Home Mastering - What Do You Use?

[XLR]

Are your visualized shapes positioned towards your left or towards your right? 'Cause ya know that shows whether you're a right-brain or left-brain thinker. If they flow like jelly from one side to another then you probably are a very tortured individual.

Many of the shapes I see when working are strongly related to shapes I doodled while sitting bored in elementary school. Does that mean I was a mature artistic 8 yr old, or that I'm an adult with an 8 yr old's brain?

 

[grimtraveller]

Wow. What a goofy thing to type for my 1000th post. Way to mark the occasion there, eh?

Happy 1000th birthday.
Happy new shirt.

(https://homerecording.com/bbs/showthread.php?t=301843 - check posts 3 + 12)

 

[grimtraveller]

Interception too close !

Are your visualized shapes positioned towards your left or towards your right? 'Cause ya know that shows whether you're a right-brain or left-brain thinker. If they flow like jelly from one side to another then you probably are a very tortured individual.

Many of the shapes I see when working are strongly related to shapes I doodled while sitting bored in elementary school. Does that mean I was a mature artistic 8 yr old, or that I'm an adult with an 8 yr old's brain?

It either means the shapes have etched their way over time and relative dimensions into your brain or you have "mixed brain dominance".

 

[Chibi Nappa]

Are your visualized shapes positioned towards your left or towards your right?

They are arranged evenly out in front of me. That is how I mix. I fit them together like a game of 3D Tetris. The left/right position is directly tied to the panning. Everything else from the size to the distance to the solidity to the motion comes from combination of countless other factors. Like, the size is not just the volume alone.

'Cause ya know that shows whether you're a right-brain or left-brain thinker. If they flow like jelly from one side to another then you probably are a very tortured individual.

I don't need the current in an imaginary jelly river to know that I have a few "quirks".

Many of the shapes I see when working are strongly related to shapes I doodled while sitting bored in elementary school. Does that mean I was a mature artistic 8 yr old, or that I'm an adult with an 8 yr old's brain?

For what it's worth, Aerosmith based their logo on a doodle Joey Kramer (drums) always used to sketch in school. I say take those doodles from your past and run with them!

 

[XLR]

They are arranged evenly out in front of me. That is how I mix. I fit them together like a game of 3D Tetris.

That makes sense. Mine are usually timbre, amplitide and expression oriented only, not soundfield related.

 

[grimtraveller]

A piece of non essential information.

For what it's worth, Aerosmith based their logo on a doodle Joey Kramer (drums) always used to sketch in school.

He named the band too, or was at least instrumental in their naming.

 

[soundchaser59]

He named the band too, or was at least instrumental in their naming.

I bet they didn't have any Steinberg dongles hanging out of their..........port holes.......



So what do you guys REALLY think?





A. Reinstall Wavelab Essentials 5.
wav edits, uses my plugins, basic redbook burning stuff, but says Steinberg on it, upgrade to 6 is $60 bucks and requires dongle purchase


B. $50 bucks for Nero Burning Rom.
good redbook burning stuff, no wav editing, no plugins, no Steinberg


C. $89 bucks for Sony CD Architect.
wav edits, uses plugins, elaborate redbook burning and layout stuff, no Steinberg

 

[Massive Master]

If CD Architect is only $89, it's a no-brainer.

 

[XLR]

I just burn CDRs with whatever's available.

OP, Are you sending a master CDR out to be manufactured?

 

[SouthSIDE Glen]

So what do you guys REALLY think?

A. Reinstall Wavelab Essentials 5.
wav edits, uses my plugins, basic redbook burning stuff, but says Steinberg on it, upgrade to 6 requires dongle

B. $50 bucks for Nero Burning Rom.
good redbook burning stuff, no wav editing, no plugins, no Steinberg

C. $89 bucks for Sony CD Architect.
wav edits, uses plugins, redbook burning, no Steinberg

A or C. But since you are so turned off to Steinberg, I'd have to say C. Nero is only for basic burning, and gives you virtually nothing as far as actual mastering tools. I'm not talking plugins, I mean actually being able to craft the CD and not just burn songs. Maybe you don't feel like you need that stuff now, but it seems to me to make sense to spend the price of one dinner date with your girlfriend or wife (but not both at the same time) extra to get the software that you know is going to serve you now *and* in the future. You're not saving any money to buy Nero now and buy CDA or something else next year when you find you want it.

G.

 

[soundchaser59]

I just burn CDRs with whatever's available.

OP, Are you sending a master CDR out to be manufactured?

I would settle for duplication.....just make something as good as I can at the home or even semi-pro "demo" level, get it to play all the way thru and do random access like any good store bought cd would, decent enough for people to at least want to listen to it more than once in their cars on the way across America to Disneyworld, then run off 500 or 1000 "as is" copies of it. If I'm really cocky I might even get a bar code for it!

Looks like more than a few votes for CD Architect......Glen's vote can count twice just cuz he makes good points about not paying twice and I feel like I owe him something for all the typing he's put in here.....good info people!

Now if I can just quit buying pedals for a month I might be able to scrape up that $90 bucks...

 

[XLR]

I would settle for duplication.....just make something as good as I can at the home or even semi-pro "demo" level, get it to play all the way thru and do random access like any good store bought cd would,

Nothing against CD Architect and the like, but I've never had problems with simple consumer apps like Sonic RecordNow for doing that. I've made dozens, maybe even a couple hundred CDRs for family and commercial demo purposes. If I was sending a master to be manufactured, I want it done professionally, but otherwise... never had a problem. No coasters even. Personally, I think you're overthinking the CD burning issue.

 

[miroslav]

While I do have CD Architect...and have used it for CD assembly...I have to say that I found it to be rather cumbersome for something that should be simple.
I think the main reason for this is because they over-engineered it. It's got way too much crap that is not really needed IMO, as most any decent DAW app these days will cover a lot of the features.

Maybe if you use it a lot it becomes "intuitive"...but I didn't find it to be right out of the box. It actually frustrated the shit out of me the first time...'cuz in my DAW (Samplitude) I had already assembled and burned finished CDs that took me a few minutes to set it up...but then I figured since I have CDA maybe that would give me "better" results. It was a lot of wasted time to set up the same thing in CDA what took me a few minutes in Samplitude.

But after I figured out the *process*...yeah, it works.

 

[soundchaser59]

Reinstalling Wavelab Essential (5) is out. I tried that and it opens now, but if I try to open a wave file or a cd project or try to save any fx chains, it just closes, no warning, no error message, nothing, just close and disappear. I liked it better when it simply wouldn't run at all......at least that way I did not work on something for an hour and then lose it in the blink of an eye. Thanks again to Steinberg.

Doing all the hard brainbender work in Reaper, and then using Nero to burn is looking better and better, mainly because I have reached the same conclusion as miroslav, and I haven't even bought CD Architect yet......just reading about it I can sense that it is waaaaayyyy overkill for what I need. Seeing an existing user say the same thing after I sensed it seems to confirm it. It reminds me of my old Line 6 AX212 amp, I hated it because I had to spend more time programming it than actually playing music!

 

[masteringhouse]

One of the nice things about purchasing CD Architect over a simple CD burning package is the ability to do edits, gain changes, and fades rather than comitting to them beforehand and having to rebounce/record the track (along with a PQ list for the plant and other features). It gives you more of a palette to work from rather than a "snapshot". Of course you don't have to use those features, you can just drag and burn like any simple package, but if you want to be able to adjust pauses between tracks or fades now, or in the future, I would recommend going in that direction.

I've used CDA as far back as when they temporarily took it off the market and back (somewhere in the 90s IIRC). I've stopped using it for production work long ago as I've been Mac based for a while, but wouldn't have any problem with using again if my Mac programs had issues with some new OS upgrade or bug. Made many a master with it back in the day.

Personally I don't find it very difficult to use at all, certainly easier than any DAW for mixing.

 

[Chili]

Reinstalling Wavelab Essential (5) is out. I tried that and it opens now, but if I try to open a wave file or a cd project or try to save any fx chains, it just closes, no warning, no error message, nothing, just close and disappear. I liked it better when it simply wouldn't run at all......at least that way I did not work on something for an hour and then lose it in the blink of an eye. Thanks again to Steinberg.

You're scaring me, dude. I've been using Wavelab Essential v1.0 for a few years. I've always had trouble getting it recognize the CD drives after rebuilding my O/S, which I believe is a known problem. I recently did it again and gave up on trying to get the drives to work, so I'm upgrading to Wavelab Essential 6. And now I see your post.

My guess is there's a plug-in that is not cooperating with Wavelab. You can try backing up your plug in folder and then purging it one by one to see which one is causing problems.

 

[soundchaser59]

It was puking on Jamstix2, because for some reason having the Jamstix3Beta installed makes Wavelab think that my Jamstix2 is expired. Even though Wavelab doesn't have anything to do with Jamstix, JS is in my plugins folder so Wavelab scans it and barks at me and then pukes. I dont know why they couldn't just program Wavelab to ignore it if it thinks it is expired. Why would Steinberg give a hoot about whether or not my plugs are expired? Let alone why would they presume that my Wavelab should not run at all if one of the unrelated plugs is broke? Even if I remove JS completely from the scan path, Wavelab still disappears from the screen as soon as I try to save anything.

From the Steinberg forum I have concluded it is far more likely that the original Wavelab simply does not run in Windows 7. Now that does not surprise me, and it actually makes a lot more sense. Wavelab Essential 6 is supposed to be the latest and greatest, yet still Steinberg's own web site lists the "Wavelab Essential 6 in Windows 7" match as "Untested" and therefore unsupported.......but of course, they are still willing to sell it to us!

Imagine that!

Also, if you read the marketing hype on Steinberg's site about the various incarnations of Wavelab, specifically the comparisons, they make it sound like every version of Wavelab requires the USB license key EXCEPT Wavelab Essential. I have replies on forums from WE6 users stating that it runs fine for them without any USB keys at all, and I have emails from auth'd Steinberg retailers telling me that the WE6 software says right on the box that a USB Key is required for the software to operate. Which is it?

I am still a registered user on their site, but I can't get a straight answer from Steinberg customer service. In fact I can't get any replies from them at all. My submitted question and emails are apparently lost in cyber space. I guess the Germans are still mad at us....

So what would you think/do/say/buy? I was really pleased with the way Wavelab Essential fit my work style and flow in XP, but I am not at all pleased with Steinberg, never have been, probably never will be.....

 

[newcomputeruser]

i feel your pain

I do my tracking and mixing in Reaper now, converted from Sonar, but up until now I had been using Wavelab Essentials 5 to do some simple home mastering on my final stereo wav mix.

Well, now with Win 7 and a few other things updated, Wavelab will not run, it scans plugs and just crashes. Steinberg (burns my ears to say that word) wants me to pay more money to install the "update" that is actually an "upgrade" to Essentials 6. In typical brilliant fashion, they dont even give me a way to activate it or license it. So I said to myself, "F******K IT! Stei******rg can s***k my a*******ss!" (Pardon my Spanish!)

So, the next obvious question becomes what other apps can I choose from that will do my simple home mastering? Mostly I just use Ozone 4, with maybe a touch of Sonic Maximizer or a Limiter, nothing dazzling.

Audacity is free but it doesn't really do plugins or have the versatility to burn a redbook spec cd for dup'ing, etc. I might check Izotope to see if they have anything like that.

What do you people use for this? Is there some other open source app out there that will do what Wavelab does and will let me use Ozone and burn discs that can be copied, etc....? A lot of people are hyping CD Architect, any users there?

Be nice to have something inexpensive. I'm tired of being drained by the upgrade machines so many vendors burden us with. That's the main reason I left Sonar to join Reaper......I can afford it.

actually the spanish would be a bit different

you can buy an all in one DAW and maybe a few addons if you have special needs that cant do. or you can get a whole bunch of free/cheap programs and spend more time manually controlling the work flow.

roxio or nero may burn the cds the way you want
but cd architect is the way to go imho for special cd burning

audacity can do a lot of editing
and they do have plug ins
unless you need something really off the wall
and if so you can write your own to do it

are you confusing mastering with mixing?
you can master with audacity although it takes more work than a full boat DAW

mixing is even more awkward with audacity but you could do it for free.

for quick and dirty cds for friends i use audacity and nero
sometimes i have to switch machines and use roxio
not sure why but suspect the blank cdroms dont agree with the burner on the nero machine

my real home studio , when i get it finished, is going to have sonar because of the steinberg crapola issues you note. i would rather have nuendo but not with a dongle price to pay.

i will add a scorewriter/notation program that you may not need.

i will add samples and softsynth you may not need.

then i plan to eventually get cd architect.
nero or roxio may do what you want.

if i have other special needs then i might get a specialised program to handle it. eg tough noise removal. simplify a lot of mixing FX steps. mastering? cant see any other program needed the way i define mastering. mastering would only be to match levels and perhaps a touch of eq. most everything will be done in mixing the stems not at mastering step.

to really answer the question: to simplify your home mastering dont get anything. get something that allows you to edit without being a hassle.

 

[soundchaser59]

audacity can do a lot of editing and they do have plug ins

you can master with audacity although it takes more work than a full boat DAW

mixing is even more awkward with audacity but you could do it for free.

Audacity may use some of my favorite plugins, but it will not use the plugin's custom gui. I cant imagine using Ozone without the Ozone gui. I have run into some crash/disappear episodes running Audacity in Win7, for reasons unknown.

are you confusing mastering with mixing?

Only in my original post, which I admit was poorly worded. But I dont regret the ensuing home mastering rapport that came about because of it. Learned some things....

my real home studio , when i get it finished, is going to have sonar because of the steinberg crapola issues you note.

The upgrade money pit is what has soured me on Sonar, especially since I associate it in a Freudian way with the Roland Occupation. Reaper has my undivided attention now, especially since it will use almost all the plugs that get installed with Sonar Studio/Producer. Reaper also has its own corresponding Reaper Power book now. So far I have not had one single problem with Reaper, and I have not yet run into anything I used to do in Sonar or Tracktion that I could not figure out how to do in Reaper within 5-10 minutes.

i will add a scorewriter/notation program that you may not need.

i will add samples and softsynth you may not need.

then i plan to eventually get cd architect.

nero or roxio may do what you want.

Dont need all that, I gave up on notation/scoring before I got rid of the Atari and the reel to reel. Architect has a ton of stuff that I will simply never use. I just want to make a home "mastered" cd that I can give away to friends and have duplicated without errors and has some semblance of a store-bought sound to it. And that means having a program that will use my existing software bundle, including Ozone and Sonic Maximizer. I know those words are flaming poison to the pro mastering guys, but that's what I already have spent my money on, so I'll use it and do everything I can with it short of squashing my mixes to death.

.....because of the steinberg crapola issues you note.

I hate to say it but I think Steinberg has me cornered on this wave editor deal. Took me a while to realize that the reason Wavelab will use my existing bag full of plugins like Ozone is because Steinberg has the claim to fame on the darn VST thing. I was wondering why every program I install wants to put its plugin dll file by default in some "C:\BlahBlah\Steinberg\BlahBlah" directory path, even plugs made by vendors who have no earthly tie to Steinberg in any way. Throw in an academic discount that knocks it down to about 50-60% of retail, and an email from Steinberg-who-is-now-Yamaha tech support assuring me that Wavelab Essential 6 does NOT require a USB dongle, and it is hard to resist carrying on with the familiar Wavelab setup that I have been using.

 

[bulldozer1984]

Just browsing over this thread so this is not directed at any one poster..

Having a stubborn attitude will not get you anywhere and by the same token listening to pro ME's telling you that you can't master yourself will get you nowhere.

I think what you need to take from it is that the pro ME's are saying that a guy on his first attempt is not going to get the same results as a 30 year veteran, even if you use his rig. And I think it is pretty obvious that they are right.

Can you beat a pro golfer the first time you play even if you use his clubs ??