Mastering the Mix - Bassroom

VST, AU, AAX, CLAP, etc. Plugin Virtual Effects Discussion
RELATED
PRODUCTS

Post

Looks gimmicky - sounds rather splendid... I may well end up using this as a broad-stroke EQ on kicks and whatnot.

Post

So, Tom got back to me quickly. The good thing is that the developer is on top of things, and is a listening human at the end of the line. I'm going to highlight his responses instead of posting the entire conversation. According to Tom:

"BASSROOM is a final mix and mastering plugin the scale goes as high as + - 6dB. Any more of a change than that and it would be more of a mix issue an we wouldn’t recommend making the change on the master bus."

The particular track I sent probably wasn't really a fair sample to test the plugin because it was literally, an 80s type of bass track (think Bass Explosion USA). Perhaps for mgw38, it could be something else that probably should be brought up the developer.

Anyway, to resolve the issue, he adds:
"You could drop in a reference track with a similar tonal balance and a huge low-end to see if you get the same results… You could also drop a bounce of the exact track into BASSROOM and you’d see the lines would be hovering around the center of the room if you analyze the drop and then loop the drop in your DAW."

I really like this. If anyone is trying to compare this to the resulting low-end suggestion from Ozone 8, IMHO, because this is specifically a mastering plugin, it has a lot more equity in tailoring the low end than Ozone 8 does, but I will credit Izotope in that Ozone does make really good suggestions for spectrum filled songs, and it did tell me that the song that I put into Bassroom required negligible eq'ing. So, I can't really draw a definite conclusion other than to use your ears.

Honestly, I'm really interested to see this plugin evolve. I like reading that people are getting good results from this. I think Plugin Boutique has the best price in USD at $59 JRRshop has it for $55.18 with promo code "forum" or $55.80 without. Was there an introductory price for this at one time?

I do have some suggestions after using this for a few more minutes:
Learning the presets becomes second hand but as a beginner using the plugin for the first time, perhaps make the path of the preset visible. For example, Electronic>Dance and Pop>Electronic. No biggie just a suggestion. Also:

1. An A/B option for comparing settings in future updates, unless there is a way to do this.
2. An option to toggle the ctrl+click to release/latch solo'ing the current band when a second band is selected.
3. Make the GUI toggle to horizontal view?
4. Have the ability to change band amplitude while in solo mode?

By the way, they're liking this plugin a lot on GS:
https://www.gearslutz.com/board/new-pro ... gin-3.html
...and the electron responded, "what wall?"

Post

Mathematics wrote: Thu Jun 06, 2019 11:29 pm
1. An A/B option for comparing settings in future updates, unless there is a way to do this.
The little speaker on top is the A/B option. Slider is the makeup gain. When things arent traditional such as showing a speaker instead of A/B we get lost :lol: . But yeah, A/B instead of speaker would be nice. Im just nitpicking now. I bought it :D

Here’s something I do with the A/B. Ill put the makeup gain to be ever so slightly quieter than the original. We perceive louder things as better, so if the adjustments are quieter, AND sound better, you know it was a good adjustment. Idk, not sure if that’s even true, but it makes sense to me so stick to it, ha.

Post

Butwug wrote: Fri Jun 07, 2019 4:19 pm
Mathematics wrote: Thu Jun 06, 2019 11:29 pm
1. An A/B option for comparing settings in future updates, unless there is a way to do this.
The little speaker on top is the A/B option. Slider is the makeup gain. When things arent traditional such as showing a speaker instead of A/B we get lost :lol: . But yeah, A/B instead of speaker would be nice. Im just nitpicking now. I bought it :D

Here’s something I do with the A/B. Ill put the makeup gain to be ever so slightly quieter than the original. We perceive louder things as better, so if the adjustments are quieter, AND sound better, you know it was a good adjustment. Idk, not sure if that’s even true, but it makes to me so stick to it, ha.
I bought it too. The review on YouTube By ZozillaThaGreat is excellent but the main reason I decided to respond is so I could say "Butwug!" That's just a cool handle. :lol:

Post

dblock wrote: Fri Jun 07, 2019 4:25 pm I bought it too. The review on YouTube By ZozillaThaGreat is excellent but the main reason I decided to respond is so I could say "Butwug!" That's just a cool handle. :lol:
I’ve always had a problem when trying to choose creative or unique usernames. Chose Butwug because I use Bitwig :lol: . Just substituted “i” with “u” lol. Thankfully I now use automated passwords because those used to give me a hard time too.

Thanks for heads up on review by Zozilla! Learned a bit more.

Post

Butwug wrote: Fri Jun 07, 2019 4:50 pm
dblock wrote: Fri Jun 07, 2019 4:25 pm I bought it too. The review on YouTube By ZozillaThaGreat is excellent but the main reason I decided to respond is so I could say "Butwug!" That's just a cool handle. :lol:
I’ve always had a problem when trying to choose creative or unique usernames. Chose Butwug because I use Bitwig :lol: . Just substituted “i” with “u” lol. Thankfully I now use automated passwords because those used to give me a hard time too.

Thanks for heads up on review by Zozilla! Learned a bit more.
You bet. I always check him out for new reviews.

Post

I tried this plug on a uptempo americountry tune i "finished" and to my shock the pop contemporary preset (?) I chose set the targets veeery close to where those frequency bin were set to gain wise. I gave myself a pat on the back and tweaked then to bring them in line with the BASSROOM targets. Then bounced it to a new filename and compared the before and after. The sound of the before mix seems warmer overall as the guitars have more happening in the 320 bin. The after sounds clearer in the mids now but A/B them for a day now I'm still on the fence.

Post

I got another quick response from Tom after mentioning a few ideas about the plugin after spending a little more time with it. Here's his response to my points:

"...

1. Will there an A/B option for comparing settings in future updates, unless there is a way to do this?
Most likely yes.

2. Would adding an option to toggle the ctrl+click to release/latch solo'ing the current band when a second band is selected, be feasible in the future?
Possibly.

3. Make the GUI toggle to horizontal view?
The UI is resizable, click and drag the bottom right corner. Though It will retain a portrait stature.

4. Have the ability to change band amplitude while in solo mode?
Unlikely, as the band solo doesn’t take gain changes into consideration when in solo mode.


..."

I tried this with numerous mastered songs and the results were interesting. On most of the mastered tracks, it suggested to raise the bass near the sub frequencies and frequencies around 160-320Hz on different reference profiles. The resulting sound was definitely fuller. I didn't just drop the plug, analyze, and set it...I actually took some time solo'ing the bands and tried to sculpt the eq to best spread the bass over the entire lower band.

I'm still playing with it and comparing it to Ozone 8 Adv's abilities. So far, Bassroom, imho, is not a redundant buy as an Ozone 8 owner. Zozilla's (Jeezo on GearSlutz) video is definitely a good demo of this plugin. He actually posted a lot of positive comments on GS on the aforementioned link in my previous post. Am I going to buy it? Definitely. I have a feeling something I may end up paying a higher price for this when new version of it come out...idk.
...and the electron responded, "what wall?"

Post

I ran 5 tracks mixed by Serban Ghenea through all presets in both Bassroom and Mixroom and not a single preset in any song in any plugin recommended small changes. Bassroom always wanted either 6 dB boosts or cuts at various frequencies (depending on the preset) and Mixroom pretty much always 6 dB boost at 500-800 Hz. Like really, you need to make 6 dB adjustments in a Bruno Mars song??

Also ran a handful of songs that are in the preset list (techno, house, dance) - no preset settled to conservative settings.

So the "AI" it's ridiculously flawed at the best and pretty much useless at the worst. What's left, is an EQ decently priced at $50.

Post

sircuit wrote: Mon Oct 05, 2020 4:56 pm Also ran a handful of songs that are in the preset list (techno, house, dance) - no preset settled to conservative settings.

So the "AI" it's ridiculously flawed at the best and pretty much useless at the worst. What's left, is an EQ decently priced at $50.
Maybe it's not the AI, but the HI (human intelligence) which chose the "presets" in the first place. I mean, what songs did they use for reference? An "EDM" preset according to whom? Is it an average EQ curve across a hundred songs? Maybe said reference song was absolutely terrible. So because of this, that's why I take the "presets" with a Morton Salt factory's amount of seasoning!

The test would be to pit a Bruno Mars song against a Bruno Mars song, but even then, I think the AI messes up. To me, it seems to do best when it thinks to bring something up or down, but not so much when it already is good.

I'm still playing with BASSROOM and MIXROOM with extended demos. I can't decide if I want one or both. I do a fairly good job already with reference tracks and spectrum comparisons, but I waste excessive amounts of time doing this because of already-mastered music vs. mix-volume tracks of mine. If I were to pick one, it would probably be BASSROOM because I waste a serious amount of time in the low end of my music and it has the most effect on the overall mix, IMO.

Post Reply

Return to “Effects”