Your ITB Mastering chain. Facts only.

[huejahfink]

Yup - the EQ and soft clipper on the MD3 are still getting regular use here... and the comp section can also work wonders when required.

For a 'desert island mastering plugin' I'd find it difficult to pick anything other than the MD3 from my armoury if I could pick only one.

... edit : just realised I have already been in this thread rattling on about the MD3.....

[soniccanoe]

I find that this really works well for me....

WAVES SSL BUSS COMP
CHANDLER 12412 MASTERING EQ
WAVES L3 MULTIMAXIMIZERLIMITER
S1 STEREO IMAGER
DORROUGH METER

the order varies...oh, and every once and a while I like to slap on the Massey Tape Head for a bit of grit...

[Kayo]

Originally Posted by huejahfink

Yup - the EQ and soft clipper on the MD3 are still getting regular use here... and the comp section can also work wonders when required.

For a 'desert island mastering plugin' I'd find it difficult to pick anything other than the MD3 from my armoury if I could pick only one.

... edit : just realised I have already been in this thread rattling on about the MD3.....

No amount of rattling is enough praise, for the almighty TC MD3 plugin.
Truly, a giant amongst mastering plugins. It's got to be the "Desert Island plug". I know, it would be mine!

KAyo

[tablo]

Izotope ozone 5 (usually only equalizer and maximizer)
API-2500

[huejahfink]

Originally Posted by Kayo

No amount of rattling is enough praise, for the almighty TC MD3 plugin.
Truly, a giant amongst mastering plugins. It's got to be the "Desert Island plug". I know, it would be mine!

KAyo

Well at least if we get shipwrecked on the same island, there would be no arguments over this.

[ksound]

Never the same list of plugins on every track, but almost never missing on anything I master is the SSL Duende X-EQ.

Whether used sparingly or drastically. It never dissappoints me.

[Niallerrity]

Originally Posted by phillysoulman

Waves X Noise

Why do you need a noise reduction tool to master? The only reason I could think is to get rid of guitar buzz or hum which surly you'd do in the mix? Very confused by that.....

[Cellotron]

Usual digital only chain ->
* Sonoris EQ (and/or occasionally JMS Audioware Hi-res EQ)
*Voxengo Elephant Limiter (sometimes PSP Xenon, Stillwell Audio Event Horizon+, GVST GClip instead or in additon to)
* Sonoris Dither

Once in a blue moon - add in whatever is needed of -
Voxengo Max LF Punch
Digital Fishphones Spitfish De-esser
Sonoris MS Codec
Flux StereoTool
Sonoris Multiband Compressor
Sonoris Compressor
Stillwell Audio Transient Monster
GVST MonoBass

For restoration when needed:
Acon Digital Declicker/Decrackler
Waves Arts Hum/Buzz remover
Voxengo Redunoise or Acon Digital Denoiser

for fixing chopped off tails:
Knufinke SIR2, JMS Audioware SAWStudio Freeverb, Anwida Spazio

...and that's about it.

Best regards,
Steve Berson

[FLYINGJAY]

Uad Fairchild or waves pie comp,API 2500.
Precision eq
Tape sim,sometimes
Slate Vcc
Precision limiter.



Sent from my PC36100 using Gearslutz App

[huejahfink]

Originally Posted by Niallerrity

Why do you need a noise reduction tool to master? The only reason I could think is to get rid of guitar buzz or hum which surly you'd do in the mix? Very confused by that.....

To reduce unwanted noise?

Crazy suggestion I know, just thought I would throw this wild idea into the ring.

[ciro]

Sonalksis FreeG
DDMF LP10
Klanghelm DC8C comp
Sir Elliot 18 band Eq
Voxengo Marvel EQ (Linear Phase)
NEBULA (API 550 / MAMMOTH)
Tokyo Dawn Labs – Feedback Compressor
Molot Limiter 6

Ciro

[herecomesyourman]

Mine is hybrid. But here's where it's going lately.

I have a bit of a complicated setup.

STEMS:

I always print stems to master, for TV passes and because it gives me more control to make things feel balanced.

All my stems individually use a Waves C4 Multi-band compressor prior to being fed into my master fader.

And some of them get an extra plug here or there depending.

They also all feed an Aux send to a reverb chain, lightly with 94.7 percent ratio. (I keep trying different settings and this one makes it feel like a bit of extra "room" sound is in there in a realistic way.

MASTER FADER:

First I use the pro tools EQ-7B (With whatever curve is working) to attenuate the gain of all my stems being fed into a master.

Then I chain that signal at a lower level into my outboard:

First into a Manley Massive Passive, then into a pair of Chandler Germanium Compressors with the wet/dry sidechain almost all the way up because it stacks with a compressed signal.

Then I feed that signal into the Waves Puigtec Pultec emulation.

The whole signal is lightly compressed and attenuated again with a Waves Renaissance compressor....(more like an expander this way)

And I feed that into a Waves L3 Ultramaximizer set to -1.1dB output, with 1.7dB-3.5dB of compression depending on the source.

My actual master fader prior to automation is alway set at -0.3dB. (it chokes the gain a bit and makes the transients more predominant with apparent volume to do this.

My Aux send uses a combinations of delays, reverbs and the pro tools short time adjuster. Sometimes I'll throw a waves S1 in there to widen things a bit with the verb if things feel thin, rather than on the master which causes stretching.

[manysounds]

OK
I "start" with this all bypassed and apply what's necessary

Gain
Satson Buss
Equality
Soniformer
UBK-1
Compassion
OvertoneGEQ
Equality
Valhalla Room
Black 76
Outboard MA5?
Outboard UreiEQ?
Outboard SC 2.2?
Outboard Mystery
Soniformer
TRacks Deluxe
Elephant
SPAN
TRacks Metering

Or something like that

That's just master 2 buss
I usually put each song staggered onto two separate tracks so I can automate more stuff
Each of those tracks also gets these plugs, enabled/automated as necessary
Satson Channel
Equality
Soniformer
Compassion
Equality

In the end, I try to do as little as possible other than bring the perceived loudness up near current trends and make the project sound consistent throughout.

[Niallerrity]

Originally Posted by huejahfink

To reduce unwanted noise?

Crazy suggestion I know, just thought I would throw this wild idea into the ring.

Crazy suggestion but if you have excess noise while mastering maybe you f****d up somewhere along the line.

[Laurend]

Originally Posted by manysounds

OK
I "start" with this all bypassed and apply what's necessary

Gain
Satson Buss
Equality
Soniformer
UBK-1
Compassion
OvertoneGEQ
Equality
Valhalla Room
Black 76
Outboard MA5?
Outboard UreiEQ?
Outboard SC 2.2?
Outboard Mystery
Soniformer
TRacks Deluxe
Elephant
SPAN
TRacks Metering

Or something like that

That's just master 2 buss
I usually put each song staggered onto two separate tracks so I can automate more stuff
Each of those tracks also gets these plugs, enabled/automated as necessary
Satson Channel
Equality
Soniformer
Compassion
Equality

In the end, I try to do as little as possible other than bring the perceived loudness up near current trends and make the project sound consistent throughout.

I've never seen a so long list of processors! I'm not sure your bypass approach is the best to avoid over doing.
The only mandatory element is the limiter. Everything can be inserted if necessary. That gives more time for reflection...

[ciro]

Originally Posted by Laurend

I've never seen a so long list of processors! I'm not sure your bypass approach is the best to avoid over doing.
The only mandatory element is the limiter. Everything can be inserted if necessary. That give more time for reflection...

Exactly what he said !

Ciro

[dcollins]

Originally Posted by Laurend

I've never seen a so long list of processors! I'm not sure your bypass approach is the best to avoid over doing.
The only mandatory element is the limiter. Everything can be inserted if necessary. That give more time for reflection...

Even the limiter is optional. But it is an impressive list, I'll say that.


DC

[mftorso]

PSP Neon and/or UA precision eq, occasionally UA Pultec Pro
Spitfish if needed
Elysia Alpha comp, sometimes UA 670
Fabfilter Pro-L, sometimes UA precision limiter
I have a HEDD and a D-Box (summing) and use either/both when needed.
SRC with Wave Editor (Izotope) for SRC when needed
All my I/O is AES via Lynx aes-16, a/d is via the HEDD (if I sum at the D-box)
I assemble and burn or export DDP with Peak Pro 7

[Vank]

1. Some chorus, the wide kind
2. Bitcrusher
3. Waves Enigma
4. Waves Doubler
5. Soundtoys Decapitator in Punish mode
6. Switch phase on left channel
7. Pitchshifter, generous feedback

And very important...Some more LSD as soon as it's starting to wear off

[manysounds]

Originally Posted by dcollins

Even the limiter is optional. But it is an impressive list, I'll say that.


DC

Yeah yeah, I know, I know.

When I'm mastering other people's mixes I've always hoped to only use:

-Elephant for limiting
-The T-Racks metering section so I have visual idea of what's going on.
-And then usually some damn dither or other, probably. -And depending on the destination of master. I've done 96/24 masters and farking 64kpbs mono mp3s for internet content purposes. Not just music but those damn pop-up ads with the annoyingly voiced lady bluescreened flash video in the corner. I apologize for that.

However, most people don't send out well rounded mixes these days so invariably there's almost always some corrective EQ or De-Essing or Multiband Comp or something something. AND I somehow end up with many clients who really want to hear the mastering so I end up with the pre-comp reverb glue thing or overly pumpy sidechained squish otherwise they don't hear a reason to pay other than "it's louder". "Wow! What did you do to it?" Farking pop culture.

[Paul Vicory]

I mostly use the UAD Precision Series buss comp, eq and limiter. I'll sometimes use the Waves SSL buss comp instead, seems to scream 80's or it's just the songs I use it on.

I mix and master all in one shot, mostly because I really enjoy it and find learning about the different tools and techniques and discovering new things on my own to be a lot of fun. I don't profess to be great at it. I'm certainly still learning.

I'll often use the UAD Fatso Sr. as the first plug-in on the master buss, and lately I've been enjoying the Kramer Tape, usually after the eq and before the limiter.

The point of all this stuff is to use it sparingly - just a shade here and there, to round of the rough edges, always taking away, hardly ever boosting (I'll occasionally boost 2-3dB around 12K since I use a lot of VSTi's, as opposed to live recording that naturally have that bit of air to them.

As I go along, I'm very careful about gain staging, and as I record a new song I'm always bringing the overall volume down to keep it under control.

I don't think you have to hit these new processors hard to get the subtle variations, the non-linearities that adds just a bit of something special here and there. For example, I think what I'm getting from the Kramer tape is like a subtle sort of diffusion, that blooms a bit and then retracts, particularly with heavy rock guitars, very pleasant character. It just seems to soften the blow a bit, hard to describe it.

I've also been using S1 imager a lot lately, but I prefer to use it on stems - I like to have a lot of flexibility with where each instrument fits in L/R space.

[drewwebsteraudio]

Slate Digital VCC (Give the mix some analog feel)

Waves H-EQ (Usually use the High Pass to filter frequencies below 20-25hz, and then some very slight EQ if need be)

Waves C4 (Very lightly used to tame troublesome frequency areas)

Nomad Factory PulseTec EQ (I like the sound it adds just by running through it, whether you adjust any of the settings or not. However, it works wonders on the bass and mid-range if used carefully)

Slate Digital FG-X (I use both the compressor and leveler sections. I use the compressor very lightly, though)

I also plan on getting the Kramer Master Tape. I tried the demo recently and I really like what it has to offer when used in the mastering chain. However, Slate Digital also has a tape emulator coming out that I'm really interested in trying!

[sswenk]

Slate VCC RC-Tube Bus
Waves CLA-3A
PSP Neon HR
Waves EQP-1A
Waves MEQ-5
Brainworx XL

This is the "chain" that I keep in my master template. They are my go-to for mastering, although sometimes swapped for other plugs if needed. I very seldomly need to use the whole chain, but each serves a specific purpose in the way I sculpt. I may use an eq for a couple db's of adjustment.

[kingofswing]

My ITB Mastering tools:

SSL Duende Bus Comp (closest to my hardware SSL) or
UAD SSL G Bus (more mid forward, low end bump) or
The Glue (transparent) or
UAD Neve 33609
SSL Duende Channel EQ (I know, but this EQ in G mode is killer)
UAD Ampex ART-102 (with no wow, flutter, hum or hiss)
UAD Manley Massive Passive (for bottom and top)
Brainworx Mono Maker (sometimes for below 150 / 120hz)
Voxengo Elephant or PSP Xenon or UAD Precision Limiter


Always happy with the above processors for ITB stuff, though sometimes I like to combine the plugs with my SSL X-rack Bus Comp for the 2 Bus, followed by API 5500 / Neve 5033 EQ's

[huejahfink]

Originally Posted by Niallerrity

Crazy suggestion but if you have excess noise while mastering maybe you f****d up somewhere along the line.

Not necessarily. Your comments on the thread seem to be coming from the perspective of a mix engineer. If it were your mix and you still had complete access to it - then yes I think you'd be right to say that mastering would be the wrong time to address noise issues.

But for those who master mixes prepared by others, sometimes tracks come through the door with noise issues. A little noise reduction process on the quiet sections (or across the lot in really extreme cases) can be an appropriate tool during mastering - and their use is absolutely no indicator of whether the mastering engineer "f***** up" as you put it.
This is particularly true if one track has much greater noise level than the others on a release. If the noise is at least consistent, then perhaps it might be better to leave it as is. Case by case really.

[dotl]

To be clear > I'm NOT a ME ("I'm Not a Girl, Not Yet a Woman")...but when I'm doing the job I usually pick some
plug-ins from this list:

Sonoris Mastering EQ
Softube Trident A-Range
Softube Tube-Tech PE 1C

Sonoris Mastering Compressor
Elysia Alpha Compressor
Cytomic The Glue
Slate Digital FG-X (compressor only)

Sonnox Oxford SuprEsser

Sonnox Oxford Inflator

A.O.M. Factory Stereo Imager D

FabFilter Pro-L

Waves PAZ Analyzer
TT Dynamic Range Meter

[dotl]

Originally Posted by Vank

1. Some chorus, the wide kind
2. Bitcrusher
3. Waves Enigma
4. Waves Doubler
5. Soundtoys Decapitator in Punish mode
6. Switch phase on left channel
7. Pitchshifter, generous feedback

8. Sonic Charge Bitspeek
9. ApulSoft ApTrigga
10. Cell Phone Silent Mode
11. Sauerkraut Eaten
12. Carina Nebula 3372

[SonicAlchemist]

Originally Posted by Vank

1. Some chorus, the wide kind
2. Bitcrusher
3. Waves Enigma
4. Waves Doubler
5. Soundtoys Decapitator in Punish mode
6. Switch phase on left channel
7. Pitchshifter, generous feedback

Finally we're getting somewhere

[diossyakos]

Gain
Satson Bus for for stereo definition
UAD PulteqPro for "air" if needed/1-2 db cut at 200Hz sometimes
WavesMPX (minimum input) for stereo detail/space
VintageWarmer2 or UAD FATSO or UAD Fairchild on more acoustic material
Sonnox Inflator/UAD Precision Maximizer if needed
Brickwall limiter (Voxengo Elephant)
TT RangeMeter

FYI: I mostly "master" my own mixes.

[Filthrill]

It's funny & scary how everyone does mastering differently. I mean radically different sometimes. It's just so all over the place, which is great don't get me wrong. I know the goal is to make something sound better but damn there should seriously be some governing laws or something. Haahaa.