors needs to take precedence over plugins.

Although you would be surprised at what you can achieve sonically with some basic acoustic treatment and 1000 dollar monitors in terms a good monitoring environment these days.

It depends on what you do with the final product and how pernickity the end user is really as to whether you need to use bona fide mastering houses, or
something like the software mastering offered by Tarekith and others. We don't provide the high end converters or 100k listening room, but we do care about improving the quality of a mix, using our vast experience and with a monitoring room which is good by most people's standards - plus we do the usual referencing on different systems, I always check a remaster on my monitors, consumer home theatre, boombox, car stereo and via good headphones and via cheapy ipod type headphones and on at least one mp3 portable playback device. Quite often I make subtle adjustments after this, as most people will not be listening through decent monitors in a good room, but with a cheap hifi in an untreated room, or via headphones and Ipod.

For example, if I had a big budget, then yes, a proper mastering facility all the way. And especially if I was trying to recapture an acoustic event with precision,
i.e. CLASSICAL, or stuff like a live Jazz band performance. And the end users are often audiophiles who are more sensitive to subtle differences, who have come to expect that 'mastered' sound. (and in terms of this genre, they barely touch compression/limiting anyway). If you had the budget, I would always say 100%, use a proper, well known, mastering facility with a great room and experienced MEs.

However, in the world of Rock and hard edged electronic music made for the dancefloor, that level of precision is often not recognized by a large proportion of the audience. Most of this genre are not audiophiles with super expensive seperate component hifi systems, but people who are happy to rip music to their Ipod, or buy 192 Kbps mp3 digital downloads, which would totally lose the benefit of using a real mastering house, A significant proportion of listeners in this target audience cannot tell the difference between a compressed 192 Kbps mp3 and an uncompressed 16 bit 44.1 Khz .wav or .aiff. This is where you can use a more affordable software mastering (having checked it out beforehand to ensure quality) or if you have the commitment to want to learn, teach yourself, if you DON'T have the budget for a Mastering House and still an improved sounding remaster and red book compliant master CD, uniform levels across your EP or album and notice a positive difference from the DAW mix and not have to spend too much money achieving it, although it is a compromise.

[kb420]

Also, don't listen to anyone on this forum.

oh really, you know better than everyone else?

you wanna get your irony detector checked out there TD, I think he was kinda joking.

I'm glad there are a few people on this forum who still have a sense of humor.