andrushkiwt
Well-known member
hey guys, question here on achieving a key point of mastering...loudness.
Aside from the usual "add a limiter" response, what else do you guys do to add some loudness to your track? for example, i usually use a tape saturation plug-in (though very, very minimally) as it has the added benefit of increasing the volume by 0.5 - 1db (i can select "hi" "low" or "neutral" on this plug-in, if i want to avoid affecting a particular end of the spectrum). after all my EQ work (i plug directly into an interface and overlay 10 guitar tracks, so it's difficult getting the sound just right going in) i usually lose a lot of volume on the track. i go into the mastering session with my peak at about -5db, do EQ work, and then find I have to set my limiter to -0.04 threshold and +6 or 7 input to get to an average RMS (K14) of -9ish.
It feels like simply smashing the input level up on the limiter is squashing my tracks. The obvious piece here is the mastering fader. Do you add db's on this fader? If so, what type of guidelines do you go by when adding volume via the mastering fader? any at all? I don't use compression in mastering, typically. I let the limiter do any squashing for now.
of course, i have only a years experience here, so feel free to tell me anything I may be doing wrong. i can already hear "do more of the EQ work in the mix".
i want to add a completely different question at the end here. nothing to do with the above: hypothetically, does mastering itself make the file more clear and/or of higher quality? Without adding any inserts, does simply hitting "make image" (my DAW's final step in mastering) make the file better off than the original wav that went in? again, no EQ, no anything...just hitting the button.
thnx
Aside from the usual "add a limiter" response, what else do you guys do to add some loudness to your track? for example, i usually use a tape saturation plug-in (though very, very minimally) as it has the added benefit of increasing the volume by 0.5 - 1db (i can select "hi" "low" or "neutral" on this plug-in, if i want to avoid affecting a particular end of the spectrum). after all my EQ work (i plug directly into an interface and overlay 10 guitar tracks, so it's difficult getting the sound just right going in) i usually lose a lot of volume on the track. i go into the mastering session with my peak at about -5db, do EQ work, and then find I have to set my limiter to -0.04 threshold and +6 or 7 input to get to an average RMS (K14) of -9ish.
It feels like simply smashing the input level up on the limiter is squashing my tracks. The obvious piece here is the mastering fader. Do you add db's on this fader? If so, what type of guidelines do you go by when adding volume via the mastering fader? any at all? I don't use compression in mastering, typically. I let the limiter do any squashing for now.
of course, i have only a years experience here, so feel free to tell me anything I may be doing wrong. i can already hear "do more of the EQ work in the mix".
i want to add a completely different question at the end here. nothing to do with the above: hypothetically, does mastering itself make the file more clear and/or of higher quality? Without adding any inserts, does simply hitting "make image" (my DAW's final step in mastering) make the file better off than the original wav that went in? again, no EQ, no anything...just hitting the button.
thnx
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