Mastering software Question

  • Thread starter Thread starter amt7565
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amt7565

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I am using SONAR. I am thinking of getting WAVES lab etc, to use it for mixing. I really don;t want to spend on any new software unless it's really important.

Will mixing my final mix on WAVES lab really enhance the quality of my recording? Does it do compression, EQ etc? What teh advantages do I have by exporting from SONAR to WAVES?

Thanks ;)
 
You would still do your mixdown in Sonar. Mastering is when you edit, EQ and process the final stereo mixdown file. You would use Waves after you have completed the mixdown in Sonar.
 
hey Texasroadkill!
Thats what I intended. So it is advisable to get Waves huh?
 
You might want to look at Izotope Ozone. Go to http://www.izotope.com/products/audio/ozone/directx.html
and download their demo and mastering guide. The mastering guide itself is very good even if you don't buy Ozone. Seems like it was about 50 pages long and very informative. I think the price for Ozone is about $199. Quite a bit less than Waves I believe.

DD
 
So it is advisable to get Waves huh?
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It's a pretty popular program and considered one of the premier 2track editing programs. Like anything, it's worth is determined by what you can do with it. Programs like that are also nice swiss army programs for doing file format conversions, editing, loop and sample creation, etc.
 
Do you mean WaveLab? or, like the WAVES bundle of plug ins??

xoxo
 
THanks Everyone. I checked out the IZOTOPE page. Looks sophisticated enough. xoxo I meant Waves Lab.
 
The thread has me confused. You all seem to be talking about three pieces of software here: Wavelab, Waves Ltd, and Ozone.

Ozone and the Waves Ltd. "suite" are plugins designed to be used within other programs. (And, actually, Waves has several different combination packages - Waves Gold, Waves Mastering, Waves Renaissance, etc.)

Wavelab, OTOH, is a wave editing/stereo track mastering program and really shouldn't be compared against the other two, since it is a different beast entirely. In fact Wavelab, in combination with the Waves plugins (or even Ozone) is a great combination for mastering your tracks.

On man's opinion: if you can afford Wavelab and the Waves Gold package, go for it. They are both excellent (and they are both expensive!). They are also good enhancements to Sonar for mastering your tracks.

That all said, what are you planning to do with your music? If it's for any serious commercial distribution, you probably should spend your money on better mics and preamps, and send your stuff out for professional mastering.
 
dachay2tnr said:

That all said, what are you planning to do with your music? If it's for any serious commercial distribution, you probably should spend your money on better mics and preamps, and send your stuff out for professional mastering.
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I second that. You'll better get quality mastering done by someone who knows exactly what they're doing for the same price, probably less if your getting the waves gold bundle (surely it was a typo when i saw it for $6000 Australian :))
 
Yes, I have been thinking of simply taking my SONAR tracks to a pro sutdio and get it mastered there :D
 
I recently picked up T-Racks 24 mastering software, it is a stand-alone mastering station. Pretty cool if you dig analog mastering, it nails the sound of some of the gear I remember from my studio days.

www.t-racks.com
 
First, I hear from a friend that although Ozone stuff sounds great, it is really hoggish of CPU time - although, for mastering you're only normally talking two tracks, so no big deal with any recent computer.

However, I personally have been trying to design a studio that can also be used for mastering, off and on for the last 10-12 years - conclusion: build tracking and mixing rooms, leave serious mastering to people like Ludwig and Doug Sax (if you can afford them), but even those guys will be much cheaper than building anything similar to what they use. Hell, just their speakers cost around $100k, not to mention the "perfect" room - Any doubts, read everything you find at digido.com and buy Master Handbook of Acoustics, read all that twice, and try to meet all the criteria for an accurate listening scenario. If you accomplish it, please let me know. Odds are you just haven't studied enough to know what you don't know. Or, maybe I'm just stupid... Steve
 
amt7565 said:
Yes, I have been thinking of simply taking my SONAR tracks to a pro sutdio and get it mastered there :D
Click to expand...

I'd be very interested in hearing how this goes. I myself am a Sonar 2XL user. I've been learning how to home master using Sound Forge and Wavelab.
I'd love to know how that works out if you wouldn't mind sending me a PM or something.
 
SluiCe.
OK man I will! But it will be another 3 months before I am done. I am done with 4 tracks. I need another 4. The Music sounds very nice and I don't want to ruin it by learning "mastering" with this music. So I will take it and have it mastered. Hopefully I will get an affordable rate since all that needs to be done is mastering and mixing.

Post me your contact email or something and I will email you!
 
Hi amt...I'd be mostly interested in the process of how they master the Sonar tracks...ie, mixdown to wave file? etc...because I'm considering doing the same thing..I'm at the same stage. If you wanna hear some if it, it's at www.nowhereradio.com/sluice/singles. "Dry" and "Rhythms" are the 2 most recent. Not trying to spam ya or anything, just thought you might like to here some other un-"mastered" Sonar projects!

you can email me at tgagne1@yahoo.com if you think of it to tell me how it goes at the mastering house.
Thanks!
 
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