Mastering - personal issues. sugggestions?

[Spe3D]

Started this - should prove interesting in time

http://audioshots.com/auditorium/viewforum.php?f=16

Best regards,

Spe3d

:O)

[xoxos]

i just mix with a (my) limiter strapped to the mains :p

[stefancrs]

I used to use t:racks at work. Moved over totally to NyquistEQ + endorphin. Much better results. Tried the Ozone stuff, thought it sucked.

[IIRs]

i just mix with a (my) limiter strapped to the mains :p

If the mix is spot-on that's all it will need. (maybe not even that!)

[Sepheritoh]

Well, most of the important things have been said, but I can at least add my voice & vote for Ozone.

Firstly, the quality of ozone just sound great to me. I'm not really into that "warm and fuzzy tape compressed" sound. To me it just sound like people want to justify the fact that the 60's was actually not so bad. Ozone has some presets that can do that if you want to, but I am aiming for the more transparent sound of 64bit digital mastering which ozone do very well, including the dithering algorithms they use. Don't ask me how it works or why it sounds better, but I am probably just more used to it. There must be some reason at least why all the 60's records are being digitally remastered.

Secondly, the workflow in ozone just works for me. It is all in one and very easy to tweak and adjust. Save it all in a preset and burn it to a CD. Next day you listen to the CD and think that maybe the compression on the high end should be calmed down a bit. You don't have to then try to remember what all the other plugins in the chain was and how the setting were. You can just simply load the preset and make the little adjustment you had in mind. The same thing can be done with chainer if you use the PSP or other standalone plugs, but it does take a lot more effort (I am a lazy bastard).

[gizmo]

Have you treated the room? If the room's untreated no matter what you do you'll still be carrying the sonic signature of the room to your mix, which is almost always a rollercoaster. (Not the room, the signature...) That's the dreaded "It sounds good on my monitors but not on a CD" thingy. If you do the research and treat the room it will make a HUGE difference.

[P.T.]

i just dont get it because sometimes people post stuff they got "mastered" by some people and it sounds so much less lively than their original mixes. It's like... I'm going to be doing some "post-processing mastering" for some kids for money and I just want to be sure I'm not going to screw it up

RoNC

It probably sounds less "lively" because so many people squash the life out of a mix by over-maximizing to get it to sound louder.

The irony is that it now sounds dead, and lacking in the dynamics that help create a sense of loudness.

[xoxos]

i just mix with a (my) limiter strapped to the mains :p

If the mix is spot-on that's all it will need. (maybe not even that!)

shaddap! you trying to get us both on the industry blacklist??!!

room treatment tip -

stop in back of the carpet installing businesses.. might find a dumpster ful of strips of underpadding they trim off the side, works great.

[rpc9943]

Well either way I do know what im doing, at least in the sense of cleaning up a crappy sounding track. I mean I personally know I can do that. I just couldn't really ... Figure out what the huge difference is using ozone versus these other free tools. I mean I can hear the "ozone" sound on anything I apply, yet when I use my aforementioned free tools, it seems like it IS more musical, less audiophile technical. You see what I mean? I mean I'm only charging $20 per song, in which I'll EQ things up to sound a bit better, and let it all do a dance under my BUZROOM or TLSmax under my -0.4dB limbo pole. I'm just letting the thoughts out here and I feel that if I am missing out, what am I missing out on? I mean... I want ozone pretty damn bad. But if I can do this stuff by pick and choice of tool, I dont want to be running back to ozone to do my dirty work, which would definately be the case here. Final mix just feels so FAKE. I'm sorry I just simply can't pop it in, load up the default cd master preset and throw her out. It doesn't feel right. About the treatment and stuff, I'm no doctor or mastering doctorate, cap'n. My room can hold up the sound pretty well at the moment. I've got okay ears, I dont think I'm a theif fixing up some fellow college student's hip hop tracks for real cheap... I mean cmon man. I might ask stupid questions but it doesn't mean I am stupid. I just want these thoughts out in the open to make others think and see what they think in response.

RonC

[Lunch Money]

For Limiters, I'd really suggest checking into George Yohng's W1. I've been scrutinizing it quite closely lately, and it's the shiznit.

Greg

[Cordelia]

The single best thing I ever did, for recording (I do more audio recording than sequencing) and for mixing was treating my room. It was a relatively long process, especially trying to get the low frequencies tamed, but no piece of gear I have ever purchased (new mics, monitors, preamps) came close to making the difference that room treatment did. I no longer struggle with mixes. I can put up a mic almost anywhere in this room and confidently get a good sound to disk. I was shocked at how nice even some of my less expensive mics sounded minus the ugly room reflections. Mixing is a pleasure, it's almost like I can't get it wrong now, the mixes are translating. It's the best audio gear money I ever spent.
If Ozone sounds too audiophile technical for you, why don't you just strike it off your list and work with the software you already have?

[rpc9943]

I seriously have never had any problems with room reflections etc. Anyways, I know I'll regret it leaving behind ozone. That's my point. I'm probably going to freaking regret it.

RoNC

[Lunch Money]

Nah. There is no regret. When you find something that works for you, you'll say, "Hey, good thing I didn't go for it after all!"

Not to say that Ozone isn't good. I wouldn't know, as I've never tried it. But you already have all the tools you need.

Greg

[M'Snah]

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