Mastering FX Units - if and when to use?

C

CharlesThomas

New member
They have these mastering units like the dbx Quantum Digital Mastering Processor and the TC Finalizer Plus which do multiband compression and EQ, and basically claim to be able to deliver a "professional-sounding" master with just a few button clicks.

I'm curious if anyone's used such a unit, and also if you would suggest using it during the mix-down procedure (before the DAT or other mix-down deck) or during the actual "mastering" procedure when bouncing from the DAT to a second DAT and getting the songs in the right order with the right amount of silence between them, etc.

Thanks for any tips.

CT
 
It seems to me that it depends on what your goal is. What is your end product? A demo or a commercial CD?
Done properly a multi-band compressor (you need at least three bands, two band compressors are useless, in my experience) can give you more oomph, and more volume in the finished product, which could be nice if you do a demo. But then again, that money might be put to better use somewhere else, remember that it's better to have a godo sound from the start instead of trying to fix it in the mix. And anyway, the A&R person won't throw your demo away just because you haven't mastered it.
I don't think the EQ is of much use, since the main use of a mastering EQ is to correct any smaller EQ problems you have with your studio setup. You can't really do that unless you're in a proper mastering studio, with really high end monitoring and good acoustics and shit.
Which is why, if you are aiming to make a finished end-product, you should let a mastering studio master for you instead of doing it yourself. But if you do it yourself, I can se no reson not to apply the mastering processor directly at mix down.

Anybody else has anything to say?
 
do it right the first time

the less i have to depend on someone else to fix my work, the better i feel.

if you are sure of your tracking and mixing abilities, then perform the proper compression and EQ on the individual tracks, and mix the song properly. then you don't need a genious mastering guy to fix your tune for you.

having said that, a little multi-comp seems to give my tunes, when played in the car or stereo, the same sound they had when i play the mixed tracks in the studio.

of course, it's taken me a couple of years to get to this 'semi-pro' sounding level. how much time ya got???

izzy
 
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