Paschalis I.
Banned
if your mix is a great (and it should) then you would only end up with a maximizer only or/and a compressor with gentle settings to glue things up.
If not, I use ozone and slate digital.
Home Mastering - What Do You Use?
- Thread starter soundchaser59
- Start date
if your mix is a great (and it should) then you would only end up with a maximizer only or/and a compressor with gentle settings to glue things up.
If not, I use ozone and slate digital.
Studio One Pro has a user-friendly but powerful mastering suite. In there, you have access to four different compressors, simple channel strip EQ, enhanced multi-band EQ, multi-band dynamic compressor, crossfades/track-marking, limiter, two different reverb modules, meta data/ISRC code input by track and by album, CD burning/DDP image/digital release in various formats and settings (wav, mp3...), monitoring for loudness/clipping/phasing, track splitting/sequencing... pretty much everything you need to master and package a project. You can also use 3rd party plug-ins from within the suite if you prefer. I use Ozone 5 sometimes from right inside the S1 project. 
dobro
Well-known member
I've never understood the need for special mastering plugins. Nine times out of ten, I use my ordinary EQ and an ordinary compressor or two on the master buss, and a console emulator. That tenth time, I might put some reverb on it. That's it. Why the need for 'mastering plugins'? Aside from making the people who sell them richer, I mean?
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jimmys69
MOODerator
Every type of music or genre has a different set of needs. There is no 'one size fit's all'.
For some, a mastering plug like Ozone works for them and is just a bundle of plugins that have a specific purpose. It does not work for me personally, but I do things different. I don't feel that those that use that type of mastering set of plugs are doing anything wrong. Just different tools for their situation.
The plugs I use are actually quite a bit more expensive than Ozone. Maybe I made those companies rich as well? Sorry, didn't know that paying for quality software was a questionable offense...
I suggest you try one if you are legitimately curious. Many of them offer trial periods, so there is no risk to you financially.
I used Ozone twice (on the last 10 projects I have mastered). I used the standard compressor/limiter/EQ contained directly in the DAW (not third-party mastering plug ins) for the other eight. Every project is different, especially when it comes to mastering. So sometimes an entirely different approach is needed (vs. the usual fine tuning/nuancing).
Using a full-suite of mastering-specific applications packaged into a dedicated interface, like Ozone, is a very different experience from using the "ordinary plug ins" contained in the DAW, which (for me) yeilded different results when I needed them. On the two instances I used it, I just couldn't get the master where I wanted it using my usual approach first. But rather than me describe it to you in words, I suggest you try it for yourself with a trial version. Like I said, why not pull up an old project of your own and experiment with mastering plug ins, hear/experience it for yourself?
R
RAMI
Guest
Not much. All those "Mastering Suites" (marketing genius!!!!) are really just a bunch of tools bundled in the same program and given a cool name. I don't think they're any better or worse than just using those same tools separately, so I'm not putting them down. But to answer your question, they don't do anything that a separate limiter, EQ, etc....will give you. They just happen to come in a package with a few other useless tools, like "Stereo enhancer" (I've never heard a mix that wasn't ruined by adding that shit on it).
Or at the very least, if you don't want to install new software on your own system, maybe try pulling up a YouTube video and checking out some of the options. There are some very good tutorials out there that illustrate the answer to your question: "But what can mastering plugs do that ordinary plugins can't?"
Also, I should note it is not really "what" mastering plug ins do that ordinary tools "can't" -- but more "how" they do it and then the results you achieve. I mean, to say there is no difference would be like saying "a compressor is a compressor" or "reverb is reverb," which I know not to be the case at all. Anyway, it is not that ordinary plug ins "can't" do what mastering plug ins do, they most likely all do similar things, but again, not every hamburger tastes the same, right?!
Also, I should note it is not really "what" mastering plug ins do that ordinary tools "can't" -- but more "how" they do it and then the results you achieve. I mean, to say there is no difference would be like saying "a compressor is a compressor" or "reverb is reverb," which I know not to be the case at all. Anyway, it is not that ordinary plug ins "can't" do what mastering plug ins do, they most likely all do similar things, but again, not every hamburger tastes the same, right?!
Steenamaroo
...
Massive said something the other day about how they're not necessarily bad tools, but they're all capable of ruining a mix in a a few clicks.
I know the same is true of any plugin, but that's always been my thing with Ozone etc.
More often than not when someone's using ozone on here, it means they've turned everything on and up and then wondered why it sucks!
I too usually have an eq, comp, and limiter.
I have to disagree with this. The simple fact that the individual elements contained in a mastering suite are developed by different designers/manufacturers using different methods, and thusly result in audible differences and nuances, cannot be discounted. To say a compressor or the reverb in Reaper (for example) "won't do anything different" than a compressor or reverb contained in Ozone (or any other software, regardless of how it is marketed) is incorrect. Take away the fact that the tools in Ozone are bundled together and marketed in a certain way, and you are still left with a new set of tools to use. Why would you ever limit yourself the two or three compressors/limiters/EQ packaged with your DAW?
R
RAMI
Guest
Who says I'm doing that? I have access to tons of plug-ins that I can choose from. Actually, why are YOU limiting yourself to the plug-ins that come with one program is more like it.
My point is that all those tools are just that. Tools. They're no better or worse just because they're in something called a "Mastering Suite". I'll bet you that you'd have trouble finding one REAL Mastering engineer that uses Ozone. I'm not just saying that because Massive has said that he doesn't like Ozone. But he's one of many.
Whoever came up with this "Mastering Suite" idea is a marketing genius and people being as gullible as they are eat that kind of thing up.
Steenamaroo
...
Without citing specifics, there's nothing to say that either of you are completely right.
RAMI's post seemed well balanced and pretty realistic to me.
Any plug from any manufacturer will be different to a comparable plug from another.
Bundling them together doesn't necessarily mean they're better than any other.
I never said they (Ozone plug ins) were "better" than anything either. This thread got really weird really quickly. As I re-read the thread I cannot help feel like we are all arguing the same point at the same time. Going back to my first post, "You can also use 3rd party plug-ins from within the suite if you prefer." If you don't, then don't. Then we all go on to say, "Just different tools for different situations."
Seriously, "uncle."
Seriously, "uncle."
Chili
Site Moderator
More often than not when someone's using ozone on here, it means they've turned everything on and up and then wondered why it sucks!
lol, I'm one of the few advocates for Ozone and I can assure that does not happen here. But I'm sure a lot of people destroy their mixes with presets.
I can't help feel like people equate using a mastering suite to: someone doesn't know what they are doing. Especially with things like, "I'll bet you that you'd have trouble finding one REAL Mastering engineer that uses Ozone."
I don't know whether or not that is the case (what brand of products "REAL" engineers use). I do know that this is a home recording forum, not a professional engineering society, so I don't think it is too out to lunch to think that users of the forum might benefit from at least exploring all of the options available. I have learned a lot over the years trying out all kinds of plug ins. Some worked, some didn't. Sometimes I made mistakes, sometimes I came up with something I really liked and still like today.
Anyway, I don't think it is productive to make people feel ashamed to try certain products or whatever their methods are. I see a lot of "you're doing it wrong and you need to do it this way!" I don't know about that when it comes to creating something personal. I read an article in Tape Op recently, I think it was the guy from Tame Impala, he was using a Boss BR-1180... still. I seriously doubt any "real" engineers are still using those either.
I don't know whether or not that is the case (what brand of products "REAL" engineers use). I do know that this is a home recording forum, not a professional engineering society, so I don't think it is too out to lunch to think that users of the forum might benefit from at least exploring all of the options available. I have learned a lot over the years trying out all kinds of plug ins. Some worked, some didn't. Sometimes I made mistakes, sometimes I came up with something I really liked and still like today.
Anyway, I don't think it is productive to make people feel ashamed to try certain products or whatever their methods are. I see a lot of "you're doing it wrong and you need to do it this way!" I don't know about that when it comes to creating something personal. I read an article in Tape Op recently, I think it was the guy from Tame Impala, he was using a Boss BR-1180... still. I seriously doubt any "real" engineers are still using those either.
Steenamaroo
...
Yeah, that's it.
It's not a one size fits all, as Chili proves, but on places like this Ozone = clueless...usually.
I would like to see "real engineer" defined. Kind of like "real band" or "real musician." I wonder at what point one crosses the threshold into becoming one of the "real" entities and where does one sign up?
Steenamaroo
...
I've no idea. Someone else said that.
R
RAMI
Guest
I would like to see "real engineer" defined. Kind of like "real band" or "real musician." I wonder at what point one crosses the threshold into becoming one of the "real" entities and where does one sign up?
I'm talking about someone who does it professionally and makes a living from it. Come on, are we going to stoop to "semantics" now? You know exactly what I mean.
Nobody's trying to make anyone "feel ashamed" about anything. If you feel that, that's on you, not me. I said at least twice, if not more, that the plug-ins in these "Mastering Suites" are NO BETTER AND NO WORSE than any other plug-ins, so there's no reason to get so defensive about the whole thing.
There's no bad vibes here. We're just disagreeing a bit, what's the big deal? In fact, you had no problem saying "I disagree with this..." and then you went on to explain why. I had no problem with it either. But then, when someone disagreed with your disagreement, you came back with "This thread has gotten weird" or whatever. I don't get that.
My main point is was this: These "mastering suites" are just a bunch of tools bundled together. How is it that someone who chooses to use any of the hundreds of other plug-ins out there is supposedly "limiting themselves", while someone who chooses to only use the tools that come in this one bundle isn't "limiting themselves"? Seems to me it's the complete other way around. Only one person here suggested that other people are limiting themselves, and it happens to be the only person who really is limiting themself, strangely enough.
Use whatever you want, man. It's your music. But I'm beginning to think people have trouble remembering how internet discussion forums are supposed to work. Sometimes people disagree, big frickin' deal. That doesn't mean there's a lack of respect, it's just a bunch of opinions. If one person can say "I disagree with this....", then that same person shouldn't complain when someone else disagrees with them. Are we a bunch of 10 year olds or something? Just chill out about it. Nobody's insulting or trying to make anyone "feel ashamed".
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dobro
Well-known member
So, are you saying that the plugins that call themselves mastering plugins sound different from ordinary plugins, or are you saying that mastering plugins make it easier to achieve what you want? (And yes, I'll demo a couple to see what all the fuss is about, but in the meantime my question's the same: what makes mastering plugins better for the job of mastering than ordinary built-in or third party plugins?)