Mastering Critique Before and After

[ap_casanova]

Hi there guys, been here for a while, but this is probably my second post. Anyways, had to master a song for some friends, but the guy who mixed delivered something really crude with no vibe whatsoever and LOUD (the mix had a value of -13dbfs RMS and he said he had no Limiter on the Master Bus or in any other bus so go figure...).
So this is what i could achieve after various plugins (by the way this is al ITB, no money for hardware yet).
First thing i tried was a new plugin by Terry West that claims it can restore dynamics and distorted audio back to its origins, or at least the closer you can get it for now. The i used a lot of other plugins like Nebula for the analog mojo, some reverb by Ariesverb since the original was so dry even for today's standards, and also lots of eqs and finally some limiting by Oxford (sorry for the volume but the guys wanted something loud and i really didn't had a nice mix to work with).
So sorry for the long post, this is the before (mixed by the guy) and the after (mastered by me).
Really need some advice as i have to give it back to them asap.

Any comments are appreciated

(Sorry had to zip the files to fit here).

[cooker]

Wow totally destroyed :( if you're not in total rush upload the .wav file I'ıı try to help.

[ap_casanova]

Are you sure you listened right? The mix is just awful, i know this is not the best mastering ever but there is a huge improvement in the frequency balance and depth from the mix to the master version.

Listen again or give some details about why you think the master is worse than the mix.

Cheers thumbsup

[cooker]

Not worse, I ment the mix was very bad and you did a better job.

Everyone has different approaches to mastering though there are common grounds, maybe options would benefit and it wouldn't hurt if me or someone else also tryed.

[chris_m]

Hi, you went a bit too extreme with your master. You boosted highs and lows too much and didnt leave much mids. Also the reverb isnt needed at all, plenty of verb in the mix it's not too dry. It just smears up everything a bit.
Here's a quick master from me, more subtle but evens things out and adds some clarity. To really make this mix work i'd have to automate EQ for the differents parts of the song which i didnt do so some parts don't sound perfect especially in the 250-500hz and upper mids area.

[triton92]

Had time to burn and tried mastering this. See what you guys think! I Know it's an old thread but what the heck!

[burningyen]

I like yours best, Triton.

[triton92]

Originally Posted by burningyen

I like yours best, Triton.

Thanks Man!!thumbsup