I master a ton of hiphop and it's extremely rare for me to go to a single multiband comp - let alone 2 of them. Mulitband comps to me tend to work as specific problem solvers for things where a specific frequency band pokes out way over the mix - i.e. a really brittle piercing vocal track over a dull instrumental track (although if the vox were centered sometimes this can be fixed better by using M/S processing and eq'ing and comping the Mid different from the side)
ime C4 tends to mush up pretty much most stuff put through it although it can definitely be very useful in certain circumstances. The Steinberg "mastering" plugins I have a pretty low opinion of though - I'd avoid using them.

Instead of soloing specific bands I think you're listening time is better spent evaluating the mix as a whole. In essence - every piece of music is different - so you should know what a great mix should sound like through your monitors - but stick with the track you are working on and ask 2 questions:
what are the problems? (i.e. sibilance, a specific bass freq poking out, muddy, brittle, transients too much in your face, etc. etc.)
and
what does it need? (i.e. could add a little at 80Hz to get some thump, could bump up a db around 700 to bring out the vox, let's cut a little above 14kHZ to get rid of the ice pick in the ear thing, little comp to even things out, etc.etc. - not specific recommendations - just examples of the kinds of thing to think about)
If there are no problems and you can't think of anything it needs (admitedly a really rare occurance in these days of project studios) - leave it alone!!

fwiw I find analog eq's tend to work wonders with most hip hop mixes as most of it is done completely in the digital realm and often suffers from "digititus".
From there usually a little bit of compression (either before or after the eq in the chain - just swap it around and see what works best for the track) - and unfortunately, to give "competitive" levels often a lot of brickwall limiting or maybe some clipping - and most cases you won't need to go to any "masterizer" plugin such as a multiband comp.

Best regards,
Steve Berson

i'm only using the Me stiengburg multiband because it has a no-clip feature that gives me the most head room with out distortion. I'ts not compressing, just stopping the clips. (you actually have to draw out the ratio, which is sucky)

I'm gonna go back to day and see what i hear. I had a feeling i was being alittle OCD with the rms on each band.

so i don't have any hardware that would be good for mastering so i'm limited their. I've had a ton of people tell me to use a mutliband compressor for mastering, so that's what i've been using. I should try a single band compressor and try and work the sound with EQ -- that's what your saying right?

thanks

Also, with hip hop, you need to pay great attention to the low end (obviously). There's a delicate balance to having enough low end without it completely driving all the compression/limiting.

Hip hop mixes generally have more "space" in the arrangement than most guitar-based rock. FWIW, I pay attention to, in order:
Lo End
Compression
Vocals
Snare drum/clap

I never compromise the lo end, and often have to make decisions that adversly affect the bottom of the list.

Good luck.

sameoldjake wrote: I've had a ton of people tell me to use a mutliband compressor for mastering...

That's the saddest thing I've heard yet today.

i tried a few of the tips and they worked pretty well. i'm not getting the to much smash effect i thought i would with a singleband compressor. thanks again

Now try using a good eq to balance or correct things before you hit the compressor.

Michael Fossenkemper wrote: Now try using a good eq to balance or correct things before you hit the compressor.

I agree... and just to bring out a previous point... working with your kick/bass tracks as your foundation seems to be a great way to build your mix just as in dance music...

thanks for the helpful advise...

my method in the end was, EQ compressor no limitor.

i decided to let it clip 2-3bd to get the volume i wanted -- the clips arent noticable either, atleast to me. I was using jay-z's black album as a reference point, i always suspected they did that but didnt have the guts to try it.

i'll post some samples later if anyone is interested in hearing it.

I'm definitly gonna get some hardwarein future prolly better recording gear first, my next purchase is gonna be a dbx 1086 mic preamp compressor -- then eventually theirs this cad mic i wanna get. right now i used a $200.00 audio techniac (series 30 or something) and a $99 presonus preamp to a alesis 3630 compressor. not great by any means, but i wanted to learn how to use it before i spent a ton of money.