which mastering processor ???

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sol

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Hi, I am thinking of getting a mastering processor, I want to go i/o digitaly and I am on a budget. I am looking at the TC Electronic Finalizer Express which is around £600 or the Behringer
Ultracurve Pro DEQ2496 which is £229. Any ideas. I have heard very mixed things about Behringer but it is a lot cheaper then TC and has a 6 band EQ to the TC's 3. Both have toslink so I could go out of my Korg1600 and straight into the processor then straight out to my CD burner. Any ideas gratefully received
 
Better: have someone master your recordings for you.

Even better: while doing the first choice learn how to do it yourself.

I am not a big fan of the "mastering" module. I'm not a big mastering guy but I can get superior results by hand than those things get.
 
I've never met a "mastering processor" that I didn't want to throw on a pile and set on fire...

Here's the standard semi-cryptic answer:

If you're looking to do quick sweetening runs with your mixes that won't go to a mastering house, go grab one.

If you're trying to learn proper mastering technique, DON'T get one.

Either way, in my opinion, you'd be FAR better off getting a UAD card in a PC.
 
here here

both clone and massive hit it on the head...

the all in one boxes sacrifice many things to fit that much crap in one box.

sitting in on some mastering sessions though may only make you weep at the gear you'll never own. I think you can do some pretty incredible things 'in the box' like massive said, but if you absolutely must have a processor, go call Ms. Manley, tell her what you're looking for, and how many thousands you have to spend ;)

best of luck.

PS behringer is evil. plain and simple.
 
Please don't waste your money Sol. You can go almost as far using the EQ and compression facilities on the Korg, and your ears. The next jump from that is proper mastering skills and gear. The Finaliser is a pointless mid way step and the Behri is just horrible. The advantage of staying in the digital domain is a drop in the bucket compared to the havoc those things will wreak.

Get hold of Bob Katz's Mastering Audio book and you'll be £580 or so richer and immensely better off in your understanding. Many of the techniques he talks about you can do on the Korg.
 
mastering processor

Thanks chaps. My moment of mastering madness has passed. I have always had my stuff properly mastered in the past and that is how it will continue.
Out of interest is there anything worth getting to put between the Korg and the CD burner that would improve a final mix. Thanks again for all your sound advice.
 
sol said:
Hi, I am thinking of getting a mastering processor, I want to go i/o digitaly and I am on a budget. I am looking at the TC Electronic Finalizer Express which is around £600 or the Behringer
Ultracurve Pro DEQ2496 which is £229. Any ideas. I have heard very mixed things about Behringer but it is a lot cheaper then TC and has a 6 band EQ to the TC's 3. Both have toslink so I could go out of my Korg1600 and straight into the processor then straight out to my CD burner. Any ideas gratefully received
Click to expand...

A mastering processor is basically like a swiss army knife, lots of features but not very exceptional at any of them. Additionally it's unlikely that you can use them for multiple functionality like mixing or cutting tracks.

If you plan on doing it yourself, rent the best gear available or buy something that will give you more bang for the buck.

A good mastering engineer provides more than great gear, they provide experience and an objective reference for your material. Those things in and of itself are worth paying for.
 
Hey, I have a dbx Quantum in my rack and I certainly don't have (too) many clients running screaming from the room, hands over their ears...

Granted, I do have some decent mastering gear around it as well, but the Quantum gets a good bit of use.

Let's remember, it's the engineer, not the gear.
 
bblackwood said:
Hey, I have a dbx Quantum in my rack and I certainly don't have (too) many clients running screaming from the room, hands over their ears...

Granted, I do have some decent mastering gear around it as well, but the Quantum gets a good bit of use.

Let's remember, it's the engineer, not the gear.
Click to expand...

Brad -

What do you use it for?

I think the basic issue is that you can't get a complete set of mastering gear in a single box (like the marketing hype might have you believe).

I've found the M-S processing in the finalizer to be useful at times, but I don't use anything else, except maybe the level indicator.
 
Oh, different things, M/S levels, M/S EQ, occasional de-essing via MB, even getting levels up a little before the limiter. Good sounding little box.

Would I want to drag out all my other gear and just use it for mastering? Heck no.

Could I master great sounding records with only that piece! I think so.
 
So you centred the standart mastering hardware of the world.
The Tc 96 finalizer is used by the best mastering engineer of the world..and what a sound!! Do you need exemple?
see http://www.marcussenmastering.com/services/services.html
or http://www.johnvestman.com/index.html

it is sufficent??

yes the express is the little son of the 96k but it can be in the budget.

Another possibility is to use ,as I do now ,for the same price the TC powercore pci card opening masterx3 that is the virtual incarnation of the Tc finalizer... And you will have a little diamond in your pc!!!

(vantage that for the "near" price you buy the virtual finalizer and other fantastic plug)

http://www.tcelectronic.com/PowerCore

I've two powercore in my pc and my mixes changes to heaven..
You can open more than 20 separate reverbs on each track,more than 20 24/7 .. and if you would like to prepare or to do the "mastering while mixing method" you can als open after a deesser and a denoiser and finally the Assimilator plug and after the masterx3 in chain and in live mode!!!
 
bblackwood said:
Oh, different things, M/S levels, M/S EQ, occasional de-essing via MB, even getting levels up a little before the limiter.
Click to expand...
Yummy ! M/S
 
Brad-
Do you work on all projects, or do you have to review and accept them first?

You can pm or email me if you want so I dont hijack this thread too much:)

-H2H
 
At first: I'm NOT a mastering engineer, neither a pro, but my amateur views might also be interesting... If you know a little math, you can get all that M/S magix by yourself by adding and subtracting tracks (reading might help a little when trying to understand mastering)

If you have a decent PC, think of mastering there. You may much easier upgrade to new plugins a.s.o.

If you prefer the hardware way (like I do often), I'd NOT use a TC finalizer express. I don't like these preset machines too much. It may be nice to be able to store your own presets, but...

I own a TC triple C which I like a lot (and a PC with some audio cheapware). You have a three-band comp that may be nice for recording and mixing, too and can add some final EQ a.s.o. afterwards... OTOH, I haven't used the TC for a while in 'mastering'...

I often thought of getting me a quantum/finalizer on ebay - I use multiband compression very often, but I assume that stuff liek the 'simple' waves c4 will do a better job on many mastering compression tasks, as you can use it soft-knee a.s.o. (which the behringer does, too, I know). I'm not too fond of my behringer stuff, so I dunno if I'd use the behringer...


aXel
 
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