Massive Master
www.massivemastering.com
Was asked why I don't chime in on threads like this.
(1) I'm not a fan of the loudness war in the first place. I'm certainly a participant - Not particularly by choice, mind you. But for the most part, I don't particularly want to add fuel to the loudness fire.
THAT SAID --
(2) And this is the part that few tend to wrap their head around for some reason -- "Loud" is easy. It's an afterthought - honest. Least important and most simplistic part of the entire process with a reasonably well-balanced mix.
Waves Mercury - I know some schools with a license, several large studios. Individuals who don't actually do this for a living...? IMO, anyone who would even consider spending more than *maybe* a couple $k on plugs is just wasting money. With all the places to put smart $$$, plugs are by far the least important. Some of the best (digital, mind you) mixes I've ever done were done with whatever stock EQ and dynamics whatever program I was working with had. Great mixes are about great sources picked up by great (even if cheap, "proper" for the source) mics into solid preamps feeding into quality converters. Other than time-based, spatial or modulative effects (again, most programs have these also) that are actually adding an element to the sound, if you need stacks of plugs to make something sound good, you probably went wrong at the source.
I'll let you in on a secret -- There are four or five plugs that I use regularly. Three of them are free plugs from Tokyo Dawn Labs. I use them *so* much that I bought several (of the "advanced" or "Gentleman's Edition" or "Mastering Edition" or whatever they call it) just to support them while I continue to use the free versions anyway. Of course, I'm not suggesting to not buy plugs -- I own several Waves licenses myself for individual plugs that are unique in some way (4 or 5 that I hardly ever touch over months of everyday work - Can't actually tell you the last time I loaded one).
Blah, blah, blah - It's not the plugs - It's the guy using the plugs and the source that's going through them.
But on the "volume" situation - If you're struggling with playback volume, it's probably the mix. That said, if the mix sounds great and sounds like you want it, then just bring it to the volume that best serves the mix. The whole volume war thing isn't anything that the end users wanted -- It has been and continues to be a pissing contest between [artists] and [labels]. I'd argue that if the end listener knew what those mixes could sound like, there'd be a revolution.
And I hope I don't sound - miffed(?) jaded(?) frustrated(?). But for years, I get calls and e-mails from clients (or potential clients) that think that "mastering" is "where volume comes from" -- And while it certainly is established during the mastering phase, it's still arguably the most insignificant part of the entire process. And I don't know a ("real" or "serious") mastering engineer that's happy about taking otherwise wonderful sounding source material and damaging it just so it sounds as loud as the other damaged material out there...
As a side-note -- I've actually changed the way I operate in the last several years just because of the wonderfully high interest in "high-res" formats. I get more and more requests for (MFiT, FLAC, etc.) lately than I ever have before and I hope that trend continues to grow.
(1) I'm not a fan of the loudness war in the first place. I'm certainly a participant - Not particularly by choice, mind you. But for the most part, I don't particularly want to add fuel to the loudness fire.
THAT SAID --
(2) And this is the part that few tend to wrap their head around for some reason -- "Loud" is easy. It's an afterthought - honest. Least important and most simplistic part of the entire process with a reasonably well-balanced mix.
Waves Mercury - I know some schools with a license, several large studios. Individuals who don't actually do this for a living...? IMO, anyone who would even consider spending more than *maybe* a couple $k on plugs is just wasting money. With all the places to put smart $$$, plugs are by far the least important. Some of the best (digital, mind you) mixes I've ever done were done with whatever stock EQ and dynamics whatever program I was working with had. Great mixes are about great sources picked up by great (even if cheap, "proper" for the source) mics into solid preamps feeding into quality converters. Other than time-based, spatial or modulative effects (again, most programs have these also) that are actually adding an element to the sound, if you need stacks of plugs to make something sound good, you probably went wrong at the source.
I'll let you in on a secret -- There are four or five plugs that I use regularly. Three of them are free plugs from Tokyo Dawn Labs. I use them *so* much that I bought several (of the "advanced" or "Gentleman's Edition" or "Mastering Edition" or whatever they call it) just to support them while I continue to use the free versions anyway. Of course, I'm not suggesting to not buy plugs -- I own several Waves licenses myself for individual plugs that are unique in some way (4 or 5 that I hardly ever touch over months of everyday work - Can't actually tell you the last time I loaded one).
Blah, blah, blah - It's not the plugs - It's the guy using the plugs and the source that's going through them.
But on the "volume" situation - If you're struggling with playback volume, it's probably the mix. That said, if the mix sounds great and sounds like you want it, then just bring it to the volume that best serves the mix. The whole volume war thing isn't anything that the end users wanted -- It has been and continues to be a pissing contest between [artists] and [labels]. I'd argue that if the end listener knew what those mixes could sound like, there'd be a revolution.
And I hope I don't sound - miffed(?) jaded(?) frustrated(?). But for years, I get calls and e-mails from clients (or potential clients) that think that "mastering" is "where volume comes from" -- And while it certainly is established during the mastering phase, it's still arguably the most insignificant part of the entire process. And I don't know a ("real" or "serious") mastering engineer that's happy about taking otherwise wonderful sounding source material and damaging it just so it sounds as loud as the other damaged material out there...
As a side-note -- I've actually changed the way I operate in the last several years just because of the wonderfully high interest in "high-res" formats. I get more and more requests for (MFiT, FLAC, etc.) lately than I ever have before and I hope that trend continues to grow.
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