metal mixing with compressor on master buss - pro et contra

[Loa]

I' about to mix one NUmetal album i tracked last year, and, listening to "wannabie" records, couldn't help noticing loudness-war defining the whole genre.
What is your opinion on mixing process for those heavy-compressed tracks? In my modest experience with this, i found it heavy to achieve same results while mixing "dry" (non master bus compression/limiting).. My mid-solution is to keep one nice master-limiting plug (Timeworx Mastering limiter etc.) and to regulary check where the mix is going to. Should i skip this, and leave the whole thing to mastering engineers? I'admire R.Rubin's work, and i get especially excited while listening to those Deftones naughty-chop-yourass-snares, and just can't believe it was solely the snare compressor that made it THAT sharp...

[Loa]

no opinions??

[MASSIVE Master]

I don't know if this *really* applies, but with metal - No - With almost everything I do, the mixes that have the most "loudness potential" are the mixes that have the least amount of compression on them in the first place. Conservative levels also - I poll the engineers on occasion - One guy who sends in metal regularly is a firm "0dBVU" type (which I admire). He almost never has a track that's recorded hotter than around -18dBFS, and I don't think I've ever received a mix from him that had a peak over around -12 or -10dBFS. So, he's running all of his gear where it was designed to run at - He doesn't boost to get the levels "hot" at any time. He compresses out of necessity - Never out of volume lust. His mixes are dynamic, yet well constrained. Errant peaks are handled at the track level either manually or with a peak-stop type limiter that catches *those peaks* and nothing else.

Of course, his clients regularly ask for "louder than Band X" levels. And they usually get them. He told me that he does check with a simple brick-wall limiter - Just to make sure that it isn't going to collapse under pressure.

Contrast that with another "regular" client that does a lot of metal - He's always pushing the gear well past the sweet spot to get the individual tracks rather hot, compresses just about everything and limits groups (way too much in my opinion).

His mixes fall apart pretty quickly and don't handle sheer volume well at all.

Take all that as you will...

[Loa]

does it mean, that all that neat/hard-to-achieve balance between kick/snare/riffs/vox that he makes without of master compressor, remains the same under heavy fire? Niiice... thanks for answering

b.t.w, you are mastering NU metal records? what are your general suggestions on achiveing victory in loudness war? not that i support this fenomenon in the first place, but, well, you know... customers, young... etc... what kind of compressors/limiters you use on such records?

[MASSIVE Master]

Totally dependent on the mixes.

I happen to be doing a "Nu-Metal"-ish sounding project right now (it's too loud in here also) and they want it killed. There are 4 active dynamics processors running in the chain -

does it mean, that all that neat/hard-to-achieve balance between kick/snare/riffs/vox that he makes without of master compressor, remains the same under heavy fire?

Not really - But it does handle the abuse with more "style."

[ampwax]

I'm of both schools. Well not anymore, but used to track way too hot, now I track at -18 VU.

I'm just spreading this little magical nugget of wisdom everywhere, saving one mix at a time, including my own as of late.


The Reason Most ITB mixes don’t Sound as good as Analog mixes (restored)

Cheers.

[solo-bration]

Originally Posted by Loa

not that i support this fenomenon in the first place, but, well, you know... customers, young... etc...

Don't act all embarrassed. It is what it is.