Basic Pro Tools Mastering question (s)

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fris9

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I'm doing my first attempt at a very basic Eq/Mastering of some songs just for learning/fun and using stock PT11 plugins. I realize there are many different thoughts and processes on this, and I seem to have gotten it how I want it to sound but now having some issues bouncing it to disk.

I watched a tutorial on youtube where the guy basically added final EQ, limiter, and maxim to the Master fader. Seemed easy enough, I swept the EQ for harsh frequencies, removed them-all good. When I applied the limiter, it really distorted the sound so I skipped that plugin. Added the Maxim plug in to increase volume to where I wanted it, and playbook sounded really good to my ears.

The issue-after bouncing down to disk, the mix sounded distorted and lost the clean punchiness it had when just playing back. I know that some of this has to do with my limited knowledge of the function of the master fader. Wondering, should i remove the master fader and plugins, bounce to disk and then create a separate session with the just the stereo track and then add the mastering and eq plugins to that, then bounce? Suggestions?
 
fris9 said:
Wondering, should i remove the master fader and plugins, bounce to disk and then create a separate session with the just the stereo track and then add the mastering and eq plugins to that, then bounce? Suggestions?
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That's the normal procedure.

It sounds like you might be clipping the main mix bus. The level should never go above 0dBFS, and a few tenths of a dB below that is recommended as the absolute maximum level of the audio.
 
bouldersoundguy said:
That's the normal procedure.

It sounds like you might be clipping the main mix bus. The level should never go above 0dBFS, and a few tenths of a dB below that is recommended as the absolute maximum level of the audio.
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It may be for you, but a flag has been missed.
fris9 said:
The issue-after bouncing down to disk, the mix sounded distorted and lost the clean punchiness it had when just playing back.
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Bounce to disc product should't differ at all to what you hear in the session, quality settings aside.
 
Always a good moment for that though if his final bounce sounds drastically different to what he hears in Protools, there's a problem to address.
If he's clipping the main mix bus then sure, there's a good lesson to learn, but there's gotta be a reason why he's not hearing the effects in Protools as well as in the bounced file.

OP, how/where are you reviewing the bounced file, and is it high quality wav or mp3?
Make sure your playback software isn't boosting the volume. Programs like VLC can do this. Volume at "maximum" is actually something like 12db boost.

Make sure your individual track outputs match up with the master fader output, and also make sure this same output is selected when you're going through the bounce menus.
 
Steenamaroo said:
It may be for you, but a flag has been missed.

Bounce to disc product should't differ at all to what you hear in the session, quality settings aside.
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That's my main issue-I had assumed that what i hear in playback would be what i hear on the bounced track, and it's not. Bouldersound is correct, I was clipping the master fader, but still is puzzling why after the plug ins in still sounded fine, but sounded crappy on the bounced disk. I'm going try this again with the master track down around 0, as mentioned, and see if i get the same results. Thanks for the replies, guys...
 
Sorry, to address your other question, I listened to the bounced track (wav) on iTunes. To clarify, I hear the plug ins i'm adding on the master track on playback just fine, so I know it's being applied.
 
fris9 said:
I'm going try this again with the master track down around 0, as mentioned, and see if i get the same results.
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Just to be clear, I meant never exceed 0dBFS on the meter. As long as you do that it doesn't matter much where the master fader is, though once you get things figured out you may never have to move the master fader from its default position.
 
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