chewbacaface
New member
I have to agree that there is no Mastering Plugin that fixes a bad mix. I don't have a good acoustic room for mixing. So, I spent a lot of money on monitors that really never sound good. However, through experience and hours of practice, I know how it should sound in my room in order for it to sound decent on a regular stereo. The best tip would be to know your equipment and know your space. Keep making test CDs and working out the issues and the once you have something that sounds decent on a stereo listen to it in your room on your monitors and compare the differences.
That said...
Here are some plugins that I like and don't like.
I don't care to much for IK Multimedia TRacks. All of it's preset mastering chains just make everything sound overdriven and tinny. You can adjust the individual plugins to get a decent sound but it is tough. I find it is much easier to dial in sound on outboard equipment than it is with plugins. There are some decent plugins though. I do like the TRacks 3 Vintage 670 Compressor. I also like their CSR Hall Reverb plugin. Both of these are fairly musical. I like some of the mastering plugins that come with Logic Studio. I also like most of the Wave Arts plugins. They are useful and do actually do a pretty decent job.
Again, even when using these plugins, most of the presets are for sh!t. You have to really play with them and figure out what they are good for. They have a fairly limited set of applications. So, you need to figure out what sound you are going for and then determine which plugin is good for what. It's just like rack gear. You can't buy one preamp for every instrument. It just doesn't sound right when everything is recorded the same. It ends up sounding flat and there isn't much depth. In most cases with rack gear and with plugins, I like to go overboard and then dial back. I like to overdo it a bit to figure out exactly what the plugin or gear is doing and then dial back until I have it at a level where I can hear the effect of the gear but it isn't dominating the track. The whole idea is to blend things together so that they all exist in their correct place in the song.
These guys aren't elitists or snobs, they just have a lot more time invested in it and they work with much more professional gear than you or I. That doesn't mean that you can't achieve a nice recording with what you have. You just have to practice and become proficient with your own equipment.
Good luck.
That said...
Here are some plugins that I like and don't like.
I don't care to much for IK Multimedia TRacks. All of it's preset mastering chains just make everything sound overdriven and tinny. You can adjust the individual plugins to get a decent sound but it is tough. I find it is much easier to dial in sound on outboard equipment than it is with plugins. There are some decent plugins though. I do like the TRacks 3 Vintage 670 Compressor. I also like their CSR Hall Reverb plugin. Both of these are fairly musical. I like some of the mastering plugins that come with Logic Studio. I also like most of the Wave Arts plugins. They are useful and do actually do a pretty decent job.
Again, even when using these plugins, most of the presets are for sh!t. You have to really play with them and figure out what they are good for. They have a fairly limited set of applications. So, you need to figure out what sound you are going for and then determine which plugin is good for what. It's just like rack gear. You can't buy one preamp for every instrument. It just doesn't sound right when everything is recorded the same. It ends up sounding flat and there isn't much depth. In most cases with rack gear and with plugins, I like to go overboard and then dial back. I like to overdo it a bit to figure out exactly what the plugin or gear is doing and then dial back until I have it at a level where I can hear the effect of the gear but it isn't dominating the track. The whole idea is to blend things together so that they all exist in their correct place in the song.
These guys aren't elitists or snobs, they just have a lot more time invested in it and they work with much more professional gear than you or I. That doesn't mean that you can't achieve a nice recording with what you have. You just have to practice and become proficient with your own equipment.
Good luck.
. It gets my head spinning when I consider sampling that cymbal and seeing how well it emulates a sample of itself 
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