IK's Lurssen Mastering Console

[Teksonik]

Anyone else notice that the Lurssen Mastering Console destroys FL Studio's Buffer Meter? Empty project, no audio running, plugin at idle:

LMC 071925-3.png

The system CPU readout is only 11% (Ryzen 7 7700X)

Waveform Pro's meter shows at 30% which about the same as some of IK's hungry tape machines with a system CPU read out of 5%.

EDIT: By changing FL Studio's maddening "Use Fixed Size Buffer" option to "Process Maximum Size Buffers" you can bring the demand down considerably. However I don't know if that will have an impact on stability.

I don't think it will be a big deal here since the LMC appears to be more A.I. based and therefore not something I'm going to use unless someone knows of a way to get the included modules in the signal chain to show up where they can be deep edited.

LMC 071925-4.png

[dionenoid]

I don't think it will be a big deal here since the LMC appears to be more A.I. based and therefore not something I'm going to use unless someone knows of a way to get the included modules in the signal chain to show up where they can be deep edited.

You seem to misunderstand the plugin. It's supposed to emulate a mastering chain, it's not AI based at all. It's merely a static set of processors where each is doing just a little bit of processing. So you're not supposed to deep edit the modules, but just let each processor do a bit of 'coloring'.

Select the correct template (genre) and then hit it at proper levels. Each template changes some settings under the hood, and it also changes/reorders modules.

It's actually pretty good at this. Except that LMC has no proper gain settings, which many have complained about as it's kinda essential when using it in a digital environment.

And yeah, it uses a fair amount of cpu. That's not weird seeing how it is doing a bunch of processors ; it uses about the same amount of cpu as a chain of those processors do when using similar ones in T-Racks. And in T-Racks you can deep edit to your likings ofcourse.

[Teksonik]

You seem to misunderstand the plugin. It's supposed to emulate a mastering chain, it's not AI based at all.

I understand that it makes decisions for you based on the template you pick so perhaps not technically "A.I." but pretty much the same concept.

If you can't make deep edits to the included units of the chain then it is no better than an A.I. solution that's telling you want to think.

I tried it on a project I'm working on and it does sound good but what did I learn by using it? Am I any better of an "engineer" for using it?

Could I have obtained the same results using a similar combination of T-Racks plugins? Yes, although it may have taken a bit more time but I would have learned something in the process.

The LMC seems more like a crutch than a serious mastering tool to me. For that reason I won't be using it going forward.....

[Bombadil]

One of the plugins I got 'free' in 2021. Tried it, decided to uninstall. Quite a few things I got in that group buy aren't on my computer anymore.

[DaveClark]

You seem to misunderstand the plugin. It's supposed to emulate a mastering chain, it's not AI based at all.

I understand that it makes decisions for you based on the template you pick so perhaps not technically "A.I." but pretty much the same concept.

If you can't make deep edits to the included units of the chain then it is no better than an A.I. solution that's telling you want to think.

No, that's not correct, but instead of trying to explain why it isn't myself, I asked Dr. Googles' AI division:

"Lurssen Mastering Console is a digital audio mastering tool developed by IK Multimedia in collaboration with Lurssen Mastering, a Grammy-winning mastering studio. It aims to replicate the unique workflow and signal chain of the Lurssen studio, offering a user-friendly approach to mastering music. While it doesn't use AI in the sense of automated, intelligent processing, it does offer a set of pre-designed 'Styles' created by Gavin Lurssen and his team, which are essentially presets that emulate their signature sound."

If it was AI-based, all you would do, for example, is feed it your mix without comment or choices of genre, and it would use the patterns in that mix for which it was trained to identify and respond as trained. There would not normally be any identifiable fixed 'Styles.'

I'm too busy to say more or to respond further.

[Teksonik]

No, that's not correct, but instead of trying to explain why it isn't myself, I asked Dr. Googles' AI division:
While it doesn't use AI in the sense of automated, intelligent processing, it does offer a set of pre-designed 'Styles' created by Gavin Lurssen ."

I'm too busy to say more or to respond further.

But you weren't too busy to repeat what I had already written and at the same time say it's "not correct".

Again:
"I understand that it makes decisions for you based on the template you pick so perhaps not technically "A.I." but pretty much the same concept.

If you can't make deep edits to the included units of the chain then it is no better than an A.I. solution that's telling you want to think".

Use it if you need a crutch. I don't, I'd rather make my own decisions since that's how you grow as an artist.

[dionenoid]

You posted, and i quote :

LMC appears to be more A.I. based

But it's not at all like AI, it's completely the opposite. It doesn't make decisions for you. You pick a preset, done. Only a preset is called a 'template' here. But it's exactly the same as when picking a preset for a reverb, or a compressor, or a channelstrip, or whatever.

It might well be that a Jazz template works best on an EDM track, or an EDM template on a country track. LMC is not making those decisions for you, you gotta try them out yourself.


And you posted :

not something I'm going to use unless someone knows of a way to get the included modules in the signal chain to show up where they can be deep edited.

If you had taken a bit of time to see the guys from Lurssen work (see the IK vids for example) then perhaps you would understand.

It's supposed to emulate their analog mastering chain. These analog units are not tweaked much, or not tweaked at all. They do some digital (pre) processing and then run the signal at the proper level through the analog chain. Only doing some broad strokes, and bypassing what's not needed. As is usual when working with analog mastering gear.

So you don't need to edit inside LMC much, as that would also not happen when using that analog mastering chain.

[topaz]

Personally I would only use this kind of product standalone on a pre mastered bounce down.

[Teksonik]

You posted, and i quote :

LMC appears to be more A.I. based

But it's not at all like AI, it's completely the opposite. It doesn't make decisions for you. You pick a preset, done. Only a preset is called a 'template' here. But it's exactly the same as when picking a preset for a reverb, or a compressor, or a channelstrip, or whatever.

Not "opposite" at all whether you can understand that fact or not. It's making decisions for you just like A.I. does. Decisions you can't reverse by deep editing the chain. The difference between presets in every other channel strip I own is that I can edit every parameter to my personal needs. The only presets I use in the ten or more channel strips I own are the ones I created....for my music.

If you had taken a bit of time to see the guys from Lurssen work (see the IK vids for example) then perhaps you would understand.

I don't care how anyone else works. It's utterly irrelevant to me and here's the part that you need to understand.....because we all make different music.

When I saw "Lurssen Mastering Console" I (erroneously) thought it would be like all the other consoles that I own and allow me to edit everything to my own needs and not something that tells me how my music should sound.

But I have since learned it is a plugin for beginners or lazy people. I am neither.

I've owned T-Racks plugins for about 20 years, so long ago the first version came on a physical instal disk.

So I can easily match or better any result the LMC can achieve using a combination of the the TR6 plugins without having to allow someone else to tell me how my music should sound.

Again I'm simply not going to use the LMC. If that triggers anyone then it's out of my control. Use it if you wish, I care not one way or the other.

So with that in mind I'll lock this thread. There is nothing to be gained by anyone from any further discussions. Have a nice day.