Mastering tools

[Ari Porki]

What kind of mastering tools atmoworks members use? I have tested IZotope Ozone 4 but I'm not very satisfied with that.

[Cesco Malik Derendinger]

My latest "money-killer" was a Sony Oxford Bundle. But I need to get deeper in it before I could say something about it. I tested the Ozone before but wasn't very happy with it either.

Greets

[Steve Brand]

My philosophy in most things has become, "less is more" (with the exception of this blog entry apparently). I've had various configurations over the years that reflected the music I was into at the time, my income, and those have come and gone over and over...sold for tax money, traded for other equipment, tossed out. After years of rack mounts, hydras of cords, various 4 track studios, stomp boxes, amps, etc., I'd finally had enough. The focus on, and allure of, all that stuff gave way to wanting to just explore my sound, to match what I heard in my head and heart with what was coming out of the playback speakers. In the mid-90's, I had to fortune of working with Avid Xpress, which was bundled with ProTools. A huge lightbulb went on for me. Why should I have all this junk sitting around sucking up precious space and income, why should I be forced to take a linear approach to composition (I'm not at all a linear thinker), when I can do so much "in the box" and create a higher quality result than ever. I was astounded at the mount of control and freedom I had with DAW-based recording. Since then, all my recording and mastering is done on my Mac. I have a small Mackie mixer, and Sony mic, an M-Audio keyboard controller and my Mac. I might eventually have more, but not unless I can knock out a wall or move to a bigger house.

[eyes cast down]

Hear, hear! I committed to working in the box (I call it The Musical Box, of course) after a brief (and expensive) bout of indecision. (Luckily I managed to sell all the hardware I'd collected.) Now with a few mouse clicks I can create an FX rack that would cost thousands of dollars and run ceiling-to-floor. As for mastering, I don't know yet...

Steve Brand said:

... Why should I have all this junk sitting around sucking up precious space and income, why should I be forced to take a linear approach to composition (I'm not at all a linear thinker), when I can do so much "in the box" and create a higher quality result than ever. I was astounded at the mount of control and freedom I had with DAW-based recording. Since then, all my recording and mastering is done on my Mac. I have a small Mackie mixer, and Sony mic, an M-Audio keyboard controller and my Mac. I might eventually have more, but not unless I can knock out a wall or move to a bigger house.

[Ari Porki]

Steve Brand said:

My philosophy in most things has become, "less is more" (with the exception of this blog entry apparently). I've had various configurations over the years that reflected the music I was into at the time, my income, and those have come and gone over and over...sold for tax money, traded for other equipment, tossed out. After years of rack mounts, hydras of cords, various 4 track studios, stomp boxes, amps, etc., I'd finally had enough. The focus on, and allure of, all that stuff gave way to wanting to just explore my sound, to match what I heard in my head and heart with what was coming out of the playback speakers. In the mid-90's, I had to fortune of working with Avid Xpress, which was bundled with ProTools. A huge lightbulb went on for me. Why should I have all this junk sitting around sucking up precious space and income, why should I be forced to take a linear approach to composition (I'm not at all a linear thinker), when I can do so much "in the box" and create a higher quality result than ever. I was astounded at the mount of control and freedom I had with DAW-based recording. Since then, all my recording and mastering is done on my Mac. I have a small Mackie mixer, and Sony mic, an M-Audio keyboard controller and my Mac. I might eventually have more, but not unless I can knock out a wall or move to a bigger house.

Your reply made me think...I have sometimes bad fendency collect hardwares and after that, don't know what to do with them!

[Flight33]

I'm interested in hearing this too. I've used the Waves bundle for a few years now, but wouldn't mind branching out.

[Mark Tamea]

A nice multiband compressor, and a good EQ are great starting points. This is about all I use for mastering, but a little dynamic processing, used sensibly, can add some flavour if required.