KVR Audio

Dr. Feelgood · Post by **Dr. Feelgood** » Wed Mar 16, 2005 2:50 am

okay I want to get into doing some lowbudget mastering for local underground hiphop producers etc. For this i want to buy a range of high quality plugins for mastering.

i think i need:

1 compressor
1-2 eq's
1 saturator/warmer
1 mastering limiter
..and maybe 1 stereo width enhancer.

what would you recommend for these tasks (and others I maybe forgot for mastering).

Money IS a factor for me, budget is limited. Arround a total of $250 (to begin with..).

is there some hardware I should maybe go get instead? I guess not with that budget, but should I really save up for something instead?

So far i am looking at something like this:

Limiter: elephant from voxengo
EQ: maybe harmonyEQ or hydratone when it comes for PC. What's best for mastering?

already...there goes my budget

Left Headphone · Post by **Left Headphone** » Wed Mar 16, 2005 3:01 am

Looks like Ozone 3 is the best fit. Its $199 at americanmusical.com and a few other online places.

I'm using the Element Audio Systems plugs for mastering (academic price). I also use an Aphex 204(got it for $188) to sweeten the master before 16/44.1 conversion.

ObsoleteAcc99 · Post by **ObsoleteAcc99** » Wed Mar 16, 2005 3:27 am

[DELETED]

fac · Post by **fac** » Wed Mar 16, 2005 3:45 am

You could get an all-Voxengo suite: Polysquasher ($50), CurveEQ+Elephant ($130) and Warmifier ($50) = $230. The advantage is that you could use the individual plugins for tracking.

Another advantage is that you don't have to buy all the plugins at once. You can start with the CurveEQ+Elephant bundle, get to learn how to use them, and then try the other ones (or different ones) and see if you really need them.

brianbrian · Post by **brianbrian** » Wed Mar 16, 2005 5:04 am

I would go with a hand-picked Voxengo assortment. Soniformer is amazing for mastering, it is so much more subtle sounding and tweakable than any other multiband compressor I have tried. Combine that with CurveEQ and Elephant and you will have an excellent capable toolset. Elephant's new EL-3 limiting mode is very nice, particularly the way it preserves bass frequencies while limiting.

Elephant (now in discount mode) - $60
Soniformer - $60
CurveEQ - $100

So this would run you $220, and you may have enough money to purchase Polysquasher, which is the most transparent mastering compressor I have heard (may or may not be a good thing, based on your taste). I love Warmifier, but I would not use it on a full mix. In my experience it preforms much better on individual tracks, such as drum busses, bass, vocals, brass, guitars, etc.

Actually, for $259 you can buy a bundle of Elephant, Soniformer, Polysquasher, CurveEQ, and Transmodder. If you want some kind of warming tool, a lot of them are too harsh or muddy sounding, which may actually detract from the final sound. (Here I go pluggin more Voxengo gear

) AFSuite is great, mainly for AFTapeBus, which very nicely warms digital signals, and sounds especially good on hip-hop/rnb and rock music. In fact, with AFTapeBus you can almost get away without using any buss compression, since it glues the mixbuss together very uniformly and transparently.

If you can wait and splurge on an EQ, Hydratone is just awesome! But wait until Angeltone comes out, which is aimed at mastering. I have heard some before/after and frequency sweep demos with it, and it is friggin amazing. I have not heard ANY software EQ that can compare to this for overall smoothness and adding high frequencies (I haven't used the ultra-expensive Algorithmix linear-phase EQs, but I don't like LP EQs in general).

JackDark · Post by **JackDark** » Wed Mar 16, 2005 5:18 am

I just wanted to say, consider Ozone and Endorphin (by Digital Fish Phones) a must have. Both are in this site's database.

herodotus · Post by **herodotus** » Wed Mar 16, 2005 5:27 am

The absolute best part of Tracktion is the "Final Mix" Plugin. how an 80$ host comes with a $399 dollar plugin is beyond me.

OMU · Post by **OMU** » Wed Mar 16, 2005 5:40 am

I think you can buy HarBal (99$) which is unbeatable at mastering equing. Just tell me what plugin can modify operate directly on the spectrum?

Add Elephant and if you really need a multiband after this combination you can consider the Voxengo one again, as fellows above mentioned.
I't the BEST value for money.

Lunch Money · Post by **Lunch Money** » Wed Mar 16, 2005 5:44 am

OMU wrote:I think you can buy HarBal (99$) which is unbeatable at mastering equing. Just tell me what plugin can modify operate directly on the spectrum?

I might just be misunderstanding what you mean, but I think FreEQ Boy does this.

Greg

OMU · Post by **OMU** » Wed Mar 16, 2005 6:06 am

Lunch Money wrote:
OMU wrote:I think you can buy HarBal (99$) which is unbeatable at mastering equing. Just tell me what plugin can modify operate directly on the spectrum?
I might just be misunderstanding what you mean, but I think FreEQ Boy does this.

Greg

And who made this? Give me a link and I'll compare them.

Lunch Money · Post by **Lunch Money** » Wed Mar 16, 2005 6:11 am

It's by Elevayta, but you can find the link by going to "FreEQ Boy" in the drop-down menu.

OMU · Post by **OMU** » Wed Mar 16, 2005 6:20 am

OK, I found it.
Man, this is a toy

I'm talking about a mastering eq!
This is not operating ON the spectrum, just display the spectrum and the eq lin in the same window. This concept was firstly introduced, and I hope I'm not mistaking, by Izotope Ozone and is now present in other eq-s (in Logic for example) as well.
HarBal lets you grab the spectrum, instead, and fix it the way you want. A tru "what you see it's what you get". Now have a look at it and we'll talk after

Lunch Money · Post by **Lunch Money** » Wed Mar 16, 2005 6:28 am

No, I suggest YOU do a few things:

a) shelve the attitude. We're here to share knowledge
b) look more deeply into the plug-in I mentioned. It does everything you've mentioned and more. Try reading the manual.

c) realize that your particular preference for tools isn't the only one. Lots of people think that Harbal itself is a joke for a real mastering engineer.

I'm not of that opinion myself, but I've seen it expressed.

OMU · Post by **OMU** » Wed Mar 16, 2005 6:32 am

Ok, man, no offense, I really looked at it.
Simply doesn't compare. There are lots of improvements that have to be done to this in order to compete not with Har Bal, which in my oppinion is hardly to match, but with other let's say "spectrum eqs" that delivers much better control and response.

Lunch Money · Post by **Lunch Money** » Wed Mar 16, 2005 6:36 am

Fair enough. I didn't say it was a direct competitor, I was just mentioning it as an option for a plug-in that can be used in similar ways. I have to admit, I find it hard to believe that you read the manual or tried it in practice, but I have no choice but to believe you if you say you looked into it.

Peace,
Greg

Planning my Mastering Suite