Peak Sound Quality Performance MBox 2

[E Gusto]

Ok, Ive been recently scratching my head. Just did a home project album and I heard the quality. I'm not sure if Im getting the peak sound quality I was looking for. My mix sounds clearer/better than my master? I used maxim presets as my limiter. The mix is around -6 to -3 db without any of the songs peaking. Should I just keep the mix and disgard the master (-2 to-1)? My Master session has all the songs mastered at the same level but the sound almost too compressed and almost like it lost the thump and clarity it had in the mix. what gives?


listeners said that they rate the project at a 7 for the beats, and 8 or 9 for the lyrics. Main complaint, they couldnt feel or hear the bass or it was missing that thump. (I did some high pass filters to eliminate unwanted sounds but it shouldnt have taken away the bass totally. Did I compress on the beat too much?

v/r

producer/engineer newbie!

(I know I need to take it to a pro, but which should I give them, my mix or my master?)

[albee1952]

Without hearing what you have, we can only guess. First thing, Maxim is not my favorite mastering toy(actually its my least favorite). I prefer Waves L2, Massey L2007 or PSP Xenon for brick-wall limiting. As for EQ, unless you have really accurate monitors AND room(and I bet you don't) then I would shy away from much EQ, beyond maybe a steep high-pass at 30Hz and a gentle shelf to boost lows or highs(which EQ you choose can make a big difference here, but less is more, until you know exactly what you need). If you can't heat it accurately, you can't EQ it right(but you can guess and test on several other playback systems until you find the results you want). Your first step(IMHO) is to take the MIX to a mastering pro and have a listen. They may suggest changes in the mix before it gets mastered. Your master probably just isn't well-done so there's no reason to give it to anyone. Just use it as an example of how you DON'T want it to sound

BTW, mastering engineers generally want a mix that peaks way below -0(like -12 to -6 at the hottest). That gives them room to work all their goodies(if you try to boost low end on a track that hits -1, your just going to go over). If you lost clarity with Maxim, that's a good reason to either not use it, or skip the presets and work from scratch(using presets can be coloring by numbers anyway, so I tend to stay away from them). Check out the Massey L2007(free demo) as its a bargain at $89. Also, with any mastering limiter, you don't have to do it all on one instance. I often use 2-3 instances of Waves L2 to achieve the final volume I want. Using a few, but using each more gently can result in a better final

[daeron80]

Could be. Maxim is - um - not everybody's favorite peak limiter. Let's just say.

Definitely give the *mix* to the mastering engineer. He can't undo damage done by peak limiters. He'll probably be able to get the thump in it if it's there to be got. Hopefully you didn't high-pass the kick and bass. You want to high pass things that get in the way of those, and if necessary sometimes you need to do one or the other of those, but seldom both these days. Back when it had to go to vinyl, and most everybody heard pop music on small, poorly-designed speakers, it was a good idea to high-pass everything. But not any more. Not if you want to feel the thump.

[Edit]

Jinx @albee

Another thing that can make a master sound worse than the mix is failure to dither or improper dithering. Be sure to bounce down to 24-bit for mastering. If you happen to have a 24-bit dither plug-in, use it. Otherwise use no dither on the mix. If you do any self-mastering, be sure to dither down to 16-bit if you're going to burn it to CD-DA.