Mastering, which one ?

Hi
I already have T-Racks deluxe, and was thinking of buying Ozone 5, I haven't really got into T-Racks
or used it a lot, I even bought the Groove Three video, mastering with T-Racks, I'm a hobbyist, and I suppose I'm
looking for presets that will help me get a decent finished product, and yes I know a lot of you out there will say, well you have
to study for years, buy all the books, have the correct monitors, a treated room etc. But hey, at the end of the day
I finish work, come home, and a few days of the week, sit down in my little studio, and write some songs.
So basically what I'm saying is, I'm not looking for a commercial release sound, I know I'll never get that, but 
something I can be happy with, and something I can stick on the end, to glue together and enhance my sound, Is Ozone 5
what I'm looking for ?

Thanks
John

YOu can get Mastering quality finished music with T-Racks 3 deluxe.

what I'd recommend is to complement your plugins with some knowledge and read the Ozone Mastering guide. It's considered an industry standard in education on the subject.

even a novice can benefit from the information as its well presented.

http://izotope.fileburst.com/guides/Mastering_With_Ozone.pdf

Its informaation is generic so you don't need to have Ozone to get the value of the information.

take it your a mastering engineer ??? linear phase

If you already have T-racks deluxe then you have everything you need to make quality masters.

Every module has its own set of presets which you can use (as a starting point only!!) to get you going.

Each & every song will require different settings unless they were all tracked by the same musicians using the same equpiment in the same room

I  downloaded demo version of both T RacksS and Ozone 5.  For my uses, Ozone 5 won.

BTW, I have forced myself to use nothing but the plugs in Sonar for complete projects just to get familiar with their functions. The result was I could still get a very satisfying sound, even mastering. You have a lot of horse power under the hood in Sonar. Don't sell it short.

Sidroe


BTW, I have forced myself to use nothing but the plugs in Sonar for complete projects just to get familiar with their functions. The result was I could still get a very satisfying sound, even mastering. You have a lot of horse power under the hood in Sonar. Don't sell it short.

Truer words have never been written.

I also am a big fan of Ozone but with X1 I have found that Prochannel has a lot of useful modules after you get the add on ones that do a lot toward lifting the load off Ozone. To a degree Ozone 5 is over kill.

John


Linear Phase that is a scary waveform. I guess you never heard of the loudness wars?

.. that's exactly how I learned to make em, when I lived in the United Kingdom..  In London..  Where I learned to produce, mix, master...  I remember specifically...  the producer who showed me..  haha, I will never forgot what he said...  "I like my waveforms fat."

But your alright John, I know cheers mate :-)




The image above is zoom all the way out...

The image below is zoom quite a way in





  Edit = as you can see, from this image here at the bottom..  There's actually quite a bit of room in there...  you can fit a whole bunch of fun people in that wave form..  Where are my glowsticks?  

With all the flat tops on the waves.... zooming in shows it to still be slammed up against the ceiling somewhat... 

It's too easy to over crank the compression and end up with a shaved top like you show..... go for something like this. Notice the peaks are tamed and pretty much all in the same general area but nothing hits the ceiling and nothing gets shaved off. 




OR... better yet... cut back on the compression overall even more and have a beauty like this to behold.





that one has HUGE dynamic range and while it does hit the ceiling 8 times total.... it sounds good... this one BTW is on my soundclick page. Have a listen to it. It's called Sad Goodbye....  http://soundclick.com/share.cfm?id=10369122



ADD: I use Ozone

Guitarhacker I'm very glad you posted that. I was thinking of doing the same but yours is well done and I don't have to. LOL

I am reminded of jazz recordings that look a lot like the second one.

But even classic rock has the same look more or less. I should say well recorded and mastered music has that look. If we think of recording as a container we don't have to fill it to the brim. What filling it to the brim does is give the listener irritation and fatigue.

I just found that waveform on juno...   its not like I am, "totally alone."

Johnathan.... it is possible to get a non-clipped wave and have it be as loud as it needs to be. 

Compression is just one tool to get you there BUT.... using too much compression will remove all the dynamics from the song and the listener ends up with ear fatigue from the constant continuously high levels with no relief. 

It took me a while to get the formula close to right... keep dynamics and still be radio ready with the levels. 

Generally, my first few drafts will look like the wave you show..... shaved tops, but in the tracking and mixing stages that is OK.... and yeah.... I have put out more than one song with shaved tops.... no shame in that. 

Now that you've heard a song that has dynamic range and no clipped/shaved tops and still is loud enough to rock...... you have defined your next goal for your own music. I'll be watching and waiting. 

Linear Phase

John


Guitarhacker I'm very glad you posted that. I was thinking of doing the same but yours is well done and I don't have to. LOL

I am reminded of jazz recordings that look a lot like the second one.

But even classic rock has the same look more or less. I should say well recorded and mastered music has that look. If we think of recording as a container we don't have to fill it to the brim. What filling it to the brim does is give the listener irritation and fatigue.

Unfortunately, "for society, and the betterment of listening to great audio," you are correct on that..   Yes my track is, "loud." and fighting in the, "loudness war."   I don't have a good argument for that...  Mines a soldier of volume..   for better or worse..  I'm afraid I'm outed there 

I hope you don't think we or I am putting you down. That was not my intention.

I don't get the need to make a record as loud as is possible. All play back devices have a volume control. If a listener needs it loud its a simple thing to turn it up. But when it so compressed in order to get that loudness all dynamics die a dirty death. Its unnatural to the human ear and will either harm one's hearing or make one turn it down. Either way it becomes unlistenable. 

Its not your fault for doing that. Its what most people are used to.  But if you let yourself listen to other types of music you may find it inspiring how non compressed music can go to the soul directly.

I have no doubt that your song sounds good to you but what if it could sound better? Let it breath and you may be surprised how good it can sound.

"Guitarhacker"


Johnathan.... it is possible to get ......... tops and still is loud enough to rock...... you have defined your next goal for your own music. I'll be watching and waiting.

Ok, no worries :-)

"synkrotron"

Oh, here's Setting Sun by Chemical Brothers

Awesome! :-)  and Meshuggah omg!! :-)

Thanks

"John"
I hope you don't think we or I am putting you down. That was not my intention

Your good, no worries, will do

Linear Phase

and Meshuggah omg!! :-) 

Yeah, I'm listening to a lot of Meshuggah at the moment, especially Catch Thirty Three and Koloss.


But I also love listening to Porcupine Tree, amongst many many others.


Depends on what "mood" I'm in