Ozone 4 vs. Multimaximizers ... on the Master Buss

Well, I hope to get your opinions ... on your present mastering pearls (again) ... so I thought I'd share a thing or 2, fwiw.
 
 
like Sonar 8.5.3 64bit (perhaps X1 in the near future) seems poised for 'the-future-of-producing',
 
I believe Ozone 4 may be 'king-of-the-mountain' for mastering ... for me ... in 2011.
 
I gave the Waves 32-bit VSTs a thorough beating (L1, L2, all the LL-Ultramaximizers, Multimaximizers, etc.) and recompared to Ozone 4. 
 
In 3 days, While I learned a lot from the Waves VSTs ...
 
... they actually taught me to relish Ozone much more (at my intermediate level).  Albeit, I suppose I may change my mind later, as I tinker more and more. 
 
Ozone 4 gave my ears greater timbre/transient clarity in the low end for snappy kick drums ... something I couldn't get (at all) with the Waves 32-bit stuff (yet). 
 
The Volume maximizer in 64-bit Ozone is becoming my reasonable standard for polishing my mixes ... the default release setting "smooth" gives a great release for timbre-clarithy of 'loud' pomp mixes.
 
Again, I'm hoping to gather some of your thoughts, again, on VSTs that you cherish for mastering and why.

When one reads about Waves L series it's best to have some perspective on it's history.

I think those items opened people eyes to what a look ahead compressor could do.

I know that, coming from the analog world that I had never considered the possibility that a compressor could see into the future and begin reacting before the sound was heard.

That was to me revolutionary. I don't know who invented "look ahead real time" playback but the first time I saw was in Waves L series.

That technology is everywhere now.

So, perhaps you just enjoy Ozone more and there is no reason not to do so.

best regards,
mike

Hey Philip! I've been tempted to get Ozone but for now I use separate plug-ins. Here's my current typical mastering chain (I do like to master within the same Sonar project so if the mastering process points toward tweaks in the mix I can do it in the same place).

* LP64 Linear Phase EQ
* (sometimes) BBE Sonic Maximizer. Used mainly on projects that seem a little dull, and used sparingly. I've read that a "true" mastering engineer would laugh at things like this, but I saw another good argument that those mastering engineers also have a lot of high end equipment and tools at their disposal that most of us don't have, so if using something like an exciter is seen as "cheating" - so be it! I'm about getting results and sometimes this helps me get there.
* Perfect Space reverb. Yes, I put a tough of reverb on the master bus. Some will also take issue with that. But to me a little bit of convolution reverb (usually with a HPF) helps put everything in the same space. My "go to" setting on most projects is the Noisevault Studio Main Room preset and I'll tweak from there.
* Voxengo Elephant limiter. Love it. Very transparent and no pumping.

I also use Voxengo SPAN spectrum analyzer in the chain to help double-check my ears and pin down certain frequency problems. I also just purchased Har-Bal (yes, I'm full of controversial tools! ) and I think it will also be helpful as a reference tool.

Man, you guys are all technical.

I just route my outs into an Arbiter Fuzz Face.

I just route my outs into an Arbiter Fuzz Face.

Q: how many ITB mixers does it take to insert a Fuzz Face?
A: none, that's hardware

I've never heard a "stereo widener" that didn't immeditely piss me off.  They always sound phasey to me.

Interesting comments on the BBE Sonic Maximizer. I never realized (or noticed) that it had anything to do with the stereo field. That's not how they market it (not saying you're wrong, just that they put a different spin on it). If I'm mastering a song and it seems a little dull, I will add it and keep the process level around 10% or less. If it doesn't make it sound better, I remove it. If it made a positive difference, I keep it! I've read comments before (and agree) that there's no point in adding it to a mix that is already great.

Pulling the bass to the center is no problem. It's fiddling with the sides that gets you into trouble.

Stereo wideners often introduce delays that simulate the short delays we subconsciously process in the real world (look up "head transfer function") to perceive a sound's direction. We're talking very short delays (1-10ms) that are not spectrally linear. That translates into phase cancellations when folded to mono.

So Bit, is that why my 15-year daughter prefers listening to her iPod using just one of the crappy ear buds, while her friend listens on the other???

Awesome posts all.  I'm sorry I got bogged down (taxes, computer, songs, etc.) ... before responding.  I did not mean to dis anyone.

I'll research the Voxengo Elephant, Sonic Maximizer, Steven Slate FG-X, and FabFilter Pro-L limiter  ... based on your thoughts ... and will keep my eyes/ears open to 'em.

Bob Katz may convince somewhat with his 'proverbs' and such ... but he really doesn't enlighten me on stereo widening and loudness races ... whose rant seems arbitrary enough, IMHO.

The following may make some sense (pardon my grammar):

Stereo widening (in Ozone4) oft seems to 'sear' a track or mix.  So does increasing extreme panned loudness ... both seem to increase the overall gain as well ... to my ears.

My ears don't do well with the sides enhanced (on the master).  But Hook seemed to explain the fallacy better than I can.  Stereo widening perhaps seems best, IMHO, for Haas Effects, delays, and/or thickening of vocs and guitars ... independently ... with enough delay (32+ msecs) so that phasiness doesn't destroy a vox.

Stereo widening on the master may be a trick to get the highs sounding nastier or something ... but my ears get tired of the searing ... perhaps subconsciously.

Like DLogan, I'll entertain reverb on the master ... but only during sketchy mixes (to fake a sound-stage or plate-verb colorations) ... the Ozone reverb gets bypassed later ... for several 'reasons' (which may/may not be sensible):

1) Master reverb (Ozone's plate especially) somehow goes 'bad' a week later (after I've digested a mix)
2) The 'depth' of my mix seems flattened (less vertical) or something ... perhaps *mushy* or such.
3) The Lexican Plate verb is a fav for my vocs ... to, perhaps, contrast/compliment the ambience convoluted verbs going on ... for double-spaciousness
4) I don't feel comfortable (yet) to mix ambient verbs with plate verbs (at my level)

dlogan


So Bit, is that why my 15-year daughter prefers listening to her iPod using just one of the crappy ear buds, while her friend listens on the other???

Hah, my mate and I used to do this at school listening to Hendrix, every so often we'd swap earphones 'ere, gis a go on the guitar / drums now....'

;-)

Child

This topic interested me alot.

But what is m/s compression?

M/S?