KVR Audio

sonicpowa · Post by **sonicpowa** » Mon Sep 05, 2011 12:21 pm

IIRs wrote:But of all stages in production, mastering is by far the most scientific and exacting.

Have to agree with IIRs.
If the starting point is something like "There are other things to worry about" then it's like saying: "This music doesn't deserve good mastering". (which actually could be the case of course)

You (as in general) can still put all the distortion and crap into your song if you like, but mastering is a controlled final stage and should be done by the rules.

sonicpowa · Post by **sonicpowa** » Mon Sep 05, 2011 12:26 pm

Aloysius wrote:Is there a real time VST Plugin tool that can allow us to hear what our MP3 Masters will sound like.

Something like (expensive) Sonnox Pro-Codec?

Compyfox · Post by **Compyfox** » Mon Sep 05, 2011 12:26 pm

Bronto Scorpio wrote:Always -0.3dB.
I have no reason for that though, it's just a habit.

I sometimes even go to -0,5 on very dynamic material while (pre)mastering.

There is a reason behind it: intersample peaks!
On top of some CD players being picky if the signal goes above that value.

Encoding into MP3 ignores that limit anyway.

4damind · Post by **4damind** » Mon Sep 05, 2011 12:27 pm

IIRs wrote:But this thread is specifically about how much margin to leave, and the correct answer is "use an ISP meter".

I don't think you need a lot of knowledge about intersample peaks or meter for this. Oversampling is always a good well known idea and also highly recommended not only for limiting. Leave always a bit space (with lossy coding a bit more) and people are on the safe side. The values from -0.2 to -0.7 are a good hint.
I think this "we push all to the limits so we can use -0.06dB" is the wrong way. Leave always a bit headroom is the better and more safety thing.

IIRs · Post by **IIRs** » Mon Sep 05, 2011 12:30 pm

4damind wrote:Leave always a bit headroom is the better and more safety thing.

Yes. And the answer to the question "how do I know how much headroom to leave" is "use an ISP meter".

Aloysius · Post by **Aloysius** » Mon Sep 05, 2011 12:42 pm

sonicpowa wrote:
Aloysius wrote:Is there a real time VST Plugin tool that can allow us to hear what our MP3 Masters will sound like.
Something like (expensive) Sonnox Pro-Codec?

Exactly this ^. Thanks man.

[295.00 GBP]

4damind · Post by **4damind** » Mon Sep 05, 2011 12:44 pm

IIRs wrote:
4damind wrote:Leave always a bit headroom is the better and more safety thing.
Yes. And the answer to the question "how do I know how much headroom to leave" is "use an ISP meter".

If people have Fabfilter Pro-L or the Sonnox Limiter they have always a ISP meter

Voxengo Elephant has a clipping incidents (IMO it's the same?).

Kim Lajoie · Post by **Kim Lajoie** » Mon Sep 05, 2011 1:21 pm

sonicpowa wrote:If the starting point is something like "There are other things to worry about" then it's like saying: "This music doesn't deserve good mastering". (which actually could be the case of course)

Well, that's a bit extreme. Perhaps you and I have different ideas of what 'good mastering' is.

Personally, I only worry about the things that make a difference to the listener.

Yes, I know I'm ignoring some things that other people pay attention to. I prefer to use that space in my brain for other things.

-Kim.

IIRs · Post by **IIRs** » Mon Sep 05, 2011 1:55 pm

Kim Lajoie wrote: Yes, I know I'm ignoring some things that other people pay attention to. I prefer to use that space in my brain for other things.

So why are you posting in this thread..?

yairhol · Post by **yairhol** » Mon Sep 05, 2011 2:13 pm

IIRs wrote:
Kim Lajoie wrote: Yes, I know I'm ignoring some things that other people pay attention to. I prefer to use that space in my brain for other things.
So why are you posting in this thread..?

He's replying because the OP asked to what dB are we mastering to and Kim answered just that. Personally I highly regard Kim's suggestions/knowledge so thank you Kim for replying and sharing some of your insights.

Fritze · Post by **Fritze** » Mon Sep 05, 2011 2:32 pm

@midnight wrote:Simple question, for those of us who "psuedo master" our own music, what dB are you limiting at? Do you leave a margin or just go straight for 0.0dBfs?

-0.1dB to have a little margin. If it will get an mp3 checking the peak level after conversion is a good idea. Depending on the encoding settings things can overshoot up to several dB.
While I have deep respect for every professional who invested and is still investing a LOT of time and effort and money to accumulate their skills and equipment: It's a very sad thing that people call what they do "pseudo-whatever" only because they think that they're not good at what they're doing. Try to apply that same idea to everything else you're doing and you get my drift: Pseudo mixing (I'm not Dave Pensado), pseudo-producing (I'm not Tricky Steward), Pseudo-singing (I'm not ...), pseudo-playing an instrument, pseudo-driving, pseudo-cooking (tell that your mom!), etc.

@midnight · Post by **@midnight** » Mon Sep 05, 2011 2:47 pm

I'm in my completely untreated apartment, mixing on a laptop. Most of the time on headphones. My "mastering" process involves bouncing my mix between the laptop speakers, headphone, an aiwa mini system, and my '95 nissan sentra's cd player. I think it's safe to say this is "psuedo-mastering" lol...

Fritze · Post by **Fritze** » Mon Sep 05, 2011 8:46 pm

Yes, like the rest of what you're doing. Don't dare to start cooking. It's pseudo.

But it's ok, peace.

Kim Lajoie · Post by **Kim Lajoie** » Mon Sep 05, 2011 9:07 pm

IIRs wrote:
Kim Lajoie wrote: Yes, I know I'm ignoring some things that other people pay attention to. I prefer to use that space in my brain for other things.
So why are you posting in this thread..?

Because when I came along we weren't talking about intersample peaks.

-Kim.

IIRs · Post by **IIRs** » Mon Sep 05, 2011 9:27 pm

Kim Lajoie wrote:Because when I came along we weren't talking about intersample peaks.

Yes we were!

Where do you "master" to? (what dB)