About mastering plugins...

[Aubrey Lamont]

Are you "mastering" your own projects?

Yes.

IMO, just get the mix balanced, and use a limiter like Limiter6 or Barricade to get the levels/dynamics right.

[J4R1O]

Hi everyone, and thanks for the advice!

Yeah, it's not easy to mix and "master" your own tracks, especially when there's no one to tell you how it sounds or what I should fix or improve. All I can do is read mixing/mastering tips and listen reference tracks.

There are times when I think my mix already sounds pretty good but when I insert some plugin on the stereo track and tweak a little (I call it mastering) - let's say Kush Clariphonic or bx_refinement - I notice that there's still something (usually A LOT) I could improve. Yeah, it's one of those hilarious facepalm moments when you realize that your mix actually sounds sodding crap.

Sometimes those "voodoo plugins" might even help to point out what's wrong in the mix: "What the hell is this muddiness at 200 Hz?!" or "Cut some mids at 3000 kHz you ignorant nitwit!", you know what I mean? Forget the Virtual Dave Pensado Mix Advisor, I want the same thing by Monty Python.

[David Else]

Seriously, there are free tools now that are as good or better than paid stuff. It's all about the time put in with them to understand how they work and hear what they are doing.

The most important thing is to match the volume of your processed and unprocessed tracks when you are doing the mastering! I just made a video on how to do this with free tools

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wNlCbcy2GjA

[do_androids_dream]

Honestly, as long as it's not destroying your audio with aliasing, too many added harmonics or phase problems it doesn't really matter what you're using. It's listening and experience that counts. I use all freeware and my clients are perfectly happy with my mastering. Just use whatever is available - learn each tool thoroughly.

[J4R1O]

Thanks, David!

I just watched the video and downloaded the Level Matching plugin.

[J4R1O]

Honestly, as long as it's not destroying your audio with aliasing, too many added harmonics or phase problems it doesn't really matter what you're using. It's listening and experience that counts. I use all freeware and my clients are perfectly happy with my mastering. Just use whatever is available - learn each tool thoroughly.

Yeah, I've been trying NOT to add too many harmonics and to be careful with Slate VTM and other saturation plugins. Still learning to listen those (subtle) changes in audio caused by the plugins...

[hibidy]

Not a mastering expert, but some thoughts/comments:

Passive eq is ok, but the IK 432 to me seems more open and alive. I know, lame way to describe it but that is how I feel about it.

FG-X: So we've got a bad and a good. In all honesty, I don't even want to break the seal of this ilok2 just to try it. Seems to be a very polarizing plug. Seems TGTBT at that price.....maybe it is?

Limiters in general: Hate 'em. I can find no way other than simply using them as a clip for stray peaks. I'll hear certain mixes that are not squished that have that "ooomph" and sound good. All they ever do for me when pushed is sound distorted.

So I watch with great anticipation. I still wonder if ozone isn't the way to go.

[Eddie TX]

Not a mastering expert, but some thoughts/comments:

Passive eq is ok, but the IK 432 to me seems more open and alive. I know, lame way to describe it but that is how I feel about it.

FG-X: So we've got a bad and a good. In all honesty, I don't even want to break the seal of this ilok2 just to try it. Seems to be a very polarizing plug. Seems TGTBT at that price.....maybe it is?

Limiters in general: Hate 'em. I can find no way other than simply using them as a clip for stray peaks. I'll hear certain mixes that are not squished that have that "ooomph" and sound good. All they ever do for me when pushed is sound distorted.

So I watch with great anticipation. I still wonder if ozone isn't the way to go.

Agree about IK 432. Love the sound ... in the same league as UAD Massive Passive or any other EQ plugin.

FG-X is good but honestly you can get similar results from Limiter No. 6, even though it's a little fiddly to work with. There's a short YT vid by Vladg that helps some.

I love Ozone, but its limiter isn't my favorite. I found it to eat transients when compared with other limiters like AOM or even No. 6. YMMV, however.

All that being said, I do agree that squashing your mixes isn't a great thing. It's a common practice for commercial / pop releases, but tends to suck the life out of the music, IMHO. Try leaving some dynamics in, and use those limiters sparingly.

That's the name of the game with all mixing tools, really ... subtlety. If you really notice them working, you're probably overdoing it. Have fun!

Cheers,
Eddie

[Mister Natural]

for me - I used maybe 44 different combinations of EQ, Limiter, "Tape" Saturation, Compression on my first 44 projects. It used to drive me crazy trying to add the "polish".
I decided to buy Ozone5 after reading glowing reviews - I now use one preset and forget about anything further. This way, I can spend more time making music rather than polishing it.

peace

[hibidy]

I had Ozone 4. I liked it, then I went on one of my crazy "crap I have too much shit and must purge" binges and got rid of it. Thinking "well, if I ever really "need" mastering, I'll see what is out there again"

Well, here we are

[hibidy]

Not a mastering expert, but some thoughts/comments:

Passive eq is ok, but the IK 432 to me seems more open and alive. I know, lame way to describe it but that is how I feel about it.

FG-X: So we've got a bad and a good. In all honesty, I don't even want to break the seal of this ilok2 just to try it. Seems to be a very polarizing plug. Seems TGTBT at that price.....maybe it is?

Limiters in general: Hate 'em. I can find no way other than simply using them as a clip for stray peaks. I'll hear certain mixes that are not squished that have that "ooomph" and sound good. All they ever do for me when pushed is sound distorted.

So I watch with great anticipation. I still wonder if ozone isn't the way to go.

Agree about IK 432. Love the sound ... in the same league as UAD Massive Passive or any other EQ plugin.

FG-X is good but honestly you can get similar results from Limiter No. 6, even though it's a little fiddly to work with. There's a short YT vid by Vladg that helps some.

I love Ozone, but its limiter isn't my favorite. I found it to eat transients when compared with other limiters like AOM or even No. 6. YMMV, however.

All that being said, I do agree that squashing your mixes isn't a great thing. It's a common practice for commercial / pop releases, but tends to suck the life out of the music, IMHO. Try leaving some dynamics in, and use those limiters sparingly.

That's the name of the game with all mixing tools, really ... subtlety. If you really notice them working, you're probably overdoing it. Have fun!

Cheers,
Eddie

Not to detract from the OP, but all I'm looking for is some oomph. I don't want to kill the thing (my mixes are bad enough )

Yeah, No.6. I've got that. Does some weird things in live like changing the latency for the whole project even if I delete it Works fine in Studio One. In live, I HAVE to be finished with the guitar/bass parts if I add it.

[Uncle E]

FabFilter Pro-DS (Preset: High End Transient Limiting)
NI Passive
Kush Clariphonic
bx_refinement (magic wand to fix my shitty mixes )
bx_solo (to check mono)
Waves Vitamin (well, I use this mainly for its band solo possibilities )
Slate FG-X (w/ IK Soft Clipper) or A.O.M. Invisible Limter (w/ TDR Feedback Compressor II)
Sonnox Codec Toolbox
IK Metering

These are all fine. I don't understand why everyone is making such polarized statements, there are tools out there that do different things but that doesn't make yours bad by any stretch.

Personally, I prefer the NI Enhance, as well as the IK 432 that others mentioned, over the the NI Passive but the NI Passive is fine, especially if you're using it for gentle cuts, which is usually all you'll ever want to do when mastering, no matter what you're using.

Here's my mastering chain:

UAD Massive Passive or Harrison
UAD Neve 33609 or SSL G Buss Compressor
Sonnox Oxford Dynamics
TC Powercore MD3
Sonnox Inflator
TC Powercore MD3 Brickwall

The thing with my chain is that none of those dynamics processors are doing more than 1dB GR. Similarly with the EQ's and Inflator, I'm usually only making minor adjustments changes. The cumulative change caused by all these little adjustments can be quite dramatic, especially with the MD3 being a separate multiband for mid and sides.

[Uncle E]

Not to detract from the OP, but all I'm looking for is some oomph.

What do you mean by "oomph"? Louder? More bass? All around bigger sounding?

[hibidy]

Not to detract from the OP, but all I'm looking for is some oomph.

What do you mean by "oomph"? Louder? More bass? All around bigger sounding?

Well, that's a good question

I can only describe sound like that I guess. But I guess all around bigger sounding would be the closest.

[Uncle E]

I can only describe sound like that I guess. But I guess all around bigger sounding would be the closest.

That's mostly evening out your lower frequencies and emphasizing the frequencies that are most present to the human ear. Inflator is really good for that, push up the Effect and Curve faders for instant "oomph".