Mastering My First Album [HELP]

[Jude2010]

Hey people,
Right i'm working on my first home made Hip-Hop/Rap Album and i have almost all my songs recorded 12 in total.
I'm in the process of mastering each track and it is a pain -_- i haven't a clue what i'm supposed to be doing to be honest.
I'm using Sonar X1 as my DAW and iZotpe Ozone 4 to Master or at least try to master.
I was wondering could anyone help me out .. I've listened to the songs through my Samson Media One 5A and through my computer soundcard and also through cheap headphones and to me the songs sound good, but not pro.
Am i expecting too much from my home studio? or does it just sound bad to me

Here's a track i tried to master:
Love Hate by YJentertainment on SoundCloud - Create, record and share your sounds for free

Equipment:
Mic: sE Electronixs sE2200A
Interface: Alesis io|2 USB

Also if you're starting to master tracks and you want sort of a test dummy. i'd be happy to provide tracks
i mean it'll probably be better than what i come out with haha

 

[Massive Master]

I would have guessed Blowzone with how the phase coherency in the LOW end is all warped the way it is...

Do yourself a favor - ESPECIALLY if "haven't a clue of what you're supposed to be doing" --

Don't do anything you're not sure of. Absolutely positively DON'T use presets. Do your best to avoid any sort of maul-the-band (multiband) processing. Do anything you can to avoid Ozone.

I'm really not an Ozone basher (we tend to have "nicknames" for most of the "mastering" plugs out there - Blowzone, Hairball, T-Wrecks, etc.). It's only as dangerous as the person using it. But their presets are just out of this world... Haas effect below 500Hz? In 15 years of mastering audio professionally and another 15 of working in the audio field in one way or another, I can tell you precisely how many times I've done that "on purpose" -- Never.

I could probably add up the dozens / hundreds of hours I've tried to fix problems like that -- And basically, they're not fixable.

Mastering one's own mixes is semi-self-defeating in the first place -- But if you're going to go through it anyway, keep the chain as simple as you can. A decent parametric EQ, a decent broadband compressor and perhaps a limiter at the end. Let the mix tell you what to do (yes, it should've done that during mixing, which is another paradox of sorts) and if it isn't telling you anything, it's probably best to leave it be.

 

[ecktronic]

if it isn't telling you anything, it's probably best to leave it be.

Brilliant words from the infamous John Scrip.

G