Here is am interesting read on EQ guys:

http://www.gearslutz.com/board/mastering-forum/720774-cuttin g-frequencies-actually-increases-overall-volume-pre-master.h tml

So my submission is up. I will probably listen to it tomorrow and think its totally lost:


FLAC version to save you guys the large file size.

I did alot more than an ME would here! Totally went crazy

EQ:

Hipass at 24 khz because I felt it cleaned it up a little
Side frequencies gently sloped off from 200hz downwards.
.7 dB boost at 5K to bring up the snare
.7 boost at 110hz, 1.1 dip at 500 and a gentle slop up to 2 dB from about 3k upwards
1.2 dB boost at 16k (SPL free ranger)

Compression:

2 instances of TDR Feedback compressor

1) using modified aggressive preset which grabbed the kicks and allowed me to boost the general volume of the track
2) which acted as a leveller when the strings came in

Stereo widening:

Boosted sides with Voxengo MSED by .5 dB
Used density mkiii with no compression, just colour knob set to 50%
Used Random Hall Ambience setting in Relab LX480 mixed in 20% to give a bit more body to the track,

General trickery:

Toneboosters Reelbus on mastering reel preset. I wasn't going to use this but once I put it on I couldnt remove it, it gives body.

VOS Baxter set to "stunning bliss"

Limiting:
Fab Filter Pro-L. Hard rock fast release preset, does about 1-3dB gain here and there. A little on the kicks and a bit more when things get busier.

Verdict. I think I may have overhyped the highs and softened the kick too much.

I think yours came out nice and crispy and felt full or wide. I think this brings out the guitar and melodic instruments a bit better. There is only so much you can do with a stereo mix.

If we had a multi-track it would be easier to fix a couple things before they got mixed together. However I think that it is a nice master.

contributed.

http://soundcloud.com/groups/kvr-mastering-challenge

Sorry, not touching that one due to several reasons.


a) you're forced to go "SoundCloud" - I don't use (and will never use) SoundCloud



b) we have to create several "loud" mixes. I'm speaking against that, especially in times of the EBU R-128 standard and "loudness normalisation". I'd even raise my voice for K-14 (ideally the revised version of it, with EBU R-128 ballistics, see EBU Loudness from ToneBoosters) as absolute maximum.



c) a mix and mastering job is always subjective. This is why musicians usually look for a specific engineer to give the final "fairy dust" to their production. Granted, (pre)Mastering should be transparent in most cases (sh*t in-sh*t out). But the endresults will still differ from engineer to engineer since one thinks that this and that particular frequency might be distracting, while another one thinks "there could be raised the treble a couple of decibels".

So you can't setup proper a criteria for comparision or giving away points. It will always be "no, I don't like what happened here - I'd have done it different". This doesn't help if you involve a "pro" (if it's really a pro) as well - you'll get the same result and waste money.



Also... will "real" mastering engineers have a higher score in the challenge than non mastering engineers (read: musicians only)?

All for fun, good and fine. But not if there needs to be an "ultimate winner" by certain rules, if the endresult is totally subjective.

i think you are taking this far too serious! this is no game with one ultimate winner, everybody can give it a try for the fun of it..

Fun or not, some of the rules don't appeal to me. So I can't (won't) participate.


Good luck to those who want to however. If it counts for anything, it's educational and maybe you can hear some good productions in the process.

it was happening that for some reason i mastered YOUR track.
(i liked it though. )

corrected it now.

people,be sure you download the track right from soundcloud and don't spread the links in this threads because it's rather confusing.

rules are clear,it's fun,people which do not constructive contribute/participate should not write here:)

Hi,

very nice tune, so worth to push it thru my mastering chain. I just finished a totally different project, so this was to clean my head

You can find my version here https://dl.dropbox.com/u/68790432/Agent%20Reloaded%20mastere d%20by%20Dynamusic.mp3, non competitive, just for fun.

@Compyfox (and may be OT)
Its fun, nothing else.
But, please do not mix "loudness war" in today's music business with loudness specification from EBU.

- EBU R128 defines rules for the entire broadcasting production chain. This is a way forward because in the past radio/TV stations got material from different sources with different levels. It was quite costly to match the loudness to a certain level. This effort is now saved.
But needless to say that non of the radio/TV stations is transmitting with -23dBFS. This reference levels gives them enough headroom to make their own "sound" and louder, of course.

- If we talk about "loudness war" in music business then we should more focus on initiatives like Bob Katz (e.g. K20, K14, K12). The question behind is: why should a "normal" Rock song sound louder in 2010 then in 1980? Same Band, same sound...
On the other side we see more and more genres where heavy loudness is part of the music (e.g. DubStep). So nothing wrong with it.

Finally customer decides

Just my 2 cents.

br
-tom

BTW: I decided to go for K10 (-10dBFS RMS), sounds right/competitive for me.

Tom, you should read my white paper on the topic over at my tech-blog (link below).




K-10 basically doesn't exist. And the question is - do you use the amber zone or not with K-10. Because if you do, then you hit K-7 at maximum (fortissimo passages), which is on nowaday commercial level.



But you're right - this is getting too far OT.

Maybe I'll join at a later "challenge" (after I fix some problems at my studio), if SoundCloud will be dropped, or user can still send in stuff and it will be uploaded by a remote person (with files properly tagged of course). I'm still not on FaceCrook or the "cloud", and I'm quite happy about it.
Last edited by Compyfox on Wed Aug 08, 2012 3:12 am; edited 1 time in total

no way this is going to be a "discussion" about general loudness war.

that's should be said.
any discussion about this is only disapointing and do not have any place,yes there is another word that i've avoided,it's called trolling.

however,people,why don't you use the shitty soundcloud to upload your tracks?

fair chances for everyone!

Problem?
U mad, bro?

yes i think you are mad!


stop spamming.

/Gearslutz mode OFF

Oh, nice, this is running and people participating. I like it!

I'm downloading the track.
Let's see if i have free time to tweak something.

People can use DropBox too (if they don't use Soundcloud) as we use in the Music Cafe submissions. No problem.

Just be aware of the Soundcloud player kills some dinamic and frequencies. So the perfect thing would be to download every entry.
And please, remember to write what you used in your entries.

Have a good day, guys