Hi!
I'd like to know Your opinion on (at least) one subject, Folks.
i'm preparing to release the first "single" CD with three tracks, everything made at home - playing, recording, mixing...
And when it came to the mastering, the loudness problem appeared: even though I'm quite happy with my mixes, they-re still much quieter when compared to commercial CD tracks.
I hate to apply an excessive compression, especially multiband, but it seems there's no way to avoid it as today pure peak limiting is not enough even on acoustic tracks.
Ang here comes my question: is it possible to do the mastering job on DAW (which I prefer, since it makes possible to come back to the mix) or do I need a dedicated soft, like Isotope Ozone or similar?
Mostly I mix by ear, and so I'm trying to follow with a mastering job, with referrence to other music when needed. My mastering chain on Sonar's 7 busses consists of eq, reverb, multiband, limiter - and that's all. No enhancers, exciters - I hate to overuse them and don't even touch as far as I can.
So coming back to the title question: do I need to use some sound-booster-in-one apps like Ozone for the mastering job, or can I fix it with DAW, where I know what is done to the sound and adjust the process precisely? Can I take part in loudness war (sadly to say, but I have to when thinking of CD..) with just simple compression/limiting, reverberatin anc modest eq-ing on DAW?
PS. Pease do not hesitate to write Your ideas, whatever they are - I'm aware of my inexperience, but some time ago decided to do everything myself and rather improving my own skills in discussions like this (and kilo-hours of listening...) than leaving the job to someone else... Maybe it's not the best idea, but I'm gonna try it.
Thx in advance,
mike
I'd like to know Your opinion on (at least) one subject, Folks.
i'm preparing to release the first "single" CD with three tracks, everything made at home - playing, recording, mixing...
And when it came to the mastering, the loudness problem appeared: even though I'm quite happy with my mixes, they-re still much quieter when compared to commercial CD tracks.
I hate to apply an excessive compression, especially multiband, but it seems there's no way to avoid it as today pure peak limiting is not enough even on acoustic tracks.
Ang here comes my question: is it possible to do the mastering job on DAW (which I prefer, since it makes possible to come back to the mix) or do I need a dedicated soft, like Isotope Ozone or similar?
Mostly I mix by ear, and so I'm trying to follow with a mastering job, with referrence to other music when needed. My mastering chain on Sonar's 7 busses consists of eq, reverb, multiband, limiter - and that's all. No enhancers, exciters - I hate to overuse them and don't even touch as far as I can.
So coming back to the title question: do I need to use some sound-booster-in-one apps like Ozone for the mastering job, or can I fix it with DAW, where I know what is done to the sound and adjust the process precisely? Can I take part in loudness war (sadly to say, but I have to when thinking of CD..) with just simple compression/limiting, reverberatin anc modest eq-ing on DAW?
PS. Pease do not hesitate to write Your ideas, whatever they are - I'm aware of my inexperience, but some time ago decided to do everything myself and rather improving my own skills in discussions like this (and kilo-hours of listening...) than leaving the job to someone else... Maybe it's not the best idea, but I'm gonna try it.
Thx in advance,
mike