digital mastering/room accuracy

[kage]

the vast majority of artists should not be doing their own mastering. theres a reason why there are so few successful mastering engineers...it is tough and it requires a lot of money (and HARDWARE, people).

i dont want to rehash a hardware vs. software debate, but mastering is the one place where it still matters. ask any successful mastering engineer if you can master completely in software and they will laugh in your face.

at the very least you need a well tuned room, which puts 99% of techno producers out of the equation.

however, even if you get a decent mastering engineer, it is often not their fault that the end product doesnt sound too great. this is due to producers not realizing wtf headroom is. if i turn in a track to be mastered which is peaking at 0db and the RMS is not much below that, there isnt much the mastering engineer can do for it. roll off the highs and mono the bass for vinyl, and next to nothing for digital. mastering engineers are getting stuff that is so crunched already, it makes their job a lot tougher.

the answer is for producers to ease on their levels, and just do their best to provide a decent mix. hey, the labels are paying money for mastering, let the person do their job.

300% agree

[Martian Telecom]

If you take anyone's advice on this thread, take nonstatics.

Work on the writing and the programming and leave the mastering to people who have the trained ears and the money to do their job well. Your cracked copy of T Racks isn't going to compete with an audiophile cd player through a fairchild knock off channel strip into a discreet eq into a boutique tube compressor to the recorder in a treated room.

[cyhl]

the vast majority of artists should not be doing their own mastering. theres a reason why there are so few successful mastering engineers...it is tough and it requires a lot of money (and HARDWARE, people).

i dont want to rehash a hardware vs. software debate, but mastering is the one place where it still matters. ask any successful mastering engineer if you can master completely in software and they will laugh in your face.

at the very least you need a well tuned room, which puts 99% of techno producers out of the equation.

however, even if you get a decent mastering engineer, it is often not their fault that the end product doesnt sound too great. this is due to producers not realizing wtf headroom is. if i turn in a track to be mastered which is peaking at 0db and the RMS is not much below that, there isnt much the mastering engineer can do for it. roll off the highs and mono the bass for vinyl, and next to nothing for digital. mastering engineers are getting stuff that is so crunched already, it makes their job a lot tougher.

the answer is for producers to ease on their levels, and just do their best to provide a decent mix. hey, the labels are paying money for mastering, let the person do their job.

300% agree

500% !!!! we get so many demos that are heavily pre-mastered (with no headroom at all)... and when we ask for non-premastered versions, we sometimes get very surprised answers from producers!

sylvie (and others): any comments on foundsound / unfoundsound digital masters? I'm curious (and always looking for quality feedback)

[Storlon]

a bit off topic here, but when you play live, with lots of parts and everythings, where do you place mastering in the process ? you're not going to ask an engineer to do it ?

[Torque]

Thanks.. I do the pre-mastering and help with mixing for the beretta grey tracks before it goes to the plant for vinyl mastering.. We work on the mixes for months before they are ready.. a lot of testing in the clubs, cars, different studios.. Our mixes are never perfect, but we do our best

LOL....quit being so humble Kage, you're good enough at mixing down that you have a right to be a little bit of an asshole about it if you want to
sh!t, if you weren't in a different camp i would be hiring you to mix down my stuff. Some people are blessed with golden ears and it ain't me. I'm jealous

[sylvie.foret]

a bit off topic here, but when you play live, with lots of parts and everythings, where do you place mastering in the process ? you're not going to ask an engineer to do it ?

that's a good question!? maybe start another thread about how you set up your live pa?

i do a half-assed live pa thing where i drop my own stuff in with other peoples. i usually end up referencing my own tracks against those.

[sylvie.foret]

[/quote]300% agree[/quote]

500% !!!! we get so many demos that are heavily pre-mastered (with no headroom at all)... and when we ask for non-premastered versions, we sometimes get very surprised answers from producers!

sylvie (and others): any comments on foundsound / unfoundsound digital masters? I'm curious (and always looking for quality feedback)
[/quote]

wow. i didn't check back on this thread for a while--guess we all have a lot to say on the subject!

found/unfound sound: i have an interesting time with your releases. sometimes i find them to be a little quiet, but nicely shaped. i think it has less to do with the mastering than the fact that many of your tracks usually have some really out there elements. i'll want to push one sound more than the other and i have to do a little work to find the balance. i'm not on the right computer at the moment, so i can't access my library for a lot of examples--but there was a track from last summer. i think it was a socks & sandals release. it was really mellow and trippy with a lady doing a bit of sexy breathing over some nice beats. i got a lot of mileage out of that one. but i always wanted to push the lows and the sexy breathing, but the mids were really prominent, so i never could get it quite where i wanted it. but that's just me.