8th May 2012
|
#1 | | GS Member No. 251
Joined: Jan 2012
Posts: 102
Thread Starter | What's your favorite mastering chain?
Title Says It All
| 
|  | |
8th May 2012
|
#2 | | Gear interested
Joined: Apr 2012 Location: Boise, Idaho
Posts: 16
|
I haven't done much with mastering, but I've always wanted to learn as much as I can about it. The little mastering that I've attempted to do, I've always gone multiband eq, compressor, and limiter. But I'm by no mean a mastering engineer. It's just that when bands aren't wanting to spend the extra money on a mastering engineer, that's what I do.
__________________  | |
| | |
8th May 2012
|
#3 | | Gear maniac
Joined: Aug 2010
Posts: 278
|
Main mixer outs into my DBX QuantumII into my DBX2231 Dual 31 band graphic EQ, into my Masterlink. The mixes keep getting better each time around.
| |
| | |
8th May 2012
|
#4 | | Lives for gear
Joined: Mar 2004 Location: Chicago (Schaumburg / Hoffman Est.) IL
Posts: 2,878
Verified Member  | Quote: |
What's your favorite mastering chain?
| The chain the mix is asking for.
Now, because everyone hates answers like that (even though it's as true as I can possibly be) I could probably go into the whole "desert island" scenario...
I must have my Crane Song STC-8M. It's on nearly everything here. As is the Dangerous BAX EQ and the Crane Song HEDD 192. Everything else is reasonably "optional" to some extent -- Not that the VariMu doesn't get a workout, gawd knows the Ibis doesn't collect dust, the "SS-oweL" gets enough exercise to keep it in the rack, etc., etc., etc.
But still, the "favorite" chain can literally change every several minutes.
__________________ John Scrip - Massive Mastering, LLC - www.massivemastering.com Spoon-feed a newb some answer and he'll mix for a day -
Get him to *think* about it and figure it out for himself and he'll mix for a lifetime --- JS | |
| | |
8th May 2012
|
#5 | | Lives for gear
Joined: Jan 2007 Location: Melbourne - Australia's music capital. Verified Member |
Favourite is the simplest one possible, and in not having to over-process. It may be one or two bands of one EQ, or one band each of two EQs. Or throwing whatever is needed at it.
The 6 band Sontec 462 with switchable shelf frequencies allows a lot to be done on just one insert/short signal path, or sometimes it may be anything but that.
| |
| | |
8th May 2012
|
#6 | | Lives for gear
Joined: May 2009 Location: Perth, Western Australia
Posts: 519
|
It does really depend on the song, but there are a few pieces of gear that see regular use.
Normally I'm coming out of the HEDD into the Dangerous master, from there both the BAX and the Buzz REQ are both used maybe 70 percent of the time, i usually find i can kind of pre shape the track and solve a lot of problems just with the BAX, which then simplifies any further processing if needed, so the buzz is usually used for one or two bands. The thermionic phoenix usually makes an appearance towards the end of the chain, many times without any compression, just for the drive of the tubes & transformers.
In-between the buzz and the phoenix could be any mixture of the OCL-2, STC-8, API2500, Massive Passive, API5500 and the IBIS, But this is only when needed, so there is no one go to chain. Often I will use just a single band of several different EQs, high end on the buzz, mid on the massive passive and low mids on the API 5500 for example.
I used to feel like I had too many options and was looking to sell off some gear, but since I installed the dangerous Liaison, I find that I mix up my signal path much more on a song by song basis.
| |
| | |
8th May 2012
|
#7 | | Lives for gear
Joined: May 2005 Location: Saratoga Springs, NY
Posts: 2,432
|
Whatever chain is appropriate to get the results you are looking for from the program material... there is no "favorite" and shouldn't be.
Each project, each song and sometimes each section of the song should be processed through the least gear required to achieve said results.
Each piece of gear degrades the signal.
| |
| | |
9th May 2012
|
#8 | | Gear addict
Joined: May 2010
Posts: 435
|
Benchmark DAC > Manley Vari Mu > Massive Passive > Avenson MidSide > ADC
Also have Summit Audio EQP200b. Hope to get Dangerous Liaison, Dangerous Bax, and Thermionic Phoenix. Maybe a Burl B2 ADC.
Love Chris Geringer's interview in SOS a while back. At least in the interview, he said he uses his Manley VariMu and 'old' Sontec eq most of the time. With Prism Converters.
| |
| | |
9th May 2012
|
#9 | | Lives for gear
Joined: Feb 2006 Location: Sydney, Australia
Posts: 3,034
Verified Member | Quote:
Originally Posted by Silvertone  Whatever chain is appropriate to get the results you are looking for from the program material... there is no "favorite" and shouldn't be.
. | Not allowed to have favorites?
| |
| | |
9th May 2012
|
#10 | | Lives for gear
Joined: Jul 2011 Location: florida
Posts: 1,342
|
the one i don't need cause my mix is that good  | |
| | |
9th May 2012
|
#11 | | Gear addict
Joined: May 2009 Location: Madrid, Spain
Posts: 319
|
Sonic/mytek dac/nseq2/api2500/Massivo/ltd2/mytek adc/bcl/sonic
Sometimes Like that, others just The eqs...
| |
| | |
9th May 2012
|
#12 | | Lives for gear
Joined: May 2005 Location: Saratoga Springs, NY
Posts: 2,432
| Quote:
Originally Posted by Ben F Not allowed to have favorites? | Nope, not for me when it comes to audio. I want what's best to my ears on the program material at hand... not what was best in my mind (the last time I used it on a different source). Hope that makes sense.
So if I had to pick a favorite it would be the one doing the least "harm" to the program material while giving me the desired results I'm looking for. Now how would I ever know what that would be until I heard the source?
| |
| | | |
New Reply 
Facebook
Twitter
LinkedIn
