Is it worth paying for mastering?

Hi,
I would very much appreciate some opinions regarding professional mastering.
 
On HS7 XL, I run the final mix of each song through Boost 11 and adjust the EQ using Sonitus. This constitutes my final "mastering" and it gives me a pretty good result, given the budget recording equipment, lack of ability etc! However, I have now finished my "album", and as I've spent so much time on it over the years I wondered if it was worth getting it professionally mastered.
 
I've tried 4 of these online free samples (sending them my unboosted and uneq'd mixes so I could compare with my "masters") and so far 2 were awful, 1 was difficult to tell if there was any difference, and 1 was slightly better when listened to on good quality stereo.
 
What are other people's experiences? Did you think it was worth it?
Thanks

Kalle Rantaaho


I believe the consensus here more or less is that if your stuff is (at least) close to a pro-quality what comes to recording (doesn't need to be close to TOP quality pro), performance and mixing it's worth it to give it to a professional engineer for mastering, if you intend to distribute it commercially.

I agree with Kalle.
If I was doing this for profit, i'd hire (and pay for) a mastering engineer.  Maybe not online, as there are a couple of good local people, but if they're not available I'd research and pay for quality.
 
I master myself, using Sony CD Architect, as I'm doing it for pleasure.  I can pretty much get the tracks where I want them, but for mass consumption i'd have to hire someone better than myself.
 
PS.  There are much better tools for mastering than just Boost11 and Sonitus EQ.  I'd be surprised if anyone was able to smooth out a track with just those tools.

Like you, I try to do a little mastering on my own tracks using the tools you have + Ozone4. I dont know what kind of money you have but to put that much work into your whole album over the years I would give it the respect it deserves, you cannot compete with a proper mastering studio in terms of equipment, acoustics and most importantly a trained/experienced ear (even a third perspective your too close to your music). Get a few recommendations (online/studio) and then ring them,ask them for advice on YOUR tracks and if they need to be mixed differently from your end and then make sure you get a discount for all your tracks!
 
The minute I can produce a track that I think has potential I ll get it properly mastered.

Cian

Once again, thank you for your posts. It's always nice to get encouragement to spend a bit of extra cash!
I'll have a look at T-Racks and Ozone too, because I am aware that Boost 11 is essentially a gimmick, it's just that I was speaking in relative terms, eg the difference between using it and not using it is quite marked. I wasn't comparing it to any kind of real mastering!
Thanks again for answering my questions.