IK Multimedia is having a special on their T-RackS Standard mastering suite, and I was wondering if anyone here uses it and can give some opinions? Do you like it? How does it compare to some of the other mastering suites out there?

http://www.ikmultimedia.com/shop/index.php?REQ=SHOWPROD&PRID=T-RackS_3_Standard

In a mastering suite, I am particularly concerned about the mastering limiter, as I have been searching for a good and affordable one for quite a while now. How is the Classic Multi-band Limiter that is included in the T-RackS Standard? Is it a good, transparent limiter to use at the final stage of the Mastering chain? Does multi-band have advantages over traditional, single band brickwall limiters?

Thanks in advance.

T-racks is more geared for rock and metal genre. There not transparent at all. You want a transparent limiter at the end of your mastering stage. T-racks is not that.

As far as the multiband limiter, its very rarely used in mastering. Same goes for multiband compressors.

Cj

CJaysMusic


T-racks is more geared for rock and metal genre. There not transparent at all. 

I couldn't disagree more.  They are great for any style music.  I use them on rock, acoustic and orchestral music regularly and they are superb.  I do agree that they are not transparent.  The are modeled on vintage gear and are not supposed to be transparent but in no way does that mean they are geared for rock and metal.  They are designed for and work great in all genres. 

Thats your opinion and thats my opinion. I think they suck for all the other genres, except for rock and metal.

What they're showing in the link, when you hit "More Info", is TrackS3 Deluxe, and that ain't $29.

You want TrackS Deluxe.

Just sayin'...

T

CJaysMusic


T-racks is more geared for rock and metal genre. 
Cj

I highly disagree with this. I use them all the time and I make mostly R&b, Electro Pop, Soul, and hip hop. I play with Dubstep and Trance. I use the T Racks stuff all the time. 

I know many people in the electronica/hip hop scene using T-Racks. 

If you're after "warmth", aka distortion, they may be just what you need. As dynamic processors, I do find them pretty average however. I'll sound like an heretic, but I think the old golden compressor is still the best compressor IK has to offer. Yes, better than the Black and White ones. But that's just me.

So it's not so much a matter of genre - anything that you think could benefit from a bit of warmth if it's something you find desirable, T-Racks will cover.

As for the limiters, I've heard good things about them - one of my pal doing techno swears by the Limiter, even if he owns all the Waves and UAD stuff - but I haven't really put them to the test, and I don't do mastering.

If I had less than $75 to spend on a good compressor and EQ, I'd grab Waves Musician Bundle 2 while it's on sale - which includes Renaissance Comp and EQ - or Focusrite's Midnight Bundle. 

As for Linear EQs, I have one that's even more flexible bundled w/ my DAW software, so I have no use for T-Racks EQs (though the Pultec is nice.)

Not that T-Racks is bad, and at this price it's quite a bargain. But to me, it's more geared toward giving people looking for that elusive "glue" what they want. If you really want to shape your mix - not just glue it - I think there are better tools - including some that come bundled w/ Sonar.


EDIT - Again, I'm talking about mixing, not mastering. 

Just to clarify, I don't to much rock or metal... I do mostly hip-hop, R&b, and electropop.

Also, the single most important aspect in a mastering suite for me is the limiter. I NEED a good, transparent loudness maximizer to compete with today's commercial tracks heard on the radio (not that I necessarily think louder is better, but that's a different topic). So of course, my main concern with T-RackS Standard is the Multiband Compressor.

I was actually considering getting TB Barricade, as I've heard good things about it, but I figured it might be worth paying an extra $10 and getting the T-RackS since it comes with more stuff. But again, Limiter is most important.

I use the T-Racks Brickwall Limiter on all of my projects, and it works perfectly i.e. totally transparent until you drive it really hard - and I mean REALLY hard

I downloaded demo versions of T-RackS 3 and Ozone 5.  For my use (mainly traditional country) Ozone won.