Online mastering

Nothing compares to learning about mastering and how to master and setting all these things for yourself.  Not using factory presets in the software either.  Starting from scratch and setting everything according to the track and how it sounds.  Provided you can do so.  Hardware and software will also get you there.  It is all about using the right tools well and making good choices.  This is all better to me than sending something off and just having an automated process applied.  I think you need some fine tuning input instead. Things like listening to amazing references and switching back to your track.  Comparing all the tracks in a CD for texture and sound etc.. You have to do that.
 
I have used some fine hardware for mastering.  EQ's costing $5000 and the best stereo outboard compressors and limiters.  These things have slowly moved inside the digital realm and many mastering engineers are not shy about using software to do the job. There is some incredible stuff out there now.  More, and what that means is you can alter your mastering chain now more diversely.
 
I have mastered some albums and bought some tools and I am happy I did.  Things like PSP Xenon for limiting and some really nice EQ's and compressors.  C2 type or API2500 or Neve multi band etc..  Things with character and some mojo.  Others transparent and accurate.  Consoles and tape and entered the realm again too.  They can be included in the mastering chain easily. They can pay for themselves too. 

I think that learning how to master makes one a better mixer because it becomes much clearer how much better a mix can be if it is good before mastering. Trying to kick the can down the road by "fixing it in the mix" or "the master will be better" hardly ever makes a track stand out.
 
Now, I'm certainly not suggesting that we can all become excellent mastering engineers, but understanding the process and being able to use those techniques helps all around.
 
Regards,
Dan

Is there a half-decent studio nearby?
I paid a pro to mix/master my last album, and learned a lot by sitting and watching/listening.  It cost more than an online service, but it was an education (as well as getting a product that will hold up against anything else similar on the market).

We had a blind listening test here awhile back using the same mix mastered in Landr, someone on the Cakewalk team using Sonar, and a professional mastering studio.
 
We had a vote on the results. It was amazing to me the difference in personal preferences . I thought I could tell which one was mastered in the pro studio. I was correct, however it wasn't a night and day kind of difference. They all sounded good. It was a split on which ones sounded the best.
 
I think we can do as well or better than LANDR or any of the other automatic mastering houses. LANDR doesn't know what your personal preferences in a master are.
 
A few things that helped me were reading this forum and looking at mastering chains the pros use. Even if I use a different plugin and duplicate something they did in hardware with software those chains can be really helpful. Once you figure that out , you'll need to understand each plugin and use it to the fullest potential for your application.
Sometimes a minimalist approach is better than adding a bunch of plugins. The mix might need more subtraction than addition.You won't need everything for every mix. 
Programs like Ozone and TRacks can be great tools, but I seldom use the presets exactly as they are.
One thing I love about Ozone 7 is it allows you to put any plug in into it and demos in mp3 mode. This is really helpful, since pretty much everything ends up as AAC or Mp3 online.
 

You can get around some minor acoustics issues with monitor correction software, and/or a little studio treatment. I personally like to get into my own mastering.
 
I understand it isn't for everyone.There is a bit of education involved and some of it is ongoing.Some people just don't have the time to do all of it.
 
LANDR or similar will be better than trying to master it if you feel ill equipped. The nice thing about daws though is we can make as many copies as our hard drives will allow. IOW we can afford to experiment.
 
There are also those "special sauce" plug ins like the most recent from IK and the ones by Waves.They don't tell you what happens under the hood, but they can be helpful. The presets in Ozone are sometimes what those without much experience use and they can be decent all depending. 
 
It's nice to have options available.
 
If you have a bad monitoring setup though, it can be tough to recognize a good master when you hear it.
 
 
 
 

The plug-ins I use in my final mastering chain are not always for enhancement, they're for monitoring and judging the levels coming in and out of my speakers. 
 
I may use a Goniometer or correlation meter to judge the phase of the audio, sometimes raising the volume and metering that aspect lets you know where to tighten up or de-emphasise certain aspects. Like a wide stereo reverb, that may benefit from gating at the lower levels for example.
 
Plug-ins I use vary from project to project. However I do have go to plug-ins.
 
VSL  Suite Multiband
UAD Precision Multiband
UAD Precison Limiter
Waves J37 Tape
SSL G Compressor
 
No particular rhyme or reason. I like what they do.
 
 

I just know if I could do better if my sound image was correct. So i'm just not banging my head against a wall metaphorically. 

Pre mastered mixes do not have to be crushed.  That is something that manual mastering can accomplish that probably automated mastering cannot.  I can take a -20 dB FS rms premastered mix and bring up to -8 dB rms if I wanted to.  But in stages and carefully.  Trying to slam whole -20 mix up by say 12 db in one process is not actually possible and still sound great.  With the automated processes it may possible but it sounds terrible usually in the making.
 
If I am wanting a very loud master there is nothing wrong with creating a slightly louder pre master.  K System -12 is a good level for this.  (this can involve some form of stereo buss compression too, but not heavy, just conditioning) But if I am not sure if I want a -12 pre master then I can go for a lower unmastered mix such as -20 and do the work to bring it up later. 
 
Automated mastering may require a different premaster level perhaps.  Only experimentation will tell.  There are still so many deficiencies with automated mastering though compared to detail ears driven manual mastering.  Don't confuse the two.  They are nothing alike.  As long as you are referring to automated mastering processes.  Careful manual mastering is in a class of its own.  Especially when it comes to transforming a transient and delicate -20 mix into a wall slamming monster.  And still sound great and punchy. 
 
There is less need to be pushing to super high levels.  Maybe the automated mastering processes are already behind the times.  The streaming sites will turn them down in the end and make them sound whimpy.  There is a balance point.  e.g. A -14 dB FS rms master hits the almost perfect -16 LUFS spot which is much more in the ball park now with many streaming services. 
 
There are have been numerous articles on this subject.  Especially a featured one in Sound on Sound recently.  The trick is the various streaming sites all have slightly different approaches to levelling out music.  You almost have to master for them individually.  Some software mastering plugins now incorporate different streaming algorithms. And let you hear them in advance now too inside your DAW.  Do some research in this area in order to improve how your music sounds in these environments.  Instead of sending tracks off to some random automated mastering service where have no idea what they are actually doing to your music.
 
Upload the finished file somewhere from one or some of these services and I will open it up in some detailed editing software.  I can tell if it is mastered well or not. 
 
A really great mix will master very well and it always comes back a step to getting that mix sounding great and well balanced in the first place.  Just the right amount of energy across the spectrum.  Keep the bass under control too.   You can master your own mixes, you just need a week off between the two processes that is all.  In fact if you are mastering your own mix you can bring a level of mixing detail into a mix with mastering in mind.  But you don't do it on the same day at the same time though.