mastering plug ins

[harpo111]

What is your fav mastering plug in to use in Reaper? I am looking for another one. Up until I just rebuilt my DAW I was exporting the final mix to Tracktion and using the Accuma Final Mix plugin suite...great plug. But I don't believe it will work on my Reaper...Mackie kinda locked it into Tracktion. I dled a free java powered one (AudioMasteringSuite)...which seems pretty simple. Any thoughts...don't really want to reinstall T2 and have to export stuff. Would rather do it all in house.
k

[SaulT]

ReaEQ, ReaComp, Ferric TDS, and the rbj1073 js plugin.

[tgraph]

http://www.tokyodawn.net/tokyo-dawn-labs/

https://vladgsound.wordpress.com/

https://varietyofsound.wordpress.com/

3 good sites for free high quality plug ins that work well in mastering, imo

[Magicbuss]

Here's a fairly comprehensive list of good free mastering plugins and apps

http://bedroomproducersblog.com/2013...ring-software/

[thequietroom]

audiodeluxe.com has a good deal on T Racks deluxe

I tried a few modules in t racks and I liked them (demo with custom shop-free)... but i still got better results using limitor no 6 for dynamics and loudness

Slickeq for some subtle color EQ

EZmix2 for some tape simulation and stereo width

I just bought acon equalize so I will try that on next master

Reaper has stereo width plug that is good also

I dont use the tape simultion on everythign so basically I use limiter6 its really awesome for dynamics and loudness. T Racks and span for metering


I only work on my own mixes so I try not to leave anything fancy for master processing.. I don't even eq if I can get what I need by rebalancing the the mix.

[Refillable]

Originally Posted by tgraph

http://www.tokyodawn.net/tokyo-dawn-labs/

https://vladgsound.wordpress.com/

https://varietyofsound.wordpress.com/

3 good sites for free high quality plug ins that work well in mastering, imo

Agree. Limiter no6 by Vlad is killer.

[richie43]

Originally Posted by Refillable

Agree. Limiter no6 by Vlad is killer.

Great limiter, as is everything from Vlad, TDR, and Bootsy. But my ears say that these are too colorful for "mastering", not transparent at all. Just my opinion, of course.

[Judders]

Voxengo MSED for M/S widening (not on every project).

ToneBoosters' Barricade for limiting.

Everything else is done in mixing.

[future fields]

i am thinking of getting tonebossters Barricade + Reelbus for my "ITB mastering"

for freeware, i like this chain

tdr kotelnikov
tdr slick eq
vladg limiter 6

[citizenkeith]

I mainly use ReaEQ, Fabfilter Pro Q2, Tokyo Dawn Kotelnikov and Limiter No6. But it depends on the source material and the tonality that I want to impart (or not impart).

[bladerunner]

It's also worth remembering that there is no such thing as a 'mastering' plugin. You can master using any plugin you like. There's nothing wrong with using Reacomp, Reaeq and any free limiter. You can use as transparent or as colourful a plugin as you like - all depends on what the master requires.

[Lord Marceaux de Champs]

I am pretty surprised no one having written WAVES plugins yet,
you get best results in short time and WAVES is known
for not having hundreds of sliders and knobs, very ease to use
and very efficient.

[beingmf]

Originally Posted by bladerunner

It's also worth remembering that there is no such thing as a 'mastering' plugin. You can master using any plugin you like. There's nothing wrong with using Reacomp, Reaeq and any free limiter. You can use as transparent or as colourful a plugin as you like - all depends on what the master requires.

What he said ^.

[Aeolian]

8 instances of LoudMax ... chained in series ... with each instance hitting -12dB GR


Seriously though, ReaFIR + LoudMax

[serstickman]

PSP's mastering compressor ftw

http://www.pspaudioware.com/plugins/...sp_mastercomp/

[Fergler]

Originally Posted by Lord Marceaux de Champs

I am pretty surprised no one having written WAVES plugins yet,
you get best results in short time and WAVES is known
for not having hundreds of sliders and knobs, very ease to use
and very efficient.

Someone's suckin the corporate cock

[Lord Marceaux de Champs]

Originally Posted by Fergler

Someone's suckin the corporate cock

Sorry, but I think this needs some more explanation, Sir ?

[MisterBerniman]

Hahaha...

I used Waves. Sure U can get thing good quickly! BUT, they do the job 4 U and when U get some experiences in mixing U want to expermient things but Waves cannot do that and Reaper has some trick to accomplish whatever U want to achieve.
U can do parallel processing, combine them into folder track or use the pin table to split ur signal and so on....And the Rea plugs are sufficient to get some tricky things....

Sure it would be nice to have a grid like the routing grid to rout the signal in the VST within a track??But

[plamuk]

sometime's i'm afraid i'll never understand mastering.

[thequietroom]

Originally Posted by Lord Marceaux de Champs

I am pretty surprised no one having written WAVES plugins yet,
you get best results in short time and WAVES is known
for not having hundreds of sliders and knobs, very ease to use
and very efficient.

a lot of mastering is done using waves plugins.. its the rest of your statement thats hard to understand.. the bit about best results and knobs etc..

What waves plugins are you referring to?

[thequietroom]

Originally Posted by MisterBerniman

Hahaha...

I used Waves. Sure U can get thing good quickly! BUT, they do the job 4 U and when U get some experiences in mixing U want to expermient things but Waves cannot do that and Reaper has some trick to accomplish whatever U want to achieve.
U can do parallel processing, combine them into folder track or use the pin table to split ur signal and so on....And the Rea plugs are sufficient to get some tricky things....

Sure it would be nice to have a grid like the routing grid to rout the signal in the VST within a track??But

haven't seen the waves plug that does the job for you.. but if you wan't the job done for you by the computer you can always try LANDR drag and drop from tunecore

I wouldnt call it mastering, but you can "process" it... which is all your describing with the way you used waves..

[Lord Marceaux de Champs]

Originally Posted by MisterBerniman

Hahaha...

I used Waves. Sure U can get thing good quickly! BUT, they do the job 4 U and when U get some experiences in mixing U want to expermient things but Waves cannot do that and Reaper has some trick to accomplish whatever U want to achieve.
U can do parallel processing, combine them into folder track or use the pin table to split ur signal and so on....And the Rea plugs are sufficient to get some tricky things....

Sure it would be nice to have a grid like the routing grid to rout the signal in the VST within a track??But

There is too much rumor and kind of mystic secrets about mastering or final mixing, but all you want in the end is to have a good and loud mix depending on music style, and Waves is much more efficient than most plugins I know, I do not intend to say that Reaper plugins are bad or something. I like to have things done quickly and efficient, time is money !

What´s so difficult about me saying Waves plungins have little knobs and sliders?, just have a look are RBass, one of the most used and imitated plugins, look at RBass and you will know what I mean.

[thequietroom]

Originally Posted by nym

sometime's i'm afraid i'll never understand mastering.

Yep.. the funny thing is, the proccessing of the audio.. what plugins.. how to meter.. mid-side tricks.. multiband compression etc.. isn't really the hard part IMO..all that stuff can be learned by reading etc..

Its being able to listen to the mix and know what it needs to make it pop before you start processing that is the hard part. Once you know what the goal is its probably not all that hard to use the processing to achieve it.

I'm pretty much still just shooting for loudness without destruction, balance and maybe some width... my ears are just not that good to really come up with a creative plan when processig my mix. If I start doing other stuff its usually fiddling with processors hoping something cool happens.. im willing to bet thats not the approach for pro ME's.

I try to keep the goals simple now..

[rjwillow]

I've been "pseudo-mastering" my mixes a little more than 1/2 way into the mix process. Saves me a little time and the results are pretty good.
I have a template that has everything I would possibly need on my 2 buss and I start kicking them in once I have a basic mix. Usually right before diving deeper into vocals..
On the Buss I have:
ReaEQ- Just a hipass and a few common notches preset. This is active from the start of the mix.
Ferric TDS- Set to "mix Glue" with a few tweaks.
Then I have 3 Comps to choose from: All set to shave 1-2db from the music only (no vocal)
TDR Feedback Comp II- "glue" with tweaks
Kotelnkov- "Punchy" with tweaks
SSL by antress- 1-2db then I turn the M/S more towards the Mids until I get a little more action
GMonoBass- set at 120cycles (for more electronic stuff)
Baxter EQ- Set to "analog balance" with the sides turn up one notch
Thrillseeker VBL- Set to "LA sweet Spot" Stereo link off and turn down comp to get 1db GR. Just adds fatness. Don't want to use it... But I miss it when it's gone...
ReaXComp- I have a basic 7 or 8 bands preset that I move around after reading the mix with SPAN
Limiter No. 6- Not hitting hard at all. limiting to 2.1db and high limiting -2.5 Protection at -1db just in case. No clipping at all.
Voxengo SPAN- last thing on the buss to see how things are going.
That's a lot of stuff... I know... But it doesn't all get used all the time. And what is working is not working hard at all.
I get mixes that peak at ~-2db and still sound loud enough on CD and mp3/ipod. Even the stuff that ends up with a crest factor of less than 6 still has some life to it.
The funny thing is that I "can" get it even louder and it sounds OK on CD. But the mp3 gets mangled thru the ipod into the car stereo.
Anyway... that's what I'm doing now. Before reaper, I would master my stereo mixes in Audacity. But that was mixes from a hardware 24 track. Now I have so many more options...
Probably TMI. But I hope it helps
later
rich

[thequietroom]

Originally Posted by Lord Marceaux de Champs

There is too much rumor and kind of mystic secrets about mastering or final mixing, but all you want in the end is to have a good and loud mix depending on music style, and Waves is much more efficient than most plugins I know, I do not intend to say that Reaper plugins are bad or something. I like to have things done quickly and efficient, time is money !

What´s so difficult about me saying Waves plungins have little knobs and sliders?, just have a look are RBass, one of the most used and imitated plugins, look at RBass and you will know what I mean.

well... when I think of waves for mastering I think of teh linear phase eq, miltiband comps, and the maximizers and imaging processors.. I never really found them exceptionally simple compared to other options. Rbass is a pretty heavy handed 2 buss processor I think a lot of folks would shudder at the thought of using on a full mix. But as you said.. if the processor works for what you are looking for, then its the right one.

[Magicbuss]

For home "pseudo" mastering i'm basically looking to get my stereo master competitively loud and make sure I have the EQ curve in the ballpark of similar reference tracks. I render my mixes first then open up a whole new reaper session just for mastering. I have a template for that purpose that includes compression limiting EQ and alot of metering. I use the free sleepytime VU meter, meldas LUFS meter, a stereo scope and span.

If I have to do too much to get the master right then I may go back to mix and change things there, then render a new version.

My mixes typically have some compression and saturation on the mix buss so I'll start with using just a limiter and an EQ for mastering. If it needs to be louder than the limiter can comfortably handle then I might use TDR Koltelnikov to squeeze a couple more db, then limit. For really loud mixes maybe i'll use a clipper, then compression then a limiter.

Limiter no.6 conveniently provides all 3 of those in one awesome plugin.

I might also use clipshifter or gclip, TDR K and loudmax instead of limiter 6.

I avoid multiband compression like the plague because I can't wrap my head around it and because its really easy to destroy the balances I created during mixing.

I do experiment with widening tricks like lightly brightening the sides only.

[Quest The Wordsmith]

No mention of Ozone??? Izotope's stuff sounds great.

[citizenkeith]

Incidentally, I have been turning the compressor OFF in Limiter No6 and placing Kotelnikov in line before it for compression. I really like this combination.

When mastering digital mixes for vinyl release, I rely on some JS plugins like Loser's Stereo Enhancer, if I need to sum stereo information in the low end. In fact, if I know a mix is destined for vinyl, I will often use that plugin on stereo tracks like room mics, overheads, etc.

[MisterBerniman]

Originally Posted by thequietroom

haven't seen the waves plug that does the job for you.. but if you wan't the job done for you by the computer you can always try LANDR drag and drop from tunecore

I wouldnt call it mastering, but you can "process" it... which is all your describing with the way you used waves..

Depending on the goal U have mastering can be a simple "technical step", for example a dithering or a limiting step, or it can be heavier, more "artisitic" so to speak.

With Waves plugs You can get a decent mastering using a single plug let's say a Mazeratti GRPone : it has some presets to do a decent heavy mastering glued and loud!! Only with 2-3 knobs without dealing with a 31 band Eq or comp or whatever!!!

With Waves U can put on Ur master a Vitamine plug : it manages Ur Eq/Widening/Harmonics in the same place!!! U just have to put a limiter at the end to get Ur O limit!!!

It's a different way to deal with a simple comp or eq to get what U want to achieve!!!

[Magicbuss]

Originally Posted by Quest The Wordsmith

No mention of Ozone??? Izotope's stuff sounds great.

Ozone is definitely a great all in one mastering suite but there isnt anything it can do that cant be done with other free or cheap plugs.

Toneboosters, melda and voxengo among others have affordable mastering quality plugins that can do everything that you find in Ozone advanced for much less money. Of course you dont get the unified ozone UI/workflow which is admittedly very nice.

[rjwillow]

Terry West make a plug call MHorse which is an all in one unit.
I've played with it a little bit on some more "electro" mixes and it was VERY good just running thru presets. But I've never gotten around to using it on much of anything else.
Maybe worth checking out...

[SaulT]

With Waves plugs You can get a decent mastering using a single plug let's say a Mazeratti GRPone : it has some presets to do a decent heavy mastering glued and loud!! Only with 2-3 knobs without dealing with a 31 band Eq or comp or whatever!!!

With Waves U can put on Ur master a Vitamine plug : it manages Ur Eq/Widening/Harmonics in the same place!!! U just have to put a limiter at the end to get Ur O limit!!!

Umm, the GRP One is a bus compressor, isn't it? It doesn't have the level of control that a plugin would need to really call itself a 'mastering' plugin. Which GRP One seems to be careful enough not to call itself.

Look, enthusiasm is great, but avoid hyperbole. I am extremely skeptical at the thought that any one plugin with "2-3 knobs" can adequately master a mix (and doesn't the GRP One have something like five or six, anyways?). Each song is different, each mix is different, and "2-3 knobs" can't meet all of those different needs.

[The Telenator]

There are really no such things as a "Mastering Plugin." There are only crappy plugins, okay plugins and great plugins.

[dea-man]

Is this all some kind of "Master" bating?

[The Telenator]

Yes it is.

[Refillable]

Originally Posted by richie43

Great limiter, as is everything from Vlad, TDR, and Bootsy. But my ears say that these are too colorful for "mastering", not transparent at all. Just my opinion, of course.

I see what you mean. But most of the time I disable everything except the limiter and protection and use TDR kotelnikov instead of the comp on the no. 6. Then I get decent "cleanish" results.

[The Telenator]

The Kotelnikov is not what I'd call a character compressor at all. It's much more transparent invisible than that TDR Feedback Comp II that came before it.

[Refillable]

Originally Posted by The Telenator

The Kotelnikov is not what I'd call a character compressor at all. It's much more transparent invisible than that TDR Feedback Comp II that came before it.

That's why I use the Kotelnikov instead of the comp in limiter no.6 when I want a more transparent master chain.

Edit: Oh. I guess you answered Richie,

[The Telenator]

You can get No6 pretty clean transparent, too, but too much fiddling with it for me. It's quite a full-featured gadget, isn't it?

[thequietroom]

Originally Posted by SaulT

Umm, the GRP One is a bus compressor, isn't it? It doesn't have the level of control that a plugin would need to really call itself a 'mastering' plugin. Which GRP One seems to be careful enough not to call itself.

Look, enthusiasm is great, but avoid hyperbole. I am extremely skeptical at the thought that any one plugin with "2-3 knobs" can adequately master a mix (and doesn't the GRP One have something like five or six, anyways?). Each song is different, each mix is different, and "2-3 knobs" can't meet all of those different needs.

I have to agree.. I bought Ezmix2 and added a mastering pack last year. I love this product, and I can't even comdemn the mastering pack. It has some presets that are useful. However, any of the presets for compression, limiting or eq dont really work out for me. Its quite understandable as the presests have no idea what the source material is.

the closest thing for me to an all in 1 is limiter 6. And that is basically just for loudness but man i've had great results with it.

Ozone looks really nice but thats a pretty penny..

after last holiday season, I decided I have to make some more songs before buying anything else. Except a R5 license when it comes out. I started falling into bargain collection mode with plugins..

now I have a bunch of plugins, a new PC and no material to use them on.