Hardware/Plugin Value Heirarchy

One of my best purchases!!  

Midnight your time or his? There is an east coast / west coast thing there so I'm saying maybe there's still a chance..! Gotta roll with that time zone difference.

Absolutely a chance! He gets the big bucks for a reason... if Bruce Springsteen needs a master cut at 3am he gets one right? Maybe? Now... probably a more interesting question. Is 3am Bob Ludwig any good..? 

Back to reality? Not too get too far off course but I think mastering in general is something that most people, including myself are better off hiring out. One of my favorite cats I send a lot of work to? He's got all the crazy gear, excellent instincts and depending on the situation, most times winds up around $50-75 a track. Plus the best part? Then we (the artist and I) get to tell someone else how much it sucks and we don't like it! 

With some thought overall, if I have to pick one 'mission critical' category of analog gear? Especially for tracking? EQ. 

I feel the ability to shape tones while recording, in the moment things are going down is not overrated. It is almost critical. Almost everything that gets recorded is going to need some EQ to fit in with other sounds and translate back to the real world end listener. Why not start early? 

It could be simple "fixes" like brightening up that acoustic with the mellowed out strings. We're tracking piano? Almost always needs a carve... funky murky midrange congesting things? Pull out some 400... maybe put a little splash of top end on. Doesn't have to be drastic & final but even 2dB in each direction... make a nod. 

Maybe not as common in a home studio, but the ability to patch up not so great sources. Had a guy bring in a wurlitzer with a bad, low, buzz filled output. That took some healthy swings on all 4 bands to minimize noise & put some muscle into the tone. 

Like a few have already mentioned, filtering out "junk" before it hits the converter and is captured forever? Big time life saver. So many things can get captured that may not be heard until much, much later in the process. Even at mastering. Tambourine "thunks" that go unheard... room noise... footsteps & HVAC rumble... passing cars... better to get rid of it all early. Depending on signal to noise can maybe put a way healthier signal in too! 

IME two other huge benefits? Saves on DSP. You'll absolutely use less ITB EQ.. or at least I do. The other massive benefit? Makes the entire album sound better. 

Harder to prove but I'll say, there's little doubt that as a mix for hire cat? There is absolutely a very tangible difference in outcome between the stuff that comes in "tracked flat" and projects where things have been shaped. Material in the latter category is always faster easier and more satisfying to mix. Mostly because the intent & overall direction of the recording has already been established before I touch anything.   

And so the tracked flat camp, where there's been minimal to zero shaping... its like whether they want to sound like Smashig Pumpkins or Steely Dan? It always feels like we're a long way from the actual target which requires a lot more work & heavy lifting. That difference extends to mastering where one camp? My guy says "I barely touched it" and the other..? His quote? 

Well its nothing that $50k of outboard can't fix! 

So yeah I'm going with EQ. Get a good pair, stereo and really learn 'em. Don't be afraid to twist the knobs all the way. There's a reason they go +/- 15dB 

And FWIW I do think the whole thing about picking mics? Never using EQ? Oh I never EQ overheads? That camps missing out. There's either something they haven't figured out yet... or... they did figure it out and now have a huge pile of microphones. Not like 3 or 4, but 3 or 4 dozen... and they probably still use EQ and just don't talk about it. 

Right but aren't you in a unique position compared to most? You do a lot of TV & film music right? Write & record? So everything you turn in, on a deadline has to be mastered? 

That's totally different then someone who writes and puts out one album or EP every 3 years. They can probably afford to hire someone & makes more economic sense. Maybe not Bob Ludwig, put somebody legit. 

As a pro? Yeah I have a chain of stuff I use for masters. And while I don't hang out a shingle for it I have mastered records... even vinyl & label projects. Anyone who's working today has to have at least some ability & knowledge to kick out a self-master. 

I think for the average DIY artist? All 'ya need is something that makes it loud and some sort of EQ. And there's a ton of limiters & various plug packages for little bucks... and its some of the same stuff guys like you & me use to self master soooo..? 

Now if we're talking about chasing tone? Like I want the tone of "X" box? That's a different thing. And chasing tone..? Little EQ goes a long way! 

^ this!   

add that they'll all be way faster than me second guessing my own work.  

This thread has my head spinning.. I've gone back and forth between enhancing my hybrid setup (which is basically an AudioScape Buss Comp on the mix buss) to pretty much staying ITB and instead focusing on enhancing or upgrading my recording chains, and I'm starting to settle in on the latter.  Hopefully I'll be getting things professionally mastered so this seems to be the right way to go about things.

I'm very happy with my microphones at this point, and my pre-amps may not be the very best, but they are no slouches.  I think I should upgrade my Warm WA-2A and I'd really like to add an EQ. I'm leaning toward a Pultec.  Given my price range, I'd love to have a Stam, but I'm just not comfortable ordering gear from them given their track record.  Does anyone know if their turnaround times are as advertised, and are they consistent these days?  Otherwise, that leaves Audioscape, which is slightly less expensive but I know it's great gear.

Regarding a pultec, and considering that I would use it mostly on my vocal chain, but also on acoustic guitar, which model makes more sense? ..the MEQ or the EQP? My though is the MEQ. Hypothetically if I was able to purchase two so I had the option of adding them to my mix buss, which should I buy? My though is the EQP.  Does anyone put both on their recording chain?

No EQ going in?

..so you have bridge compressors in the chain as well?

OK, too much stuff.. Not enough money and not enough space for that matter.  I'm looking for a minimal type of set up.  NP-500NV --> EQ/Pultec(s) --> upgrade Compressor --> ITB

When I listen to all these shootouts of high end gear, I think to myself..  Yeah, OK, I hear the difference, but I can't necessarily tell that one is objectively better than the other, especially where color is concerned.  I write music and record primarily for myself, so on the one hand I don't see the point in purchasing gear that I can't appreciate.  Of course I realize that when I share my music, there are people out there who are able to make those distinctions.  Then there's my alter-ego asking me as chief knob turner, how do I know I'm not screwing things up?  My solution is to keep it simple.  One thing I like about the Pultec is that it's a subtle EQ.  A lot can go a little.

Nice. I'm not quite there, but I'm close. From treatment to hardware, and now the Dyn 48's are burning in, etc. But I'm also realizing that, as much as I want to, I shouldn't trust myself or my gear 100%.  Having someone else master seems to make a lot of sense.  That, and at least in the medium term, I'll save a lot of money.   Paying to have a two or three EP's mastered costs a lot less than two or three pieces of boutiquey gear.

Yes, I realize that things can't be unprinted.  But it's not as black and white as saying that a little uncertainty is unacceptable.  I can't go back and change the mic, its placement or the pre-amp.  Printing a little 2A on the way in is certainly going to help more than hurt, even with 0 gain reduction.  It's not that I don't trust my decisions. I know what I want, and that makes it that much harder to let go.  On the other hand I also know I have limitations, some of which no doubt I'm unaware of. A new set of ears at the mastering stage makes a lot of sense.

You just need to be realistic about what an ME can actually do!

You’re presenting them with a stereo file and therefore presenting them with an enormous compromise if there’s any issues you’re hoping they will “fix”
there's a reason ME's have to sometimes resort to M/S processing!

Imho, it’s too late in the process to be adding vibe, energy, excitement and magic, to my way of thinking that happens at the writing, arranging, tracking and mixing stages.

Mastering used to be a technical process for transferring recordings to vinyl - it was never an “add the magic” stage.

At least for me, when I’ve finished a mix it has everything I want it too have, I am absolutely not looking for any artistic input from another engineer but I’ve been at this over 40 years and perhaps that comes from confidence in my own ears and ability?

If I do some “mastering” for other artists, I usually tell them to go back to the mix and tell them what to tweak at that point not the stereo file - I’m essentially helping them mix.

Rather than an ME I can understand people asking other people to mix their music for them as that’s when a professional can inject a serious amount of vibe, energy and emotion I can’t see that being at the ME stage, it makes zero sense to me and my own personal workflow and approach.

That said, if an ME has some fabulous tube gear they can pass your mix through then that can help add a nice gloss and density etc but IME that can introduce compromises that wouldn't be an issue if you are mixing into that processing from the get go.

The greater question is ....

If needs be, is it better to mix into plugins emulating high end tube and SS mix bus processing or send a stereo file to an ME and hope the compromises are expectable.

And finally, of course there's STEM mixing but that's yet another can of worms :-)

Don't get me wrong, if I had unlimited budget I would love to work with an ME like Bob Katz bringing him in for advise at the mix stage and then attending his Mastering sessions as he "tweaked" my latest album to utter perfection - but I don't have that kind of budget, at my end of the ME price bracket I have never had a master back I preferred to the master I created for myself with my non compromise approach of mixing into bus processing at the mix stage - not even close!