Well there are many opinions about T Racks...
I have the stand-alone at home on my PC, I've mainly used it to master my vinyl-to-CD project.
Yes, it's a work in progress to transfer my favourite LP's to CD's. I think it sounds great and easy to work with when it comes to this.
I've also done some "mastering" of old demo's just to get a better sound.

When it comes to work in the studio, I've used it a lot as RTAS plug-in (ProTools TDM).... I think it's very useful to use on groups, like drums, bg-vocals and so on...I really love how the multi-band limiter works there, but I don't use it as a mastering tool. I rather stick with the Native stuff there.
Well that's my opinion

thanks!

I don't like it. It pumps and warbles more than any other dynamic tool I've used. To my ears, Vintage warmer and the Waves Rennaisance compressor do a much nicer better job.

My experience with the Waves masters and C4 tools is too limited for a fair comparions.

Oh! The type of opinion I wanted to read. Have you tried it with different attack/release times so as to avoid pumping? what musical styles did you try?
VW is pretty good for lots of musical styles, it is always being compared to Master X 5 band Mode.

Originally posted by Alécio Costa - Brazil:
Oh! The type of opinion I wanted to read. Have you tried it with different attack/release times so as to avoid pumping? what musical styles did you try?
VW is pretty good for lots of musical styles, it is always being compared to Master X 5 band Mode.

I only tried it on a couple of different tracks. The style of the music - kind of chill electronic rock, I suppose.

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I could never get a sound I was happy with, regardless of attack/release - I just couldn't get enough compression out of it without crap.

Caveat: this was about a year and a half ago, with the demo version of the software. They may have changed the quality of the algorithms, since then, but I'd be surprised. I pretty much wrote them off at that point, since I was getting markedly worse results from them than I was from my existing tools - the PSP and Waves packages, I think.

What is Master X? Who makes it?

Tip: I've started running multiple compressors in-line. You can get a whole new set of sounds this way.

Master X 3 band is the plug-in version of the Finalizer OF.

Master X 5 band is the plug-in version of DB max. Much better sound and control. Some people bypass its eq section once it sounds a little metalic.

TC works, a division of TC electronics is responsible for it. They are very nice with upgardes and so.

Unfortuantely, the 5 band version is not available for Pro Tools HD, something PT mix users will miss a lot. I dunno now, because accels chips are much more powerful, so maybe they change their minds and write it for 96k/192k.
I wrote them several times last year, but they had no plans to release it.

Waves charges $400 for a single plug-in, C4, while TC Master X cost me almost $100 here in Brazil.

Vintage Warmer is a very mighty tool for mixing and junior mstering and it is only $149, although only RTAs.

oh sorry! compressors i line is pretty cool. I use this technique a lot. I´´ve become a big fan of sidechaining compressors and combining sometimes 2 or 3. Too much compression in a single block hurts too much. It´s better get pills from 6 to 6 hours.

Well I agree that teh compressor on T-racks pump when you use it on a mix... I only use the multiband limiter and sometimes the EQ, but as I said, never on the whole mix.
When it comes to using compressors on the mix, I have a question:
Back in the old analog days I used to "split" the mix and run one thru a good compressor and one without any compressor at all, then I'd mix the two signals so that I would get the transparancy of the un-compressed mix and some "tightness" of the compressed mix. This was quite easy in the analog world.
Nowadays I find that it's hard to do this in Protools without getting phase problems...
Anyone that are dóing this successfully?
If so, what is the proper way to do it?

nudge? blergh!!!
what about some Mside......?

Alecio, Vintage Warmer is also available in other formats for PC users.

T-RackS is the Bellari of the plugin world. Hairy, dodgy tonal qualities and behavior. My impression of it after working with it for several days at a friends place was, quite simply, that it takes advantage of the psychological impact of increased "loudness" in an untrained ear. You think it sounds better because the HF distortion it adds makes the whole mix sound "brighter" and "warmer" - but when you come back to the processed track later you realize how utterly awful it sounds.

Originally posted by Tore member of Park:
Well I agree that teh compressor on T-racks pump when you use it on a mix... I only use the multiband limiter and sometimes the EQ, but as I said, never on the whole mix.
When it comes to using compressors on the mix, I have a question:
Back in the old analog days I used to "split" the mix and run one thru a good compressor and one without any compressor at all, then I'd mix the two signals so that I would get the transparancy of the un-compressed mix and some "tightness" of the compressed mix. This was quite easy in the analog world.
Nowadays I find that it's hard to do this in Protools without getting phase problems...
Anyone that are dóing this successfully?
If so, what is the proper way to do it?

Tore - when I do this in Sonar, I just run the track to an Aux bus with a compressor strapped across it. No phase issues here.

Originally posted by Tore member of Park:
Well I agree that teh compressor on T-racks pump when you use it on a mix... I only use the multiband limiter and sometimes the EQ, but as I said, never on the whole mix.
When it comes to using compressors on the mix, I have a question:
Back in the old analog days I used to "split" the mix and run one thru a good compressor and one without any compressor at all, then I'd mix the two signals so that I would get the transparancy of the un-compressed mix and some "tightness" of the compressed mix. This was quite easy in the analog world.
Nowadays I find that it's hard to do this in Protools without getting phase problems...
Anyone that are dóing this successfully?
If so, what is the proper way to do it?

I discovered this one myself last night with Waves Rennaisance on VST. I haven't looked deeply into it yet - obviously there is either some kind of delay going on between the input and output or, worse, the plugins is damaging the phase coherence of the signal, perhaps by some kind of resampling. I have not looked hard enough yet to see if there is a dynamics plugin that does not do this.

I would hazard a guess that nudging the output a few samples or milliseconds might get things back in line. Probably the best way to figure out how much would be to mixdown a stereo wave - with one side clean and the other side from an identical file but sent through the plugin. If you've got a nice click or pop in the file, you could work out how late it's coming out.

The PSP audio plugins (Vintage Warmer, and all their dynamics package) all have 'mix' slides on them.

I also find Tracks tends to pump and can get a little harsh if one is not carefull.
I think it is a great tool for converting Vinyl or tape to digital as menetioned prior.

Vintage warmer for me is my preference.