What kind of processors do you use on your master bus?

Posted: Mon Apr 14, 2008 10:33 pm

RemyRAD wrote:

The above also applies to rockers that care more whether their CD is as loud as Metallica's as opposed to the integrity of the overall sound.

So i listened to the Black Album, and it was quiet as shit!=)

Posted: Tue Apr 15, 2008 3:12 am

Hi,
I usually stack a few things across the 2 buss. One thing that I find works very nicely there is multiband stereo expansion. I get a really nice wide spread on the highs without muddying up the lows that way. I multiband compress, limit, sometimes add verb, use dynamic enhancing... all of it. High pass, low pass, EQ's... hahaha. There is definitely something to be said for just leaving everything untouched (which I prefer), but from what I hear of modern music, it sounds like everything is extremely processed to me. Plus I don't have a ton of top notch mics and pre's here so I'm sure that has something to do with my processing habits. On the flip side, sometimes I'll just setup a few mics in the room and record the entire band to half track reel to reel with no effects on anything, if I can convince the band that it's a good idea that is. Smile

Posted: Tue Apr 15, 2008 8:37 pm

multoc wrote:

RemyRAD wrote:

The above also applies to rockers that care more whether their CD is as loud as Metallica's as opposed to the integrity of the overall sound.

So i listened to the Black Album, and it was quiet as shit!=)

The "Black" album was plenty loud - Just a whisker too loud.

The current stuff is beyond mere ridicule.

Posted: Tue Apr 15, 2008 8:41 pm

Quote:

The current stuff is beyond mere ridicule.

+100

Posted: Wed Apr 16, 2008 1:05 am

I'm actually wrecking an otherwise perfectly decent mix right now. Confused

Posted: Wed Apr 16, 2008 5:25 am

But someone's paying you to (I hope) and I take it some producer is pointing a stick at you and shouting "Louder! Louder!"

Posted: Wed Apr 16, 2008 7:23 pm

Yeah, but it doesn't really help... Even when the client is present and I make a volume-adjusted A/B, they acknowledge that the loud one sounds like [SELF-CENSORED] by comparison, but that's the one they want.

Although seemingly more frequently, they're stopping a little shorter of "completely insane" than they were a year or so ago...

Posted: Wed Apr 16, 2008 7:54 pm

The tides are turning are they?
Good, in a few years we can be back to normal.

Posted: Wed Apr 16, 2008 10:08 pm

Massive Mastering wrote:

the loud one sounds like [SELF-CENSORED] by comparison, but that's the one they want

Now I'm no proponent of the current volume standard. In fact, it's unattainable by me: the sonic equivalent of a Victoria's Secret model. But I'm sure some albums (Our Lady Peace's Gravity comes to mind) would have lacked a lot of guts without the insane mastering.

My car's CD system starts to impart sound once it's driven beyond a certain level. Surely this is some reason to make the source material as loud as is possible, right?

Posted: Wed Apr 16, 2008 10:47 pm

I'm doing some self-mastering right now, and all I have to say is that L2 / L3 plugins suck a**!!! I have them set with a -5 threshold and it sounds like I strapped a high ratio compressor and some distortion over the master bus. I guess it's time to hire a real mastering engineer...

Posted: Thu Apr 17, 2008 8:34 am

The L2 plugins do suck. hell the standard digi compressor works better when you switch it to brick wall mode.

In class we did a few side by sides of a real L2 and a bunch of digital compressors.

On their own the digi was the winner. chained together I am a big fan of two req axes. whats great about the axe is that it is cheap as hell, sounds great and automatically adjusts the ratio and release times. at first I was real hesitant to allow of a compressor to make such choices for me, but it truly does a stellar job.

Posted: Thu Apr 17, 2008 8:47 am

Huh...the L2 and L3 are actually quite nice. They MUST be used properly though. The mix has to be pretty loud already going into them - don't try to squash the mix using the L2 or it (and just about any other BW limiter I've ever heard) will start to crap out.

Posted: Thu Apr 17, 2008 8:53 am

the l2 hardware works like a dream. its the plugins that dont compare. At least not from my experiences.

Posted: Thu Apr 17, 2008 8:58 am

The L2 hardware and the plugs are the same.

I've owned and used both for years - there's no difference. Once you convert your signal into digital using the onboard converters, you're essentially hitting a software L2 inside the box.

I personally prefer the hardware version simply because the conversion is GREAT and the convenience of not having to have another plug-in loaded when I'm going out of the box anyway is great too. It helps me keep my sanity when coming back in knowing I won't clip the digital input buss.

Posted: Thu Apr 17, 2008 9:02 am

I would love to see the two used side by side in your hands then.

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