Tracktion Software

christianmusicmaker · Post by **christianmusicmaker** » Sat Feb 07, 2004 4:18 pm

What plug ins do you all use for mastering I have heard Ozone comes highly recomended but does not seem to have VST compatibility (anyone know where to get a DX - VST adapter Wrapper there seem to be loads of VST - DX wrappers!), T racks is another while the Waves plug ins although pricey

seem to reflect their value...Voxengo have some cool plugs as well... so what do you guys use?

pHz · Post by **pHz** » Sat Feb 07, 2004 5:00 pm

i use ozone3 mostly

for mastering i use it direct in adobe audition but if you want to load it (or any other dx effect for that matter) in a vst host then grab the free ffx-4 dx>vst rack from http://www.vb-audio.com

many users swear by the voxengo stuff too

slainte

rob

christianmusicmaker · Post by **christianmusicmaker** » Sat Feb 07, 2004 5:35 pm

the link you posted does lead to the plug in but once downloaded it comes up with a fatal error and will not install.I think the file they have availble for download has somehow become corrupted.

Surely that cannot be the only DX - VST wrapper out there!

chriss · Post by **chriss** » Sat Feb 07, 2004 5:49 pm

I pay a real mastering house to master it. Thats the only way to do it. Unless you have a acousticly treated room excellent monitoring system and so on and so on it is a waste of time because you wont hear what to correct anyway. Worth every penny.

pHz · Post by **pHz** » Sat Feb 07, 2004 5:53 pm

odd - the installer works fine here (win98se)

others ???

console (sorry - no link) will do it (will load dx instruments too) - not freeware though

slainte

rob

smedley · Post by **smedley** » Sat Feb 07, 2004 7:16 pm

t-racks

gizmo · Post by **gizmo** » Sat Feb 07, 2004 9:03 pm

Ozone is a great program but it's got a bit of a learning curve: get a bunch of cheap CDs! It has a certain look and feel: you'll either love it or hate it. Also, it's generally agreed to be more pristine than warm; several people have mentioned going into Ozone on the warm side.I've found this to work but would ALSO HEARTILY AGREE that THE ROOM IS AN ISSUE for mastering and a very big one. Recent research -- for example -- has shown that my 12x16 room, though a good proportion for audio, has major standing waves at 150 and 300hz: any wonder my CDs sound funny? There's lots of info out there about room treatments; I'd be happy to share what I've learned. Long story short: if you want to do the best job possible with your equipment you've got to hear it correctly first. To do this, any room needs some treatment, absorbtion, diffusion, or both. The RealTraps site has a huge article by Ethan Winer that's very good as well as a free program ModeCalc to figure out what's going on in your room. But you asked about mastering so I'll shut up.

Mirage · Post by **Mirage** » Sat Feb 07, 2004 10:20 pm

A real Mastering studio is the best, because of all the reasons stated and also a fresh experienced Mastering Engineer who does it for a living and knows how to make it sound right!

P.T. · Post by **P.T.** » Sun Feb 08, 2004 12:15 am

A way around the room problem is to use proper monitors at low to moderate volume, supplemented with a good pair of headphones for double checking the bass. If the headphones have an honest low end you can then hear the low end without the room interfering.

mooter · Post by **mooter** » Sun Feb 08, 2004 1:08 am

What? Its been over 6 hours since the 1st post and nothing from Xarc yet?

Rock · Post by **Rock** » Sun Feb 08, 2004 2:20 am

He might not frequent the Tracktion forum. Although I have seen a good many Xarc post, I don't remember any here.

bear · Post by **bear** » Sun Feb 08, 2004 2:26 am

I totally agree that the best path is to hire a mastering engineer with all the cool equipment

However, a lot (most? all?) of what I do is not good enough to really justify the cost. It is not stuff I am really planning to put out into the world, but I would still like it to be somewhat mastered for my edification and distribution to friends and family.

For this I find T-racks to be pretty cool....

Here is a link to Bob Katz's thoughts on the subject

http://www.tcelectronic.com/media/bobkatz.pdf

http://www.digido.com

Innominandum · Post by **Innominandum** » Sun Feb 08, 2004 3:51 am

Well I can understand hiring a mastering guy to do the job right. But how can you learn when you sluff everything off to somebody else? Why not just leave the music writing to Bach while you're at it...

gizmo · Post by **gizmo** » Sun Feb 08, 2004 5:13 am

I'd like to commend the poster's folly in wanting to do it all himself.

chriss · Post by **chriss** » Sun Feb 08, 2004 5:33 am

Innominandum apples and oranges, your logic is like saying hey all I have a crescent wrench so I am going to rebuild my engine No I am not going to one of those mechanics who actually has invested hundreds of thousand in the tools to do it right and has been doing it for YEARS, I can learn on my own with my wrench.

Tracktion Software

KVR Audio

Mastering what do you all use?