Maximizer, multi band compessors, ect, ect...

What mastering plugins do you use?

  • Waves Native Bundle

    Votes: 15 46.9%
  • Steinbergs Mastering Edition

    Votes: 5 15.6%
  • Other(please specify)

    Votes: 12 37.5%

  • Total voters
    32

eclips1

New member
I wanted to take a poll.
1)Which maximizer to people like more? The L1 or the Loudness Maximizer? Or other?(those are the 2 I hear the most about)
2) Which bundle do folks find better? Native bundle from Waves, or The Mastering Edition from Steinberg? Or other?

One more thing....I went to waves website and Steinbergs, and neither of them have demos for these products to test them out! I can't justify going out and dropping 350$ on something I can't demo, even if every forum I went to told me waves is the best, I gotta see for myself. Anyone know where there are some demo versions of these programs?(No Cracks)
 
I would recommend the Waves L1, AND the QMetric by Steinberg. This combo rocks! Not for everything, but if DSP Mastering is your aim, then it is probably about as good of a PC solution as I have heard. On Mac, you have some other plugs that I may consider for EQ. But the L1 is a standard mastering plug in! It alone is worth the price of the bundle.

I don't particularly care for the Waves Eq's compared to QMetric. But, if I didn't have QMetric, the Waves stuff would probably be the next thing I grab from (with the pointer on the screen of course....:))

I don't think buying the Waves un-demo'ed would disappoint you.

The Steinberg Mastering Edition has one plug that I find usefull from time to time. That is the Spectralizer. Pretty nice plug if an Exciter type of effect is needed. Free Filter is okay, but usually it is too hard to work with in my situation, which is getting the job done on the budget the client has. Graphics require too much adjustment when on the clock, and really, offer nothing that a good multi band parametric couldn't do.

Ed

Ed
 
Sound Forge 5.0 has some new mastering tools that are very cool. SF now has a 4 band compressor and the new "Wave Hammer" is a great sounding comp-limiter. There's a freeware limiter called "Peak Slammer" that works pretty well if your budget concious. If you go to http://www.thedirectxfiles.com/plugins.htm, there's links to several places that have plugs including the "Peak Slammer". There's also a pretty good free reverb link.
 
tape simulation

There's nothing like real tape, but fake tape can be quite good as well.

I would recommend to check the AIPL Warmtone for mastering, because it just sounds great and creates a very hot signal without clipping (well, without digital clips). I've only got the demo, but it seems to be really good for mastering purposes or drum processing.

David
 
L1 as long as you don't just use the presets, in fact the L1 and the UV22 are the only real reason I use Wavelab 4
 
I think we should officially declare all Fridays as "Bring back an ancient thread of your choice" day on the BBS.

I'd say that, on a budget, ultrafunk has some very nice plugs for this general sort of thing.

Too bad they went under.
 
dont write ultrafunk off just yet

they got more than a few people checking them out, enough that they didnt take my pitiful offer :)
 
Endorphin, by Digital Fishphones. Cool tool at any price, and unbelievable that it's free. I also use the L1, yawn.....
RD
 
BBE Sonic Maximizer

I use the BBE Sonic Maximizer - it absolutely rules. You can get it in hardware form or VST plugin. Has anyone else tried this thing?
 
bbe sucks ass l1 is a serious Competitor steninburgs maximer is average my fav is one no one has mentioned maxim from digidesign 400 bucks but worth every penny
 
eclips1, I saw a boxed Steinberg Mastering Plugin Pack (or whatever it's called) go on ebay for about US$40. No joke.

The L1 I have used, but it scares me. Mostly it scares me that I have read in certain magazines that it can limit by -6db without audible artifacts......? How is that possible? (Answer - it's not).

Endorphin is cool, I don't know of many other plugins doing m/s compression.
 
Timeworks Mastering Compressor...crushes like the L1/L2 w/o the smearing of the highs...i like the timeworks EQ too cuz it has a built in spectrum analyzer
 
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