KVR Audio

_leras · Post by **_leras** » Fri Apr 14, 2023 7:09 pm

Just wondering what people are using for ITB mastering Chains in 2023.

I've had to master some tracks just after packing up my studio to be shipped, and temporarily lost access to most of my UAD plugins.

I've found I've had great success with mainly plugin alliance plug ins and some bits of Ozone that I was able to pick up on sale.

UAD Oxide, just to trim some peaky transients
Bx_digital3, pre compressor EQ
Two compression stages
SPL Iron/UAD Fairchild
Elysia Alpha
Amek 250, sontec emu for general shaping, this to me is lovely...
Bx_digital 3, more and m/s eq
Ozone, maybe some dynamic EQ, imaging, don't love some bits
Ozone limiter, quite nice with some preclipping
Or
Brainworx true peak limiter

And I've also found Crave EQ V2 to be excellent.

What are other people using in 2023, and why?

fcamp · Post by **fcamp** » Fri Apr 14, 2023 7:17 pm

TDR Kotelnikov GE, Limiter 6 GE and Slickeq M.
Bx SPL Passeq and Dangerous BAX.
Sonnox Inflator.
Melda MautodynamicEQ.

cryophonik · Post by **cryophonik** » Fri Apr 14, 2023 7:27 pm

Mine is simple and the same as 2022, 2021, 2020, 2019, etc etc etc...

Ozone (usually starting with a genre-specific preset and tweaking from there)
FF Pro L
Flux Analyzer (in addition to Wavelab's meters)

plexuss · Post by **plexuss** » Fri Apr 14, 2023 7:36 pm

My regular "template" in, in order:

Gullfoss Mastering - I tweek this to taste
[ I might use this space for EQ and Compression: DMG, Unisum, a buss compressor etc
Leapwing CenterOne - | This group of tools is all to tweek, if needed, the soundstage.
Leapwing StageOne. - | In my music the soundstage is a huge part of the production.
Mathew Lane DrMS. - | I don't always use all of these, but I typically use DrMS all the time
RJStudio SideMinderME2 - | to tame any overt soundstage issues
[ I might use this space for transient processing, tape emulation,
Limitless - final limiter, I target -15 to -16 LUFS as I find that suits my music best
ADPTR MetricAB - for any AB version or target comparison
Youlean Loudness Meter - to monitor loudness metrics
SPL HawkEye - to monitor technical metrics

Lazarus451 · Post by **Lazarus451** » Fri Apr 14, 2023 8:04 pm

Elysia Alpha, FabFilter Pro-C2 or IK Multimedia Bus Compressor (or some other compressor)

Oxford Inflator
FabFilter Pro-Q 3
iZotope Ozone 10
ADPTR MetricAB
Voxengo SPAN Plus
iZotope Tonal Balance Control 2

noiseresearch · Post by **noiseresearch** » Fri Apr 14, 2023 9:03 pm

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woodsdenis · Post by **woodsdenis** » Fri Apr 14, 2023 11:48 pm

ProQ3
Melda SpectralDynamics
Unisum/Softube Germanium
Kelvin
Gulfoss
Ozone 10/FFl2/Sonible SmartLimit

motomotomoto · Post by **motomotomoto** » Sat Apr 15, 2023 12:09 am

These super complex chains confuse me.

If a mix doesn’t have any issues :

KClip
Smart Limit or Pro L
L

sqigls · Post by **sqigls** » Sat Apr 15, 2023 2:51 am

about 13-14 instances of 1 ping only -> Plugin Alliance SuperDubTurbo Mastering Edition -> DONE!!

Saukar30 · Post by **Saukar30** » Sat Apr 15, 2023 3:13 am

2 things are always on:
Ozone & TDR Limiter GE

The rest I would whip out when I need a specific sound:
Abbey Roads Vinyl & Mastering
TDR Slick EQ M
TDR Nova GE
T-Racks 5
Waves L2
Waves F6
Reaper FX

I suck, but these help me to not suck as much.

kritikon · Post by **kritikon** » Sat Apr 15, 2023 6:55 am

Mostly Squasher in Cubase and that's it nowadays. Cubase's own analyzer as needed.
I might occasionally have a limiter or clipper after it but TBH Squasher doesn't seem to give me any overs.
Rarely some kind of Eq, but I've steadily been moving away from dicking around on master FX and my mixes seem better for it.

I still miss my old BBE hw enhancer, but tbh haven't found any sw enhancer I rate that much.

_leras · Post by **_leras** » Sat Apr 15, 2023 8:16 pm

plexuss wrote: Fri Apr 14, 2023 7:36 pm My regular "template" in, in order:

Gullfoss Mastering - I tweek this to taste
[ I might use this space for EQ and Compression: DMG, Unisum, a buss compressor etc
Leapwing CenterOne - | This group of tools is all to tweek, if needed, the soundstage.
Leapwing StageOne. - | In my music the soundstage is a huge part of the production.
Mathew Lane DrMS. - | I don't always use all of these, but I typically use DrMS all the time
RJStudio SideMinderME2 - | to tame any overt soundstage issues
[ I might use this space for transient processing, tape emulation,
Limitless - final limiter, I target -15 to -16 LUFS as I find that suits my music best
ADPTR MetricAB - for any AB version or target comparison
Youlean Loudness Meter - to monitor loudness metrics
SPL HawkEye - to monitor technical metrics

Thanks for sharing this. Especially for adding the why you use each.

I'll definitely take a closer look at some of these.

_leras · Post by **_leras** » Sat Apr 15, 2023 8:26 pm

noiseresearch wrote: Fri Apr 14, 2023 9:03 pm Since a couple of years I use more or less the same plugins. I've developed a pretty nice and fast workflow where I can quickly dial in the sound I want. A nice balance of simplicity and complexity, clean in sound and easy to use.
TDR Nova GE
TDR Kotelnikov GE
TDR SlickEQ M
TDR Limiter No6 GE
JonVAudio FirComp2
apulsoft apShaper
Voxengo Span
Voxengo Correlometer
Youlean Loudness Meter
Airwindows Monitoring3
Airwindows Dark Dither

Thanks for sharing. What is it about the TDR stuff? Looks pretty functional, and is it just the clean sound you like?

Also, that apShaper looks interesting. What do you use it for in a mastering context?

ramseysounds · Post by **ramseysounds** » Sat Apr 15, 2023 8:29 pm

PA Passeq
SPL Iron
Waves L2

Or

Waves Abbey Road Master

El°HYM · Post by **El°HYM** » Sat Apr 15, 2023 9:06 pm

EQ8
TheGlue
GMAudio Clipper
GMaudio PentaComp
GMAudio HiFreqLimiter

Mastering Chains 2023