Mastering Chains 2023

[jonaszg8]

The Glue
Diamond eq from Acustica
Inflator
Limitless

[martiu]

Sonible pure bundle

[Mdekoning]

UAD Manley Massive Passive
TDR VOS SLICKEQ GE
TDR KOTELNIKOV GE
Gullfoss
Inflator
Acustica HWMC
Sonnox Limiter

[monophonK]

To Go:
SPL IRON
SPL PQ

Quick and dirty:
Klevgrand Grand Finale 2.0

AI:
Focusrite FAST Plugins

[HarmoSound]

interesting

[keyman_sam]

I just slap a Waves L2 in there and call it a day.

j/k

[electro]

Nobody on Eventide Newfangled?
https://www.eventideaudio.com/plug-ins/ ... ng-bundle/

[Octave_Jumper]

Yeah, I usually use Elevate plus Smart:Limit in series for limiting.

[Igro]

Eq
IK Dyna-Mu compressor
IK Stealth Limiter.

[sinkmusic]

TB Eq4 or Acon equalize 2 or TDR Slick Eq-M
BlueCat MB5 or TDR Kotelnikov
Some Newfangled plugins if needed (Saturate, Equivocate, Elevate)
TB Barricade 4

[legendCNCD]

Elysia Alpha -> TDR Kotelnikov GE -> TDR SlickEQ M -> TDR Limiter 6 -> Ozone 9 Maximiser.
Thats everything used in upcoming https://distrokid.com/hyperfollow/softknees/three-tales
You can then blame mixing as the chain just touched a bit of the peaks etc. Moved 99% of saturation to mixing, though some upcoming tracks liked Kush Blyss on master, anyway so case by case.

EDIT: clarification of saturation

[BONES]

I usually only spend 15-20 minutes mastering a song, it's not difficult. I tweak FireCobra and STA Enhancer, which are on the master from the get-go, before I render the mix, to make things sound good. Then I master in Ozone standalone to make it technically good, using the Master Assistant to do most of the work.

Most of the time it hardly makes any difference to the song because I am trying to make things as close to perfect in the mix as I can, which is why I put FireCobra and STA Enhancer on early.

I have to wonder how bad a mix has to be to need 12-15 plugins in the mastering process.

[sokoleski]

TB Eq4 or Acon equalize 2 or TDR Slick Eq-M
BlueCat MB5 or TDR Kotelnikov
Some Newfangled plugins if needed (Saturate, Equivocate, Elevate)
TB Barricade 4

Do you combine Elevate and TB Barricade 4 ..or do you settle for one or the other?

I have both and tend to use them for different tasks.

How about you?


Greetings

[sinkmusic]

Hello,
There is no rules, it really depends on the kind of track and the kind of job to do on it...
Elevate is much deeper, I use it mostly when I want/need some special tasks (either tone coloration if the track requires it, or on the opposite some transparency along with deeper processing)

[plexuss]

I usually only spend 15-20 minutes mastering a song, it's not difficult. I tweak FireCobra and STA Enhancer, which are on the master from the get-go, before I render the mix, to make things sound good. Then I master in Ozone standalone to make it technically good, using the Master Assistant to do most of the work.

Most of the time it hardly makes any difference to the song because I am trying to make things as close to perfect in the mix as I can, which is why I put FireCobra and STA Enhancer on early.

All this is fine because everyone has their own way of working. I'm thinking, "Wow no generalized judgements... maybe Bones has changed...

I have to wonder how bad a mix has to be to need 12-15 plugins in the mastering process.

But then you turn it into a personal judgement... nothing changes I guess.