ultramastering.com???

K

kennycarvajal

New member
Have any of you here had any experience with ultramastering.com?

Site, gear and price was my attraction but I'm currently unhappy with their lack of communication. It took 5 days to get a response regarding my first question which was asking for a tentative completion date.

I finally got a response last Friday stating that the master has been shipped. I immediately asked when it was shipped so I know roughly when to expect it but it's been a week today and still no package, no response. This is a package coming from Michigan to Chicago. :rolleyes:

Currently scared of requesting for possible corrections since their communication with me has been quite frustrating.

Kenny
 
"We will analyze your stereo mix and correct the frequency content and levels by visualizing the energy distributed in the stereo image."

Do they master by eye? :eek:
 
MadAudio said:
"We will analyze your stereo mix and correct the frequency content and levels by visualizing the energy distributed in the stereo image."

Do they master by eye? :eek:
Click to expand...
Nothing's wrong using eyes combined with ears dude.
 
MadAudio said:
"We will analyze your stereo mix and correct the frequency content and levels by visualizing the energy distributed in the stereo image."

Do they master by eye? :eek:
Click to expand...
totally, i small har-bal.
 
Har Bal is actually very nice. Invaluable tool.

But that site is bogus.

send to a real ME.

teddy
 
All I know about them is they should immediately fire whoever writes their web copy. More made-up words, badly-constructed sentences, and outright nonsense text on one page than I've seen on any website written by anyone who wasn't a drunk living an a van down by the river. Certanily enough to throw a reasonable doubt in my mind. From one page:

"Psychoacoustic Analyzation". This one literally made me laugh out loud. What the hell is "analyzation"? Is that "analysis"? Then of course this is the one where they describe that nonsense about mastering by sight. This one paragraph alone would be enough to turn me away from giving them my money.

This is immediately followed by a description of "Equalization" as "a balance of clarity and depth through extensive monitoring." Huh??? Since when do clarity and depth have to be "balanced", what do either of them have directly to do with equalization, and how does extensive monitoring have anything to do with EQ?

The paragrph on compression makes some small bit of sense in it's focus on "power presence and punch", but the rest of the paragraph construction would have every English and composition teacher I ever had from 1st grade on up dragging their nails across the chalkboard.

Bass management: How does shaping the bass on a master have anything to do with pushing "the low-end capabilities of your speakers?" It doesn't.

"Maximization/Limiting": Oh, there's one of those made up "-ization" words again. He must have gotten that one from the same dictionary as "analyzation". What DOES this guy use to build his web pages? Every tool I can think of outside of "Notebook" wuld have stopped these words at the spell checker a couple of different times.

I'm not being picky here, I can understand the occasional typo. But this page is all smoke and mirrors content loaded with made-up words and grammer-school diction. And this guy wants to sell me as an engineer? Case not sold.

G.

P.S. When's the last time that somebody claimed to have a mastering suite with all that gear and didn't include a single picture of the suite anywhere on their website?

They have to prove to me that it's not because they are somebody using Har Bal.
 
SouthSIDE Glen said:
P.S. When's the last time that somebody claimed to have a mastering suite with all that gear and didn't include a single picture of the suite anywhere on their website?
Click to expand...

They do have a picture of their "media room" on their home page, for what that's worth.
 
mshilarious said:
They do have a picture of their "media room" on their home page, for what that's worth.
Click to expand...
That little thumbnail with no explanation and a buck will get you a quarter of a cup of coffee at Starbucks :D.

G.
 
I guess I fell for all of it, $60 later. Still no package, still no e-mail. My main thing is the time I lost since other things are scheduled related to this project.

I should've inquired first before I went with it. Funny now how they immediately (almost instantly) responded to let me know that the payment is required before mastering is started. In the past it's been half or a percentage before the project is started, then the rest once the corrections are made/completed and before the final master was sent.

I definitely feel robbed. Great!

I suppose use me as a reminder to enquire first and to avoid this online mastering company. I most certainly fell for it. A $60 lesson. :mad:

I will be filing a claim through Paypal if I don't get any packages by mid next week. I would most definitely find it hard to believe for a package from Michigan to take 2 weeks to get to Chicago.

Thanks for all your input and responses.

Regards,
Kenny
 
kennycarvajal said:
Funny now how they immediately (almost instantly) responded to let me know that the payment is required before mastering is started. In the past it's been half or a percentage before the project is started, then the rest once the corrections are made/completed and before the final master was sent.

I definitely feel robbed. Great!
Click to expand...
Well, hang on Kenny, you may still get a product, and for only $60 you may actually get a servicable job, even if the customer service sucks.

However, the fact that they paid a few bucks extra for private domain registration through Network Solutions so they cannot be traced throgh a domain name search does not bode well, I'm afraid. At the best, that's another red flag; at the worst, it's a sharp poke in the ribs.

G.
 
I would much rather master my stuff myself than sending it out to these guys.
The sound samples are less than impressive and I can master as good as they do in my my own bedroom. When you think mastering, you think Sterling, Gateway, Mastersound, etc....you don't think $120 an album geez.
 
I agree Dewd. Just didn't have quite the budget for the big guns. You get what you pay for I guess.

Damn.

I really hope you're right Glen. Just for the simple fact that at least I don't get ripped off.

:mad:

Kenny
 
I tried to go to their website but it seems to be dead. I was thinking of sending an email asking about "rumors" of slow delivery and responsiveness....asking them for references -n- such.
 
SouthSIDE Glen said:
However, the fact that they paid a few bucks extra for private domain registration through Network Solutions so they cannot be traced throgh a domain name search does not bode well, I'm afraid. At the best, that's another red flag; at the worst, it's a sharp poke in the ribs.

G.
Click to expand...


Hehehehehe I had checked that too :D
 
Ultramastering is using a website builder service out of the UK called Moonfruit. The Ultramastering website was last updated May 4th (yesterday.) And it didn't exist as recently as two weeks ago. In fact, as of April 16th of this year, here was their different, and not even close to finished website:

http://ultramastering.mfbiz.com/

Now the question I have is, are there any web surfer sleuths or MEs that can comment on the origin of the pics on that older stillborn site? Are they taken from other studios that you know of?

G.
 
You're a genius Glen. I think I first contacted these guys on the 18th of April.

Man, I'm absolutely furious.

Judging by these facts, should I consider this a loss? Would you be able to e-mail me the info where you got these from for when I have to file a claim through Paypal? Can you check if there's any correlation between ultramastering.com and masterbymail.com? I kinda had a weird feeling when I first saw these sites for some reason.

Since the site wasn't launched till the 16th of April, I take it those testimonials were from imaginary clients. Damn it!!! :mad: :mad: :mad:

Kenny
 
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There's a long thread about this at another forum... More red flags than you can shake a red stick at.

Mastering credits that aren't real - That was a nice one...

At least one phony audio sample (a mono "original" track suddenly has a lush stereo image).

Not to mention tens and tens of thousands in gear - Including a Sonic Solutions system - and $119 for a whole album?!?

Interesting photo on the page also about the new room that doesn't have Genelec OR Dunlavy speakers in it (as claimed on the "gear list").
 
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