Vari Mu Mastering Compressors...?

[VELLTONE MUSIC]

To my understanding the 'Master' as many used to call the complete track ,must be shaped on mastering stage.
Either or not you have perfect mix,final shape of the track is made on master stage and will sounds different than final mix.
The types of compression is choice between fast,medium or slow attack and release.
There is 4 main types of compressors,but to me the choice is basically 3 - fast medium and slow reaction of the compressor or something in between,depending on material,for example ambient sound is defined by slow attack and release.
So far i prefer medium settings,but experiment with fast /fet compression as well.
I guess it's all about to fine the right setting on master buss,using right tools,shaping best 'Master'.
If somebody have opinion about the best setting for ultimate master compression,please share.
For me ration over 1. 5 max 1.7 is not good idea on master buss.
2:1 in most cases is already audible and ruin the mix imo.
Threshold on mastering stage is flexible ,but to me 3-6 db range is safe.
Multiband compressors aren't suitable for mastering,unless the design is dedicated,they do the opposite actually,separate bands,which is good on mixing stage,when on master we need to shape all material as one band.
Sharing this to newbies here.
Which tool is best for this or that is personal preference.
Vari Mu seems to be useful for both mixing and mastering,mostly because of the tube saturation.
Please share ideas on what you find useful as plugin or technique,the idea of the topic is sharing personal experience.
Cheers

[El°HYM]

Vari - Mu's are good for Mastering due to their program dependent threshold and ratio. While modern clones have between 4 and 8 vacuum tubes, the famous vintage units have a whopping 20 vacuum tubes inside. So basically a superb color machine in its own right.

[VELLTONE MUSIC]

i mention 670 several times mostly because the nice saturation and great final shape it gives on master (not paid opinion) and can't replace it so far with anything else,which saturate and shape better.
My biggest hesitation is do i want clean or saturated master - lately prefer saturated one.
The clean master is easy to process,but miss the mood without saturation.
It's entirely personal preference, but 670 with time constant 3,4 and 5 works well on master,depending what style or mood i wan2 shape.
Yesterday compared uad 670 with unfairchild,both great ,unfairchild add 3-4 db pump,uad is more mellow to my taste.
Cheers

[billinder33]

My biggest hesitation is do i want clean or saturated master - lately prefer saturated one.
The clean master is easy to process, but miss the mood without saturation.

I'm just some rando on the internet so take this for what it's worth (nothing). If I have influence or control over the mix, my preference is to do all saturation there and keep the master as clean as possible. The reason is to reduce aliasing and intermodulation distortion in the master as much as possible.

That doesn't mean that I 'never' use saturation. Sometimes I'll get mixes that I have no control over and use saturation as a density or thickness tool. In those cases, I'll use a dedicated saturator (usually Kelvin or True Iron) and band limit the saturation to the upper frequencies. I'll also typically use the highest oversampling the device offers if my CPU can handle it. Plus there are a few tools I use occasionally (like the Vertigo) that have built-in saturation that can't be avoided.

That said, if you love the results you're getting from your current 670 compressor emu, no reason to change. As they say, "if it sounds good, it is good".

[VELLTONE MUSIC]

I hope this discussion to be useful to newbies
I differentiate clean and dirty/color master mostly by level of saturation the fx add.
If it's not audible ,consider it as clean.
There is different types of saturation,each have strong and weak sides.
For example very nice and sure bet is tape saturation - depending of amount could b clean or dirty.
I like and use softube tape,also cakewalk tape could be nice touch on master,but with super small amount like 2-3%.
Uad oxide,verve and studer are superb,but for mixing.
Another type,more aggressive is tube saturation,which usually is mixing tool,not master.
Tube saturation gives super dope presence in the mix.
For example try free uad la2a tube on pad - no such tube pleasure with two turns of two knobs
But tube saturation from 670 is different somehow,can't explain how ,i just love it as first or second fx on master chain.
My personal preference for master chain is like 5-6 different plugins,something like two different EQ,two different compressors and any other fx - tape saturation or something with transformer.
On mixing stage i like a lot of satutaration,with specific goals,but final touch on master fx is crucial - will shape what eventually people will like or not.
That's magic - to make something so sweet and addictive,people to play it again and again.
At least i am like that as audiophile
Watch this video.
Cheers