Armada Music sound (mastering chain?)

[explorer]

Most of that sound will come from the original mix (the choice of samples, sidechaining parts etc.)

[Apollo Soul]

Not disagreeing, and the severity of the synth pump might have made this less than the ideal example, but I've done a few thousand hours worth of working with half a dozen hardware comps, and most available plugins, and I have to admire the smoothness of it.

Very little distortion, and a real lack of the typical harsh releases I generally hear when something is flattened like that.

Obviously the genre and arrangement lend themselves to squashing, but trying to pick apart what I'm hearing in terms of processing.

This might be a better example. Obviously a bit bright, not a lot of transients in drums, much less aggressive vibe than the first, but I'm hearing the same sort of glued in place flatness that I've tried and failed to achieve with similarly arranged material before, so they're doing something different with the processing than I am.

Armin van Buuren feat. Laura V - Drowning (Avicii Remix) (Official Music Video) [Full HD] - YouTube

[Dene]

there is a lot of compression in the mix...the first track you posted was ridiculously over compressed (could just be youtube i guess) but the second one (Drowning) seems to have been mixed/produced/whatever... by someone who understands using compressors as a sonic effect. If you want that sound your not going to get it just by 2-buss compression. You will need to use compression heavily in the mix, setting the threshold low enough (and the ration high enough) that you get the desired effect your looking for 90% there before you go to mastering.

[ORC]

I don't hear anything special about the master at all, in fact, i find it rather unremarkable and small sounding. There is plenty of compression going on within the mix itself. Whether or not one likes this much comp going on is a matter of taste and personal preference. When I recieve mixes with lots of compression on individual parts, I try to make the master sound as big, clean, and open as possible. Big, clean, and open is sort of my thing, though.

[Apollo Soul]

no doubt the sound is quite small... but it's the appropriate treatment for a couple of things I've done, and seems to get it done a bit better than I have. Nothing revolutionary for sure, but it just sounds to my ears about how this particular material should.

Second example is a bit better example. Just trying to zero in on examples where everything seems absolutely glued in place, but with minimal distortion (clipping type distortion anyway... clearly the sound is significantly altered)

I understand... lots of compression, etc.

Anyone got anything a bit more specific, though?

[subsonix]

nothing special in the mastering there, it's just the sounds (as others have mentioned)

If you used Vengeance samples and ReFX Nexus together you'd get that sound as everything is limited to death already. That in turn will give you the flatness you are after.

[ORC]

When you speak of "flatness" are you speaking in terms of eq/spectral balance, or are you speaking of imaging, ie. hight/width/depth? or are you referring to a lack of dynamic range?

[Apollo Soul]

Originally Posted by ORC

When you speak of "flatness" are you speaking in terms of eq/spectral balance, or are you speaking of imaging, ie. hight/width/depth? or are you referring to a lack of dynamic range?

lack of dynamic range... but with minimal distortion in doing so.

[ORC]

What was most apparent to me about the track mentioned in the OP was a real lack of any dynamic range at all. Also, the specrtal balance leans towards a very dull, and unexciting sound. The track doesn't really seem to be "slammed" with limiting to me, but something just isn't right here. I'm suspecting the problem is with the mix and not the master. I wish I could hear the track sans mastering, then I would know for certain. Still, I believe I could have made the track just as loud, but with more dynamics, and much better imaging.

One does have to sacrifice some dynamic range to get a track really loud but not all dynamic range. Through maximizing gain staging, proper use of EQ, proper attack and release times on compressors, A/D converter clipping, and minimal digital limiting with proper attack and release times, a master of high RMS level, without distortion, can also often posess the "illusion" of a good deal of dynamic range. An illusion is precicely what it is, but it can be done, and it will fool the listener in most cases. The very best ME's are quite good at this. I'm getting better and better, but i know I still have room to grow, and a willingness to keep learning with each project I get to work on.