Another T-Racks post!

[Mountainmirrors]

Greetings-

I've read a few discussions on T-racks and a few people dig it, most insist pro-mastering is key.
I've tried T-racks and like it.
To those who like it:

What presets do you prefer?

As a psychedelic rock artist, I'm not really trying to sound perfect, just enhance...the sonic blemishes on those old records really makes for magic in music like the Beatles, Pink Floyd and Led Zeppelin.
Nick Bensen actually mastered his music in Nero and the CD sounds fantastic.

Thanks,
Jeff

 

[LongWaveStudio]

pro mastering or not, there are better ways to do it than using T-Racks.

 

[Mountainmirrors]

how do you suggest?
What works for you?

 

[LongWaveStudio]

well, I myself have an Nuendo system for mastering. i can use either software (such as Waves plugins), or i can use external hardware units, all, very easily.

a great mastering job can be done using Wavelab and some good plug-ins. check it out, and have a play ! take some time over it.

 

[Son of Mixerman]

HEy Long Wave, tell Mtn Man how much Nuendo costs and then add the waves plugs?

50 to 100 cdr's go with t-racks and a digital editor like Sound Forge. Strictly a homejob...You do the artwork and everything.. A Slackmaster special as I call it..

100 to 250 cdr's Id go with Ozone , bigger learning curve, cpu intensive but it works. You may send these out to a budget duplicator at your own risk. Artwork??

250 to 500 cdr's would justify nuendo and waves combo. Id use the same budget duper, get a reference disk before signing it off. Artwork??

500 cdrs and up Id go with pro mastering house and get them stamped cd's done right. Artwork?? ($1200+)

There is so many variables with the first 3 based on experience level and whatnot... Have fun..

SoMm

 

[LongWaveStudio]

son of mixerman,

first off, the guy asked me what works for me, so i told him what i used, personally. not what he should use.

secondly, i recommended a not so expensive package (wavelab)

thirdly, the amount of cd's you choose to get made should not dictate how a good a mastering job you get done!!

if you want your cd to sound finished and the best it can be, you will probably make that desicion, regardless of how many cd's you want to get done. even if i was making only 50 cd's, i might choose to get it mastered well. who knows where those 50 cd's will go.

sorry man, but i dont believe a better mastering job is decided by how many cd's you are going to press.

 

[Teacher]

i personally think u shouldn't pay for mastering unless u feel ur studio captures that pro sound quality if not its just gonna sound louder with more high end

 

[LongWaveStudio]

true. mastering isn't going to fix major problems which are already in the mix.

 

[Son of Mixerman]

son of mixerman,

first off, the guy asked me what works for me, so i told him what i used, personally. not what he should use.

I know...

secondly, i recommended a not so expensive package (wavelab)

Huh huh.

thirdly, the amount of cd's you choose to get made should not dictate how a good a mastering job you get done!!

Key words are Should not But often is factor for hobbiests. Do your research and make a choice that best fits your personal situation.

if you want your cd to sound finished and the best it can be, you will probably make that desicion, regardless of how many cd's you want to get done. even if i was making only 50 cd's, i might choose to get it mastered well. who knows where those 50 cd's will go.

If you want to have a custom built formula race car to get groceries I suppose thats your choice. But maybe its not the most responsible thing to do while in your basement or bedroom.

sorry man, but i dont believe a better mastering job is decided by how many cd's you are going to press.

I don't believe that having more options and alternative ideas that cater to the financially challenged is a bad thing either. I think your right for the most part and I wasn't disagreeing with anything you posted, Im just sensitive to overall costs scaring off people from even trying, think of it as additional info. Personally If Ive 1200 bucks to burn on software, Id spend it on Mastering instead for various reasons. IMO


By the way LongWave, do you use the Mastering Engineers Webboard http://webbd.nls.net/webboard/wbpx.dll/~mastering
Try it, you'll like it

 

[LongWaveStudio]

son of mixerman,

basically, what im trying to say is, if you've spent a lot of time and effort on making a cd, a lot of people will want to make the most of it, and get it sounding finished, whatever quantity of cd's they choose to get pressed, be it 1 or 1000. sure budget comes into it, but that wasn't the initial question.

if you dont have much money, then, yes, you're going to have to use alternative routes, be it cheaper mastering facility or do it yourself.agreed.

 

[heinz]

T-racks is specifically going for a vintage analogue sound, how well they do at that is subjective. But it would not be my first choice for general mastering use. Even though I bought it for a specific project, I'm sure there are much better tools for general purpose use.

 

[LongWaveStudio]

well done heinz, that's basically what i wanted to say. if you do a search, you may find a bunch of topics where ive kinda said my views about t-racks.

 

[Son of Mixerman]

agreed.

Agreed.

SoMm

 

[Wiz C]

if you can do it ya self do it ..its cheaper

if you like what you hear...and it sounds good on everything you play it on
do your own mastering.....! if you got the money to have some pro do it.. try that too...and compare yours to the pro...if theres no real differance do the rest of your albums or single or what ever ya self...
Save some cash!

 

[Mountainmirrors]

One thing I've found by reading a free mastering guide at the Ozone site is that it's key to getting a killer, full sound is in not compressing the whole mix, but individual frequencies...
this lesson really got me thinking about the effectiveness of T-Racks.
Luckily, a friend of mine has offered to master my forthcoming record for peanuts...so the decision is clear.
My experiments with the T-Racks program did give me an impressive sound enhancement with a couple of the high-end boost presets with no compression, just limiter.

Gratefully,
Jeff

 

[pipelineaudio]

this really isnt an either/or thing. T-racks is cool in its own right, and can make sounds that cubendo, nor any other app can make. Then again the apps can make other sounds. I wish they would make T-racks DX or VST already!

 

[Blue Bear Sound]

"Cubendo"

...that's funny!

 

[Rusty K]

Hey I couldn't help but weigh in....

My only experience is with T-Racks so take it for what it's worth.

I first used it to master a live recording my band did. I got unanimous approval for the job. We use the CD's as promotional mainly although we do sell them from the stage. We are basically cover band whores but we are often asked when we are going to come out with our next CD.

I don't want to step on any studio pro toes here but after being in the business for almost 40 years, I'll never again spend my money in a studio unless or until I walk in with a recording contract in my pocket. Anything prior to that is "demo" and with the help of Bill Gates, software designers like T-Racks and my friends here at Homerecording.com I can make a plenty good enough demo right in my own music room.

Rusty K

 

[klytus]

I use T-Racks all the time at home - I would say it's perfect for adding a bit of shine to an otherwise muddy demo, but it's OBVIOUSLY not gonna compete with $250k's worth of dedicated mastering gear in a studio.

But the best thing about T-Racks (apart from the price) is that you dont HAVE to know much about mastering to get moderately pleasing results. Even if I could afford racks of Finalizer's etc, I'd prolly still get better results from T-Racks cos (a) I'm thick as pigshit and (b) it's so effing simple.

By the way, nice mech Heinz.

 

[jake-owa]

Ummm, I like t-racks. It makes my music sound good right before I destroy it with mp3. Then it still sounds a little better than a raw wav to mp3 file. I don't play my music to big time producers unless they happen to be in the clinic.

The key I find is not overdoing it. I don't use the presets, I just turn on one module at a time and test at different volumes. I go until all the modules are on and them monitor al high volumes while turning off modules to see what is actually needed. I'm sure a pro in some million dollar room would think it sounds like crap, now ask me if I care.