Improve my Mastering Chain

[sqigls]

for a start there's NO context on this whole thread.
you should provide an example of a few of your songs with and without these 'mastering' effects.
used well those tools could work wonders, they could also brutalise your mix.
Everyone's master bus (not mastering chain, does anyone really need to into that argument again?) is gonna be different. If you're looking for something to mix into 100% of the time, then lose that whole chain basically, maybe except for the SSL comp and maybe the limiter. Learn to use those properly and your own ears, then you won't need to ask schmoes on KVR what they think of your out of context 'mastering chain'. Unless you're working with a stereo wav file, then most of those plugins you listed are moot. Go back and fix the track. Don't let a whole bunch of tracks suffer for a problem that's probably a single track or bus that needs a bit of attention.

[thecontrolcentre]

Go back and fix the track.

Absolutely. If you don't like how your mix sounds, then fix the mix. Until you can do that, leave the mastering tools alone (or let someone else do it). Mastering really can't polish a turd.

[plexuss]

Go back and fix the track.

Absolutely. If you don't like how your mix sounds, then fix the mix. Until you can do that, leave the mastering tools alone (or let someone else do it). Mastering really can't polish a turd.

Actually, it can, at times. Mastering techniques can sometimes turn a dull lifeless track into something resembling high fidelity.

People should feel free to do whatever they want. Follow best practices or just experiment and throw things together and see how it sounds. With plugins there is no reason to constrain ones self with arbitrary rules. sure use best practices and seek and follow advice if you want to, do what you what. as long as you are having fun.

I will respond later to the OP. It's going to take some explaining how I'd make that chain better and why.

[sqigls]

totally people should feel free, master bus effects can also be a part of someone's 'trademark' sound.

but asking for advice on an audio forum then THAT person should feel free to receive a shit ton of opinions.
and the best advice i could give in this case is that it's so easy to destroy your sound by piling corrective plugins on your master bus, no matter how much experience you have. better to go de-ess those cymbals or monofy that bass or duck that keyboard or whatever.

[plexuss]

totally people should feel free, master bus effects can also be a part of someone's 'trademark' sound.

but asking for advice on an audio forum then THAT person should feel free to receive a shit ton of opinions.
and the best advice i could give in this case is that it's so easy to destroy your sound by piling plugins on your master bus, no matter how much experience you have. better to go de-ess those cymbals or monofy that bass or duck that keyboard or whatever.

I see it as two different contexts: mixing and mastering. If there is an issue that is in the realm of mixing, then fix the mix. If its a mastering issue, fix it in mastering. I don't think it's difficult to determine the context of the change. Sometimes you can get away with a mastering tweek if the effort to fix the mix is higher or there are other constraints. I think a person who works at it will eventually figure it out for themselves, which is ultimately the way to get there. Questions like the OP, to me, are completely valid within the path of learning how to do all this. If you don't ask and try , it's harder to get to being good at it. You have to be refining your process... constantly. I don't think there is an end-state with music and audio, its just a constant non-stop pursuit of some arbitrary goal that doesn't really exists. But al the way things hopefully sound better and better.

[sqigls]

this is why i would ask to hear some before and after audio examples.
need context. There's no more apt advice possible without actually hearing what OP is doing.

also the "Mastering VS Master Bus" thing might be getting into semantics from one perspective, but actual MASTERING is not just putting things on a master bus. I guess it could be with the technology we have nowadays, or if you happen to have golden ears. so either listen well or have good luck in which plugin you throw willy nilly onto your 2-bus. I guess actual mastering engineers, seeing named "Improve my Mastering Chain" would generally just keep scrolling, but I'm definitely in 2 minds over this general topic. Semantics maybe, but MASTERING does not really equal MASTER BUS EFFECTS in my opinion.

[VELLTONE MUSIC]

mastering heavily depend of what kind mix you already have,it's addition to it,not fix,far from expert,but start to realize what was the mistakes in the past i made - don't hurry to mix and master,before to have a clear idea of the sound you 'cook',selection of the sounds and right combinations are most important.
Rock music and live recorfdings are different and way more messy than edm,or example guitars are under bass and kick as main tone and frequency ...how you mix that

[sqigls]

dynamic eq baby

brrrt

it's all context really... different tools and techniques for different songs, it's really song by song for me. i'd say the only things that live on my master bus are the saturation stage of Blyss, and Unisum

[jamcat]

This isn’t a mastering chain

[VELLTONE MUSIC]

interesting paradox in dance music is that you can make almost perfect song with few right presets - i've got a old dance composition made with 5-6 Sylenth1 presets and it sound like super dope mix ,but there is not neither mixing ,nor mastering on it, just right gain staging and dope presets ,which is absolutely impossible with live recordings imho.

[sqigls]

i started as a live engineer, and i tell you, with DI boxes, and mics, i can do some magic. I'm cereal. i ride the desk like something that sticks to something else. i'll think of a simile soon possibly

[Uncle E]

EQ
Multiband Comp
elysia Museq Master
Gulfoss
SmartComp2
SSL Comp
TEOTE
Inflator
Monofilter
Limiter

Use either SmartComp2 or SSL Comp, not both, and move which ever you choose to the top. This is because the EQ will drastically change how the compressor reacts and you'll end up going back and forth every time you make an EQ change.

Use either EQ or Museq, not both, and move it directly after the buss comp.

Use either Multiband Comp, Gulfoss, or TEOTE, not all three, because you'll get too much phase shift or other weirdness. #3 slot.

Monofilter #4 slot, Inflator #5 slot, Limiter #6 slot. Many people say Inflator should be the last slot but I've always gotten better results from it in the second to last, especially because it allows me hit the Brickwall harder. YMMV.

Don't use Adaptiverb for mastering. Satin can go anywhere before Monofilter.

[plexuss]

1. EQ
2. Multiband Comp
3. elysia Museq Master
4. Gulfoss
5. SmartComp2
6. SSL Comp
7. TEOTE
8. Inflator
9. Monofilter
10. Limiter

My worklow is based on dividing up the work into smaller pieces. A track is composed of tracking, mixing and mastering. Let's talk about the mastering piece. I divide that into 3 groups: Overall cleanup, specific problem solving and finalization. Cleanup is pretty much full-bandwidth processing. Problem solving involves whatever specfic plugins working on a specfic aspect of the audio. Finalization can include another group of full-or-wide band processing for final polish, loudness set and ensuring the technical aspects of the track meet quality goals.

With this in mind, I would re-org the OP mastering chain this way, making some assumptions about their use which I will mention. I kept the item numbers from the original list so the re-organizatin is easier to see.

4. Gullfoss - over-all goodizer to get track EQ to built-in target
1. EQ - full band, tone mostly, no narrow bands, tilt
6. SSL Comp - glue

3. elysia Museq Master - medium bandwidth tweek
5. SmartComp2 - transparent track comp to get thing back under control

7. TEOTE - overall tonal balance and resonance control
2. Multiband Comp - get things back under control and balanced

8. Inflator - trackwide vibe
9. Monofilter - centre monoization and MS balance
10. Limiter - final loudness and ISP mitigation

[jamcat]

All of that is stuff you can put on your mixbuss. It’s still not “mastering.”

[plexuss]

All of that is stuff you can put on your mixbuss. It’s still not “mastering.”

Then put it on your mixbuss and dont call it mastering.