Master Buss V Mastering

[fasterthanu]

I was thinking about it the other day and I just wondered what other people do. I don't tend to master as I put my compressors, EQ, Limiters etc on the master buss. Compressors limiters and EQ's within cubase sx are generally what i use. Essentially if I mix without them and instead add them to the stereo mix down track isn't the effect essentially going to be the same? Are there any real benefits to this rather than compressing limiting and the mixing stage?

Cheers
j mac

 

[mshilarious]

Yes, the process would be the same. However, mastering is a concept as well as a process. Included in that concept is the idea of listening to your mix with fresh ears. If you have compressed, EQed, or limited the master bus in mixing, you have already made those decisions without the benefit of hearing your mix without them.

Also, if you ever send something out for mastering, the ME won't want compression on the master bus. So if you go back and take it off, you might discover your mix wasn't what you wanted, as you might have been relying on a master bus compressor where you should have used a compressor on a submix or individual track.

 

[Robert D]

In the context of home recording and home mastering, IMO, the goal in mixing is to not need to put anything on the master buss. Anything you do on the master buss is the same as inserting the same effect with the same settings on every single channel, not something you'd ever think about doing.
The goal in mastering is to arrange the songs for a project in the correct order and spacing, and make them sound coheisive, level and EQ'wise, and set the PQ codes and such for redbook.
If there is some program EQ like a Pultech that you want to use, or if you want to put a mastering compressor/limiter on the whole mix, it's a better idea to first create the mix file, then create a seperate pre-master (don't overwrite the mix file). You should end up with a set of mix files, a set of pre-master files, and a final burn file.
I like what Mshilarious said about Mastering being a concept as well as a process. You really need to take some time in between mixing and self mastering to de-couple from the project, and then you need to forget whatever you were thinking while mixing, and approach the project like it was just handed to you.

 

[mixsit]

I've been trying it that way Fasterthanu but I agree completely with the necessity of a clear switch from mix to master' modes.

I'll typicallyuse some compression or perhaps limiting on the master buss as part of getting the final feel and dynamic that works for each song. And since one of these comps (Timeworks) has a decent limiter, instead of a separate pass on dynamics in the master project, I bounce and export them as is' to the master. There all I'm doing is sequencing and using it to see the project in 'album mode.

It's very easy to go back to the song proj. and tweak, both volume and/or mix -and to be sure, getting back to the mix for fixes vs. just the two-track is what's driving this experiment. It surely isn't the most efficient way to do it.

Wayne