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Post by svart on Jun 26, 2024 10:45:02 GMT -6
I always mix for the loudness I want. If the mastering guy needs to do anything, then my mix wasn't finished. I aim for around -10LUFS on most stuff when it's sounding right. If I can't get there easily then I know the mix is off somehow, usually too much sub bass. That said, my master bus has: Slate VMR - Virtual channel SSL buss compressor Native, HPF around 90Hz, 4:1, doing around 3dB GR, 0.1-0.3 attack, fastest release, no auto. (if it's more than 3dB GR and it's still not hitting -10LUFS, then I know the mix is not balanced right) Ruletec EQ1 - Adding some top end or bottom end. Ruletec EQ5 - Adding a little mid for vocals or guitars. Sometimes: Weiss MM-1 maximizer - Don't always use it, but sometimes I need MORE for a song. L1 doing just a tiny bit on the worst peaks, output set to -0.1dB to stop overs. mixing into a limiter for a real release that will be mastered is bad unless it's something intentionally massively distorted like oxford with enhance or "safe mode" cranked or elevate when it's a bus effect and you can safely leave off most of your other nice sounding mildly distorted bus processing because they are so distorted how they are commonly used, what you put before them will scarcely matter. but then making sure they come out with the same dynamics song to song into the intentionally distorted limiters is impossible... then to match the volumes of the tracks, the mastering guy will have to lower gain with the faders or a trim versus the mastering guy being able to set the rms and peak crest level of the record uniformly so the listener doesn't have to adjust the volume, which is a pita for the listener unless they're a deaf classical hifi nut who wants to crank it on the quiet parts and blow their eardrums out when the fortissimo suddenly hits.
or what we see in pop music and edm where nothing has any transients, only distortion, and the quieter already limited tracks are smashed down again to match the louder, already limited and almost always clipped tracks and it just sounds pumpy, distorted, and awful. the clients will complain that the wave forms aren't brickwalled if they lower gain even though they are phase shifted when being played out of the speakers by the dc filters and crossovers so no longer flatlined...
Well, specifically for me, I'm not using the limiter for level increases. I'm using it to catch possible overs, which it might flicker a few times during the song and do 1dB of GR or something small. |
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Post by jacobamerritt on Jun 26, 2024 12:06:23 GMT -6
not really a "suggestion" as this is just what I've been using... Amek 200 or BAX EQ, Slate VBC (or sometimes Townhouse), Slate FG-X2. of course that's for something that resemble some form of rock. other types of music get something else. edit: I should also mention that many of the projects I work on are very low budget so I mix into the mastering chain the whole time because it's never going anywhere else (i.e. to another mastering engineer) and this way the client gets to hear what the final version will sound like as we go along. When they approve, it's done and can be distributed immediately thereafter... (or as soon as I bounce the correct format of files). Is that the PA Amek 200 (Link) |
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Post by Dan on Jun 26, 2024 12:25:55 GMT -6
not really a "suggestion" as this is just what I've been using... Amek 200 or BAX EQ, Slate VBC (or sometimes Townhouse), Slate FG-X2. of course that's for something that resemble some form of rock. other types of music get something else. edit: I should also mention that many of the projects I work on are very low budget so I mix into the mastering chain the whole time because it's never going anywhere else (i.e. to another mastering engineer) and this way the client gets to hear what the final version will sound like as we go along. When they approve, it's done and can be distributed immediately thereafter... (or as soon as I bounce the correct format of files). Is that the PA Amek 200 (Link) watch out their model of gml 8900 distorts horribly on faster detector versus the kotelnikov, Weiss ds1, powair you might already have from sales and bundles. The mdwdrc2 can pump but only the auto release trigger really has the “tearing” zip of being too fast sound when applied to tonal content. Main “amek” detector sounds good and you can limit overshoots with the peak stop unlike dbx 160 |
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Post by Dan on Jun 26, 2024 12:26:55 GMT -6
mixing into a limiter for a real release that will be mastered is bad unless it's something intentionally massively distorted like oxford with enhance or "safe mode" cranked or elevate when it's a bus effect and you can safely leave off most of your other nice sounding mildly distorted bus processing because they are so distorted how they are commonly used, what you put before them will scarcely matter. but then making sure they come out with the same dynamics song to song into the intentionally distorted limiters is impossible... then to match the volumes of the tracks, the mastering guy will have to lower gain with the faders or a trim versus the mastering guy being able to set the rms and peak crest level of the record uniformly so the listener doesn't have to adjust the volume, which is a pita for the listener unless they're a deaf classical hifi nut who wants to crank it on the quiet parts and blow their eardrums out when the fortissimo suddenly hits.
or what we see in pop music and edm where nothing has any transients, only distortion, and the quieter already limited tracks are smashed down again to match the louder, already limited and almost always clipped tracks and it just sounds pumpy, distorted, and awful. the clients will complain that the wave forms aren't brickwalled if they lower gain even though they are phase shifted when being played out of the speakers by the dc filters and crossovers so no longer flatlined...
Well, specifically for me, I'm not using the limiter for level increases. I'm using it to catch possible overs, which it might flicker a few times during the song and do 1dB of GR or something small. You’re on motu converters and reaper iirc. Motu starts saturating above -1 dbfs. You should put a true peak limiter (not l1 or l2. At least Oxford good but you can use anything and turn off all The bs and use the auto comp) an insert on your monitoring fx at -1dbfs followed by a 24-bit dither and just not mix hot. Lower the digital gain a bit on the master fader and crank the monitor controller up. Same levels, no l1 distortion, print mix at 32-bit float so no distortion or clipping on mix. |
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Post by notneeson on Jun 26, 2024 12:30:52 GMT -6
I’m typically sending refs with a little Pultec (noise ash) lift at 12k or 16k. That hits the IK Stealth Limiter next.
On the project I’m prepping now for Trakworx I will take both off with the exception of an outlier mix or two where I’m shipping with the Pultec printed.
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Post by doubledog on Jun 26, 2024 12:36:29 GMT -6
not really a "suggestion" as this is just what I've been using... Amek 200 or BAX EQ, Slate VBC (or sometimes Townhouse), Slate FG-X2. of course that's for something that resemble some form of rock. other types of music get something else. edit: I should also mention that many of the projects I work on are very low budget so I mix into the mastering chain the whole time because it's never going anywhere else (i.e. to another mastering engineer) and this way the client gets to hear what the final version will sound like as we go along. When they approve, it's done and can be distributed immediately thereafter... (or as soon as I bounce the correct format of files). Is that the PA Amek 200 (Link) no sorry, the Amek EQ 200 -- www.plugin-alliance.com/en/products/amek_eq_200.html |
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Post by viciousbliss on Jun 26, 2024 16:59:20 GMT -6
Has anyone here worked with the Cedar Adaptive Limiter at all? It's really helpful in doing a final balancing before bouncing. You can actually do a significant rebalance. I never hear any weird artifacts. The worst thing that happens is that the vocal can sound too separate from the music if you cut too much on the LF dial. There are probably ways to ruin the sound if you go overboard, but it's not really meant for that sorta thing. I've never used it to massively crush dynamics and make everything louder, though I imagine it would preserve stuff better than most other limiters. It's pretty transparent when turning the threshold counterclockwise a bit. I'm always turning LF, HF, and Spectral to the left, but I imagine some of you here might find it useful to increase them. Definitely curious what everyone here would think of this one if you haven't already tried it.
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Post by christopher on Jun 26, 2024 22:34:45 GMT -6
I’ve recently re-discovered ReaLimit. I have never used it to print because the sound of it upsets me, but it’s amazing at the end of your chain to inspect what the waveform will look like. So I’ll leave the window floating and play with example, stealth settings, you can visually see what the different modes of other plugins are doing, and how much headroom. Then bypass ReaLimit before printing
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