all in one mastering hardware?

  • Thread starter Thread starter nealbeats
  • Start date Start date
N

nealbeats

New member
I'm looking to buy some hardware for mastering. I really want to get a finalizer 96k but i don't have the paper for that right now. I am considering a finalizer express if i can find one cheap enough but right now i am just looking for something cheap. I was looking at the Behringer DSP1424P Ultramizer Pro and maybe an equalizer. What i really would like is an all in one type of tool but the only thing I know like that would be the finalizer but i am kind of tight on cash right now so i am lookin for something cheaper. Any suggestions?
 
(IMO/E, YMMV, etc., etc., yada, yada...)

There's nothing the Finalizer is going to offer you that you can't get out of a decent collection of plugins - Unless you're going outboard and need the conversion (in which case you can definitely trash the idea of the Berry, and you could probably get better converters than the Finalizer is going to give you for a similar price anyway).

If you *have* to use an "all-in-one" (which I really wouldn't recommend in the first place) then see if you can find a used DBX Quantum II... The only one I haven't thrown in the garbage - Yet... You'll get tired of it after 3 weeks. But that's two more than the others.
 
I have T-racks, which is a good program and makes my stuff sound a lot better but I still can't get up to commercial volume level. Some of my tracks are at that level and sound good and are fine, but about half my stuff still is not loud enough even after T-racks. I want to get my tracks up to commercial volume level but also not compromise sound quality and also need a tool, possibly an equalizer that can pull some of the highs up out of the track and allow the bass to hit hard and loud without distorting ex. I was told that only hardware equipment can do this. A lot of my tracks are great but the volume level is the only problem on most of them. Like i said they are loud but not loud enough, plus if these tools also make the lows sound better and the highs better too then that's another upside to picking up this hardware.


What about the digital audio systems from Emu? http://www.emu.com/products/welcome.asp?category=505&

Would one of these things make the tracks sound louder? I know they would obviously increase the sound quality with professional 24-bit/192kHz converters. Is this piece of hardware supposed to improve the power of programs like T-racks, because it says hardware-accelerated effects and mixing, comprehensive sync options and seamless compatibility with your favorite PC audio/sequencer software.


And as far as mixing goes, it is not a mixing problem because if i go back and edit the quieter tracks and turn the sound volumes up i usually loose quality and the track bottoms out even when i lower the bass/kicks to a point where they aren't even hitting hard anymore.
 
T-Racks is EXTREMELY colored and harsh. It does have an analog sound.... sort of, in this really distorted harsh way. O-Zone 3 is the best one click solution for mastering. Waves stuff is nice. If you know a lot about mastering you can do a lot with the Waves SSL 4000 master bus compressor and eq. Also the UAD processing card is amazing stuff. I would love one. I think they run about $600 and it comes with plug-ins that are very capable of mastering.
 
So would an emu hardware accelerator card have any difference or no? Although i would like one anyway, i don't have the money right now so i don't want to buy one of those hardware cards from emu if it is not gonna fix my problem.

Like i said i already use T-racks. What do you mean by t-racks being harsh? And I used to have Waves but i sold it off to a friend because it didn't do a damn thing as far as mastering goes. But I did find use of some of the plugins in my mix to create different sounds on my generators.

What if I used T-racks and waves in combination? But then too much compression would tamper with sound quality and/or the track would probably just overshoot again.

I like to arrange vocals with the beat in SF Acid and so i like to do touchups with Sound Forge and i can't seem to get any of the effects in that to raise the volume without distorting.

I'm trippin over this. I am busy and don't get much time to work with my music and all we have left to do is record vocals for the tracks and then we will have a mixtape ready. But this damn problem is holding me back. I can't put anything on my websites either because a lot of the tracks are too quiet. T-racks makes a big difference, but still does not bring the track to commercial volume level. I need these tracks to be at that level. I'm supposed to have some of them bumping at a local club but i don't want to give the dj the unmastered mix. Though it still sounds hot, no doubt, i still need the volume up.



Any help is greatly appreciated.
 
Let's get a litte perspective here - You really can't compare recordings made by *teams* of industry professionals in fantastic facilities with the greatest gear available, mixed by professional mixing engineers and then sent to mastering facilities with the absolute top of the line in gear with "home brew" recordings.

The VAST - *VAST* majority of novice recordings that come in here, as good as many of them sound, will *NEVER* be able to handle the ridiculous levels that some people are trying to attain. It just isn't going to happen. You're comparing Yugo to Lamborghini.

Not that a Yugo can't be a nice ride - But it just isn't going to be a Lamborghini. I have to explain this to clients at least several times monthly.

"Wow! That sounds great! Can we get it louder?"

"I can make it a lot louder, but it already sounds like crap."

"Well just a few dB louder?

("A few dB" is A LOT - Don't let anyone tell you different)

"I suppose I can get it louder, but it's going to sound like s**t."

And about half the time, they say:

"Go ahead - We want to be really loud."

Which makes me very sad. "Loud" is fairly "stupid" when it comes down to it. It's a pissing match between artists and labels. The consumer didn't ask for it, and the wise consumer is starting (finally) to reject it. Thank God, because some day, I'd like to go back to actually making records sound *good* - and put "loud" on the back burner where it's supposed to be.

That all being said and out of my system:

If you want a "professional" sounding recording that can handle "professional" commercial levels, then hire professionals to write, perform, record, mix and master it. Every single step is vital to the project as a whole.
 
I understand what you are saying, but too many dip****s like loudness over quality. Plus i have heard people with way crappier beats, literally, the ****tiest beats i have ever heard that sound like they were made by a toddler's toy, that are way louder than some of my tracks. Wtf? It drives me nuts. And i know damnwell those people didn't do anything related to mastering cuz they prolly don't even know what mastering is. And knowing i payed like 300 for t-racks. No doubt t-racks is something i wouldn't make a track without since it makes the sound a lot more phatter and brighter.

Now would a new soundcard such as E-MU 0404 be benificial in anyway? Cuz my soundcard is just the default piece of **** that came with the pc. The piece is under a year old but i don't think the stock soundcards are of any quality.


And as far as commercial volume, i have heard lots of amatures with tracks at commercial volume.
 
Last edited:
nealbeats said:
No doubt t-racks is something i wouldn't make a track without since it makes the sound a lot more phatter and brighter.

And as far as commercial volume, i have heard lots of amatures with tracks at commercial volume.
Click to expand...

T-Racks does make it sound "phatter" but it also sounds distorted and makes everything sound like crap. T-Racks is GARBAGE. Listen very carefully. YOUR BEST OPTION IS O-Zone 3!!!! It sounds way better and it's just the type of amature mastering that your looking for. And many of the Wave plugs can be used for mastering. It's not as easy but all mastering is is using limiters, compressors, and eq. And Waves comes with several of each. There is no such thing as one click good mastering. And volume has nothing to do with quality of mastering. When I started out I had tracks louder than professional cd, but they sounded like crap.

nealbeats said:
Now would a new soundcard such as E-MU 0404 be benificial in anyway? Cuz my soundcard is just the default piece of **** that came with the pc. The piece is under a year old but i don't think the stock soundcards are of any quality.
Click to expand...

And if you dont' know what the benifits of a soundcard is you need to listen to people when they tell you that T-Racks is crap. And you "bought" Waves plug-ins for thousands of dollars but didn't even buy a soundcard. Yeah, right. Waves is capable of mastering. UAD is better. I use SSL and classic limiter.

Soundcard help when working on music because your computer will run much MUCH MUCH faster. It also helps when recording to give you a higher quality signal. Take good advice and get O-Zone 3 to get the most bang for your buck for what your looking for. UAD is $600+ and Waves is thousands. SSL is $800 and Classic Limiter is free.
 
Yeah i am gonna pick me up a copy of that ozone 3. As far as Waves goes, I did have quite a few of the plugins which i bought used off a friend, the actual legit plugins not a copy. But that was like 2 years ago and then i did not know what i do now.

My pc is new and has no problem running my music. But i still consider it a neccesity to get a good card so i can record at a higher sample rate and what not.
 
You Can't Get Professional Mastering with These Little Bull**** Softwares Such as T racks or even ozone!!!!! Mastering requires a great engineer, great equipment , and a great room. So don't try to get great sound quality like off the radio with T Racks cause its not going too work!!!!! END OF STORY!!!!!! Yo Massive Let em know about The whole process
 
DJ Echo102 said:
Yo Massive Let em know about The whole process
Click to expand...
Nobody listens anyway. Ozone? T-Racks? Waves plugins?

It's the ear and experience first - and then it's the gear. Except for the monitoring scenario - There really isn't a substitute for that. And that needs to be there before the ear or the gear is going to make a difference. But I digress again...

The thing that no one wants to accept is that it takes a *LOT* of experience - or just sheer luck in the case of some - to have mixes with that sort of potential. While an experienced engineer in a professional facility will most likely be able to exploit a mix's potential (no matter what tools he chooses to use - or NOT use), that potential is decided before the "RECORD" button is pressed for the very first time.

A mix that doesn't have that potential will *never* have that potential. That's all there is to it. I get projects in all the time where the client wants extreme volume. If the mixes have that potential, I'll find a way to get it. If not, I don't. All mixes are not created equal.
 
First off...screw the "mastering software", and get a proper interface and get the tracking part right. Second of all, why are you so intent on getting tracks to "commercial levels"? Over 90% of the time it sounds like crap. And as far as the radio...the already squashed CDs are getting a couple extra layers of squashing.

There's something wrong if you're tracks are so quiet that you can't hear them. It's possible to get tracks at a respectable level without being squashed to death. Trust me, if the track is hot, there's not a soul that matters who's going to care if it's not quite as loud as the "toddler" track. 'Cause if it isn't...then simply turn up the volume.

But you know what DJ Echo...therein lies the problem with today's home studio revolution. Back in the day, not everybody with a home setup expected to churn out "radio-ready" recordings. And even those that did have pretty decent setups still involved other people. We live in a world where not only does everybody want to wear all the hats, but just about all of them think the hats fit perfectly. Recognize shortcomings and be willing to pay to get it right. There's no such thing as "no money to do it" especially when a gang of people are involved with it. Fifty bucks a person is $200 if just four people are involved. Add in a little more and you may not get Massive to do it, but you can find someone around to at least have your mixtape ready enough for the world. 'Cause the bottom line is, there's squashing by people who know what they're doing and squashing by people who don't. And if you screw it up, your current project may place a sticker on every thing else you release that says "this will sound like King Kong stepped on it". So my advice is, do what's best for the project, Neal. No compromise. Paying for better ears to record and/or mix, and especially master is ALWAYS worth it.

Oh, and BTW Morning Star...you're going to have to school me 'cause I've never heard of a sound card actually making your computer run "MUCH MUCH faster". I am certainly no computer expert, so fell free to elaborate. Thanks.
Peace
 
Last edited by a moderator:
Yo Good Lookin Massive and My man Alien Groover, and with all do respect If These Cats Don't want to listen to professionals explain to them on the whole process Then F*ck em. But I hoped ya'll took a lesson cuz if you really want to make it, Get some stuff professionally done and like my man AG (Alien Groover) Said "There's no such thing as "no money to do it". He right cause if you saved up and bought the equipment then you can pay to get your stuff mastered iight and yo to Massive and AG (Alien Groover) thanks for have my back on this iight ya'll b safe 1
 
I've been using Waves Diamond Bundle Plug-in in Pro tools and its been an amazing advantage to a lot of the tracks that I've done for other people. its about $3800 US on the waves website. but its probably the best plug-in suite that i've ever used in my life.
 
Well i've been reading a lot about mastering and applying what i've learned. I have listened to a lot of the tracks in a few people's cars both on stock systems and on custom systems and they aren't as quiet as i thought. My main problem is in the actual mix itself. Drums were a little too loud and instruments were not loud enuff.

And a buddy of mine has a really good friend that works at a pro studio and knows a thing or two about mastering, so i could easily have him do it. But the point is i wanted to be able to do it right at home on any track i wanted. Problem solved.
 
If the mix is the problem, work on the mix. You're not at the mastering stage yet. The mix should sound as close as possible as you want it to sound after it's mastered. The trick is to get things to sound as you want them as early as possible. If not during tracking, during mixing.
 
nealbeats said:
And a buddy of mine has a really good friend that works at a pro studio and knows a thing or two about mastering, so i could easily have him do it. But the point is i wanted to be able to do it right at home on any track i wanted. Problem solved.
Click to expand...
You should let him do it. One of the most vital pieces of the puzzle is being able to listen objectively.

Number of professional engineers that master their own mixes: I dunno, 3? 4? The last one made huge ripples in the industry just six months ago.

Number that send it out to a professional mastering facility: All the rest.

There are reasons for that.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top