When Mastering with Waves Gold Bundle

[Princeton]

I'm curiuos as to whether I'm the only one that faces this problem. Being a strong advocate of getting the cleanest and most precise sound while recording, and also very minimal use of effects or plugins at the mix. I find that my mixes require very little EQ and a rather minute use of plugins. I'm for the most part setting levels, fades, mutes etc. What in the Waves bundle do you use and why? I spend a great deal of time choosing sounds that have the dynamic and sound spectrum I want to hear on the final master and sometimes I think I might compromise this while Mastering, and quite frankly, I'm usually satisfied with what I hear at the mix. Maybe I dont have the ears for Mastering. Does anyone experience this problem?

[Mark_Knecht]

What Mike said! Again and again!

I'm starting to like the L1 & C4. They seem quite powerful.

I like RenBass on some of my Pod Pro bass tracks. The bass seems to stand out better without getting overpowering. This is a track plug-in, not a master.

We all agree that great tracks seem to require less post processing.

Mark

[nqmike]

Sure- if you track properly, plug ins aren't going to be used to fix- but rather to enhance.

If you're happy with your mixes as is... then by all means- stay happy.

Of the waves stuff- I find the most use of...
The L1 (can't live without it) R-Verb (I don't think there's a better verb out there for PC right now)C4 (great for tightening up low end in flabby masters)REQ (decent for tweak heavy work)

If you need to make something sound screwed up - the Enigma and MondoMod do a fabulous job. Certainly just creative tools.

The delays kick ass for tuning in a delay time- using the tap tempo.

Most of the other stuff I don't touch much- although I'll pull 'em out on occasion when processing is short for my more CPU intensive alternatives.


my 2 cents

[nqmike]

And...

A high quality master rarely needs any touch up. Perhaps it means you're doing things right as opposed to wondering if you're doing them wrong.

Reference your work to similar material. Does it stand up production wise? If not- then maybe you should start incorporating a bit more plug in pizazz. If so- congrats.

[Princeton]

Thanx guys, at least I know I'm heading in the right direction.

[murph16]

I've always found that no matter how good my mix sounds, perfect levels, great source recordings, etc, I pop in the L1 Ultramaximizer and it still improves. The main advantage of this mastering piece of genius is that I can get a product to really jump out of the speakers and compete with the output level of most commercial records.
And without compromising dynamics! It's quite user friendly, too. For most applications, the preset called "final bit mastering" works nicely.

The C4 is awesome for vocals. It puts a nice composite COMP/EQ setting on the track that makes the vocal ride smoothly on top of the music, and in the case of voiceover/commercial work, it corrects any volume drops that the talent might have.
I love both of them. These two plugs really make the bundle worth the hefty price!

[Ke productions]

Well personally I use quite a bit of eq (Q4 and Q10 plugins) on individual tracks. Primarily cause eventhough my mixes are very clean and clear from the start, when I compare the music to a commercially done cd of the same genre mine doesn't compare until I add eq to Certain tracks. I learned years ago from a very well known and respected engineer Danny Leake that it is sometimes best to do a comparison of your mix with a mix that has already been released and is getting airplay. Yo' stuff may sound good to you but when you play it next to a well mastered cd it may sound different. I'm not saying this applies to everybody, but it works for me. Most of my clients have been so impressed with my finished mixes that they debate whether to have their projects mastered or not.

P.S. If they do decide to have them mastered they usually let me do it and the only thing I do is set levels (L1Maximizer) and cue points (Wavelab). No further eq is necessary. [img]images/icons/rolleyes.gif[/img]

[APAULOS]

I love the S1, it's the only thing I have on the master track... The L1 is great for demos but if you're trying to get airplay take it to a pro. Just remember to take the L1 and any EQ or compression off the master track first!

[nqmike]

and again...


if it ain't broke... don't fix it