Hey everyone!  It's my first time mastering, I'm going to use Ozone 7 Advanced.  I just finished mixing my project and I want to know what everyone's process is to get a project ready for mixing?  Specifically I'm asking, do you mix it down to a two track mix?  What settings do you use to do this?  And what specific steps do you take in cakewalk to do this?  I hope I'm being clear and thanks for the help.  
 
I guess I'm confused on exactly how to take my mix to a two track mix or if I even need to?  

I mix each of my songs down to a stereo mix.
Import all mixes into a "mastering project."
Route all to a Buss, which then goes to a Master.
Put a LP EQ, Compressor, and Spectrum Analyser in the Buss FX Bin.  
For the first audio track, I set the FX to suit the track as best I can (can't give settings, that depends on the audio track).  Then I'll save those settings as a preset in the effect, and move on to the next song.  As each song gets the EQ and Compressor settings how I want them, i'll often revert back to one of the previous tracks in the project and adjust the settings, resaving the preset settings for that track.
When I've got each song in the project sounding like a cohesive unit, I'll just use the dropdowns in each effect to apply the specific settings to that song, and Export.

Thank you so much!  This is good stuff!  How do you mix your project down to a two track mix?  

Step 1......Listen

Rhytenow
Thank you so much!  This is good stuff!  How do you mix your project down to a two track mix?  

I get all the levels set to where the project sounds good (automation, eq, fx, volume) and then Export All to a WAV file.  Aiming for a -6db level, which leaves 6db of headroom for mastering changes.
 
There are lots of resources on how to mix:  Bobby Owsinski's "The Mixing Engineer's Handbook" is popular.  I found David Gibson's "The Art Of Mixing" to be helpful.

Thanks again!  

In addition to the above, Ozone 7 Advanced can be run in stand-alone mode, so 2-track pre-masters are needed to use that way. It also prevents fiddling with the mix and allows for multiple songs to be mastered to each other. Not that this is better, but isolating mastering from mixing is often helpful.

I get the mix as 'done' as possible in Sonar. I like to mix old school with sub groups. So I'll typically have a drum buss with all percussion going there. Often I'll set up a sub for bass and kick drums. Guitars get a buss. Keys get one or more buss' depending on content and voices get a buss. Compression and eq happen at the individual channel level and often also at the buss level (generally gentle settings). I almost never apply any kind of processing on the master buss.
 
For levels I shoot for loudest peaks at about -3dB and average level somewhere in the neighborhood of -6dB to not less than -10dB. At that point the project gets exported to 24 bit wave.
 
Sonar is closed and those waves are then loaded into Ozone. What happens next depends on the song but most of the time I end up with the standard 3 signal path of EQ>Multi-Comp>Maximizer Limiter plus dither. Each song is exported to 16 bit wave and/or mp3 and then I do my listening checks on multiple systems.

What happens next depends on what happened in the listening checks. Sometimes I go back to Sonar and tweak the mix>export>Ozone master>Listen check. Sometimes making adjustments in Ozone is enough. 

Here's an alternate process: I master in-place, in the project, rather than exporting a full mix and mastering in a separate program. This has one big advantage, which is being able to go back into the mix to correct problems that become apparent after mastering.
 
During mastering, you may become aware of issues that weren't previously obvious, such as excessive reverb or frequency imbalances. Addressing these in mastering is a kludge at best. It's always better to go back into the mix and fix those problems there. Having your mastering chain active whilst making those changes immediately lets you know if you're doing something right or just making things worse.
 
I use Ozone Advanced about 50% of the time, with FabFilter Pro-L being my primary alternative. Lately, I've been experimenting with Adaptive Limiter, which is proving itself to be a viable third choice. Often, Ozone is in there even when I'm not using its limiter, because I like its other modules.
 
My default preset is Dynamics -> Equalizer -> Exciter -> Imager -> Maximizer, all disabled with neutral settings.
 
I start with the EQ module, initially rolling off the extreme low end at 20 to 30 Hz. I always use the EQ module in critical-band mode, looking for obvious dips and peaks that might require mediation. If I find that more than 2 bands or adjustments greater than 2 dB are needed for correction, or if any of the corrections are narrow, then I dive back into the mix to see why that is, and attempt to fix it there.
 
Once I'm happy with the overall EQ, I next enable the Exciter. This is a dangerous module, because small movements can make everything immediately seem to sound better. But you're actually adding harshness whether you know it or not. Later on, you may become unhappy with the final master - if that happens, revisit the Exciter first and see if more conservative settings don't improve things. You get the biggest bang for the buck in the first and last bands. Band 2 will usually either have no excitation or will be set to a very low Amount, e.g. 1%.
 
Next is the Imager module, setting the first crossover to between 240 and 250 Hz and dropping the first band's Width slider to -100. Band 2 is either disabled or set to 5%, band 3 starts around 1.5 KHz and is set to 20-25, band 4 starts between 8 and 10 KHz and is set slightly higher. These are aggressive settings, just so I can hear the effect, but I usually back them off later. I do not use the Stereoize feature except in rare cases, e.g. solo acoustic guitar or piano.
 
Dynamics would come next, if used at all. I realize I'm running contrary to popular wisdom, but I am not a fan of master bus compression. To my mind, needing it is indicative of a failure in the mix process. Folks talk about "glue", to which I say "bah". It's a crutch for when you're in a hurry, an acceptable shortcut for professionals who are paid by the hour. As an amateur, I have the luxury of taking as long as I want for the mix, and I know I'm on the right track when the mix glues itself.
 
Lastly, the Maximizer. I start by setting the Ceiling. For aggressive rock, which is not my usual genre, I'll set it to -0.1 dB. More typically, it'll be -0.5 or -1.0 dB for clean stuff, and as low as -3.0 dB for jazz and classical. Again, I am bucking the popular trend here, but technically-speaking if your ultimate target is an MP3, you really should have that headroom.
 
It's worth experimenting with the modes. Everybody assumes IRC IV must be the best because it has the highest number and came along last. That's not necessarily true. Sometimes IRC I or IRC 2 works really well, although I'll admit that I'm most likely to end up using IRC III Balanced or IRC IV Modern. If the piece is very percussive, IRC IV Transient.
 
Character depends on the style and genre of the music. For my stuff, I usually stay between Smooth and Transparent. I keep the Stereo Link at 0% (again, contrary to popular practice). I'll try the Transient Emphasis to see if it helps, but it usually doesn't so I usually turn it off or use a low setting. As with the Dynamics module, Transient Emphasis is a crutch that shouldn't be needed in a good mix.
 
Finally, I bring up both SPAN and Insight and watch them as I adjust the Maximizer's Threshold slider. Because I'm not mastering for radio, I set Insight's loudness target to -14 or -13 and pull down the Threshold until I've found a nice compromise between the quiet parts being loud enough and the loud parts being quiet enough.
 
Keep in mind that all of the above are my personal preferences, and will not be suitable for everyone. If your genre is Hip Hop or EDM, forget everything I just said. 
 
 

It really depends if it's a single track or an album.
 
For a single track, I'll do my mastering on the master bus. This is usually small EQ and compression moves, and a limiter.
 
For an album, I'll export each song as a 24-bit mixdown, peaks shouldn't be above -6 dB to leave room for mastering. Then import each song into its own track in a new Sonar session. Apply small EQ and compression to each track as needed for consistency across the tracks. Limiter to each to set final volumes.
 
Also, don't forget to use reference tracks to work against.
 
I wrote an article about a mastering job I recently completed here: http://neelmodi.com/loud-...enough-mastering-work/