T-RACKS.

[Messiah]

[robot gigante]

[jwnc]

What about it? I know a lot of people who use it.. even a few professionals.

[Jonboy79]

Professional is a term that can be used very loosely in this industry. I, technically am a professional yet wouldn't consider myself one. Also I don't use T racks.

[bpatural]

yuck!

[crna59]

I heard that Bob Ludwig uses Isotope Ozone!


Maybe we can convince Bernie Grundman to use T-Racks!!

Regards,

[MASSIVE Master]

I'll pass, thanks...

[dreamsongs]

I'm looking into T-Racks...how is it ? How does it sound ?

[button]

Dreamsongs -
In the words of Mr Tufnel: "No, don't touch it. Don't even look at it."
ANY analogue eq sounds better. It's really not good. dfegad
If you want a cheap eq plugin that sounds reasonable, check out:

http://www.pspaudioware.com/indexen....ins/neon.html;

or

http://www.sonalksis.com/index.php?section_id=517

or

http://tritonedigital.com/hydratone.htm

[Prickstein]

It's saved my ass a couple of times when I've gotten home with masters from so called "profesionals" who used analogue eq's and tape etc. that sounded terrible.

[neilwight]

that curious,
did it save your ass or did you just re-adjust everything according to your room and its sound....which may have been the reason for many of the adjustements in the mastering in the first place and why it sounded off when you got home?

ive heard plenty of mastering i'd professionally consider poor, some i even get in here to redo, so im not saying it didnt happen, just that environment is the single biggest factor to why mixes are generally off IMHO.
if youve done a great mix (for your room) then its almost certain that the master played back will sound different and sometimes even less good.
what many need to remember is that all your customers arent going to be in your room listening to something fine tuned only for it. as such the master often sounds great everywhere but your room while the mix (or readjustements) only sound good in it.

[max cooper]

Originally Posted by dreamsongs

I'm looking into T-Racks...how is it ? How does it sound ?

As far as the plugin, not the standalone, the Soft Clipper is good for snares and other things sometimes, and the Compressor is ok sometimes too.

The EQ is pretty lame and the Limiter is inexcuseable to me. It's got all that midbark that makes mixes sound cheap to me.






Oh, you weren't thinking of "finalizing" with it, were you?

[sekim]

I've found a few places where the EQ was great - but only a few. For me it's sometimes great, usually horrible and never "not bad, it'll do". Definitely a niche sort of thing IMO.

[Durv]

it is not worth the money. simply put.
you'd better off getting ANY other limiting plug in.
T-racks sucks. period
Durv

[phelbin]

I use the compressor on occasion. It's not smooth or nice sounding, but when I want to squish something and make it obvious, that's where I go.

I also use the so-called Mastering Suite when I'm putting a really rough mix onto CD for a client during the tracking stages. It's not a substitute for a well-mastered song, but at that point it helps a track sound more like the finished track without spending any time making it sound good.

[Geert van den Berg]

I've used the T-Racks EQ and compressor plugs sometimes, but not for mastering, just on individual channels, I think they can have a nice character on certain instruments.

[TanTan]

tutt tutt tutt tutt tutt tutt tutt tutt tutt tutt

[defjamm]

Originally Posted by max cooper

the Soft Clipper is good for snares and other things sometimes

http://www.gvst.co.uk/gclip.htm

this plug-in is free and does the same things as the clipper(+ it has oversampling).

[max cooper]

Originally Posted by defjamm

http://www.gvst.co.uk/gclip.htm

this plug-in is free and does the same things as the clipper(+ it has oversampling).

I'm gonna save that one up for my move to VST world.

I've also used the Master Destrukto by Audio Damage. It's got a few nice ways of making distortion; can't have too many flavors.

[dreamsongs]

So, what's the final word on T-Racks?

[entropy]

Lame

[dreamsongs]

That bad, eh ...!

[pingu]

No its not bad at all.

[TooledUp]

Originally Posted by defjamm

http://www.gvst.co.uk/gclip.htm

this plug-in is free and does the same things as the clipper(+ it has oversampling).

Messy!

[kingsley]

I like it better than the uad persision limiter=good for acustic/soft music but kills the punch on hard music.

the t racks clip section can really keep the punch of the drums....while making a loud master.
*eq and compress elsewhere before t-racks.

[Messiah]

It depends who you talk to...

Speak to a pro mastering guy and he's going to dismiss it hands down for a variety reasons.

To someone like me who isn't a mastering guy (musician, producer, engineer) I'd say it is convenient.

T-RACKS' niche in the market is a quick mastering fix when you need it.

Ok, so;

How many of us have done a bit of DIY mastering with T-RACKS only to find that the band end up preferring this version to the professionally mastered version?

I have.

I've also had the same thing happen when using PSP Vintage Warmer to bolster a mix, pre-mastering (the mastering guy had the non VW version).

The band pay me, they're the client, so anything that makes the client happy is good by me...

[popmann]

T-RACKS' niche in the market is a quick mastering fix when you need it.

Amen. You can get a quickly pumped up "psuedo master" with the suite. as far as the individual plugs, I've really only found use for the compressor--but, it's also my fave digital comp I've used, so...

As opposed to the Ozone suite that makes everything I do sound like a Phil Collins record from the 80s...but, I haven't used newer versions of it, so of course YMMV.

I think T-Racks24 is a cool tool. I don't really think it's meant to replace ME's or their racks of great analog gear. But, for a "quick master"...I don't think it can be beat.

[dreamsongs]

Aha!!!

That's what I wanted to hear...

My posts earlier on this one and on another thread about the "best mastering plug" were precisely about that - if you're in a pinch and you need to send something out fast or, your client wants a good sounding demo but the funds are limited - Then...in comes T-racks or Ozone or whatever is your preference.

Mind you, I don't like cheap sounding stuff, in fact some plugs I heard sound simply awful. But, there's gotta be something out there that sounds pretty decent. Good enough that you wouldn't feel too ashamed to send it out...

As I said earlier, some material can't be justified to be sent out to a ME. And truly, some clients I work with are limited in their skills as musicians. There is always a sensation there that "it won't get much better no matter what I do". For those people, mastering with a good plug is enough. They truly can't hear the difference and it wouldn't matter much if it did. They just want to be "in the game".

As a Producer/Publisher and songwriter, if I think the material is worth it, it goes out to get mastered. No ifs or buts about it.

Lately though, I've been trying to spend more time on the mix and less on the mastering. I find that if the mix is good, the less mastering I need. Still, my previous thoughts hold true for some material because let's face it...who has high end mixing gear and high end acoustics and mastering gear ? Not many...in my case I'm lucky if I get a real good mix. High end mastering is a different animal.

By the way, I tried downloading the Isotope Ozone 3 demo and there was no "install" folder in the file. Anyone tried this...?

[dim light]

The best mastring plug is non!

[mars]

Soft Clipper is cool...