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I think you send a wav of the song with a bit of headroom left. You cant have anything on the master bus though.

Sonika wrote:Hey guys I have no idea so can someone enlighten me, when I want a track mastered do I just send the audio file of the final track to the ME and he/she works some voodoo magic to make it sound crisper, louder, etc, or do I bounce out the stems and send them all to the ME?

Send the full track, minus any master buss effects, with a sufficient amount of headroom.

mthrfnk wrote:

Sonika wrote:Hey guys I have no idea so can someone enlighten me, when I want a track mastered do I just send the audio file of the final track to the ME and he/she works some voodoo magic to make it sound crisper, louder, etc, or do I bounce out the stems and send them all to the ME?

Send the full track, minus any master buss effects, with a sufficient amount of headroom.

Spot on. Thanks

Gotcha. Thanks guys. One thing though? I was watching the Icicle masterclass and he said that most of the tracks that he sent off to the mastering house were peaking a little bit, but as long as it didn't distort audibly, it wasn't a big deal.
So he isn't following the "sufficient headroom" approach, which is interesting. Thoughts?

Sonika wrote:Gotcha. Thanks guys. One thing though? I was watching the Icicle masterclass and he said that most of the tracks that he sent off to the mastering house were peaking a little bit, but as long as it didn't distort audibly, it wasn't a big deal.
So he isn't following the "sufficient headroom" approach, which is interesting. Thoughts?

the only way i could see this working is if you had a near perfect mixdown... but ive never heard of anhing like this tbh

ehbrums1 wrote:

Sonika wrote:Gotcha. Thanks guys. One thing though? I was watching the Icicle masterclass and he said that most of the tracks that he sent off to the mastering house were peaking a little bit, but as long as it didn't distort audibly, it wasn't a big deal.
So he isn't following the "sufficient headroom" approach, which is interesting. Thoughts?

the only way i could see this working is if you had a near perfect mixdown... but ive never heard of anhing like this tbh

If you think about Icicles stuff it's very minimal - drums, sub, pad/synth line. This is obviously technically easier (whilst maybe not physically easier) to mixdown than something like a heavy brostep/tearout/electrohouse track where you'll have multiple synths and bass and a heavy drum beat, so I can see how he may not leave as much headroom if he assumes he's nailed the mix. But conventionally you're probably going to want to leave the room so a ME can work his magic.

I must say that is a nice list of gear . Do people ever question the spec of the outboard compared to the monitoring setup?

outbound wrote:I must say that is a nice list of gear . Do people ever question the spec of the outboard compared to the monitoring setup?

i did kind of wonder this myself,

Sonika wrote:Gotcha. Thanks guys. One thing though? I was watching the Icicle masterclass and he said that most of the tracks that he sent off to the mastering house were peaking a little bit, but as long as it didn't distort audibly, it wasn't a big deal.
So he isn't following the "sufficient headroom" approach, which is interesting. Thoughts?

I always ask for plenty of headroom just because if your layering compressor after compressor after compressor on a master bus all you'll end up doing is losing all your dynamics and depth. If you leave plenty of headroom and take you any master compressors off then your keeping everything as clean as possible and leaving the amount of compression needed in the hands of the mastering engineer. A tiny bit of peaking as long as its not distorting never really hurt anyone but it's obviously better not to peak.

Lichee wrote:

outbound wrote:I must say that is a nice list of gear . Do people ever question the spec of the outboard compared to the monitoring setup?

i did kind of wonder this myself,

In terms of the Krk rokits that's on my mixing setup I have Vxt 6's on the mastering setup and every mastered tested on Adam a7x's aswel after. I prefer rokits for mixing personaly but not for mastering.

Would highly recommend using Paul !! Very very patient, fast turn around time too with outstanding results, Very understanding too

Definately would recommend his masters to anybody !!

PaulAshmore wrote:

Sonika wrote:Gotcha. Thanks guys. One thing though? I was watching the Icicle masterclass and he said that most of the tracks that he sent off to the mastering house were peaking a little bit, but as long as it didn't distort audibly, it wasn't a big deal.
So he isn't following the "sufficient headroom" approach, which is interesting. Thoughts?

I always ask for plenty of headroom just because if your layering compressor after compressor after compressor on a master bus all you'll end up doing is losing all your dynamics and depth. If you leave plenty of headroom and take you any master compressors off then your keeping everything as clean as possible and leaving the amount of compression needed in the hands of the mastering engineer. A tiny bit of peaking as long as its not distorting never really hurt anyone but it's obviously better not to peak.

Yeah I don't know much about mastering but I prefer to leave the master bus completely clean while just pretty much riding the faders on all of the individual channels to get my master right

And I'm sure Icicle has a really great mixdown, which is why he lets it peak a little - he's a really talented producer.

PaulAshmore wrote:

Lichee wrote:

outbound wrote:I must say that is a nice list of gear . Do people ever question the spec of the outboard compared to the monitoring setup?

i did kind of wonder this myself,

In terms of the Krk rokits that's on my mixing setup I have Vxt 6's on the mastering setup and every mastered tested on Adam a7x's aswel after. I prefer rokits for mixing personaly but not for mastering.

I gotcha, are you pairing a sub with the VXT's as well? I gotta admit KRK aren't my fave but there is a soft spot in my heart for that 10S

outbound wrote:

PaulAshmore wrote:

Lichee wrote:

outbound wrote:I must say that is a nice list of gear . Do people ever question the spec of the outboard compared to the monitoring setup?

i did kind of wonder this myself,

In terms of the Krk rokits that's on my mixing setup I have Vxt 6's on the mastering setup and every mastered tested on Adam a7x's aswel after. I prefer rokits for mixing personaly but not for mastering.

I gotcha, are you pairing a sub with the VXT's as well? I gotta admit KRK aren't my fave but there is a soft spot in my heart for that 10S

I think it is a matter of opinion really. I think the rokits are ok the vxt's and Adams are well recommended both very similar. I use the rokits for mixing. I find it's good to mix tracks down on lower end speakers because Genrally most people arn't listening to music on £1000 speakers. So bringing sounds through the mix on high end speakers may not come through as much as you want on lower end ones. also use iPod headphones alot as well for mixing. Get a track sounding good on them its going to sound good in 90% of people ears.

PaulAshmore wrote:

outbound wrote:

PaulAshmore wrote:

Lichee wrote:

outbound wrote:I must say that is a nice list of gear . Do people ever question the spec of the outboard compared to the monitoring setup?

i did kind of wonder this myself,

In terms of the Krk rokits that's on my mixing setup I have Vxt 6's on the mastering setup and every mastered tested on Adam a7x's aswel after. I prefer rokits for mixing personaly but not for mastering.

I gotcha, are you pairing a sub with the VXT's as well? I gotta admit KRK aren't my fave but there is a soft spot in my heart for that 10S

I think it is a matter of opinion really. I think the rokits are ok the vxt's and Adams are well recommended both very similar. I use the rokits for mixing. I find it's good to mix tracks down on lower end speakers because Genrally most people arn't listening to music on £1000 speakers. So bringing sounds through the mix on high end speakers may not come through as much as you want on lower end ones. also use iPod headphones alot as well for mixing. Get a track sounding good on them its going to sound good in 90% of people ears.

Yeah have one 10s on the rokits and one on the vxt's great sub really do rate them.

PaulAshmore wrote:

PaulAshmore wrote:

outbound wrote:

PaulAshmore wrote:

Lichee wrote:
i did kind of wonder this myself,

In terms of the Krk rokits that's on my mixing setup I have Vxt 6's on the mastering setup and every mastered tested on Adam a7x's aswel after. I prefer rokits for mixing personaly but not for mastering.

I gotcha, are you pairing a sub with the VXT's as well? I gotta admit KRK aren't my fave but there is a soft spot in my heart for that 10S

I think it is a matter of opinion really. I think the rokits are ok the vxt's and Adams are well recommended both very similar. I use the rokits for mixing. I find it's good to mix tracks down on lower end speakers because Genrally most people arn't listening to music on £1000 speakers. So bringing sounds through the mix on high end speakers may not come through as much as you want on lower end ones. also use iPod headphones alot as well for mixing. Get a track sounding good on them its going to sound good in 90% of people ears.

Yeah have one 10s on the rokits and one on the vxt's great sub really do rate them.

Absolutely and to each his own. If you get results you're after from the VXT's then more money that can be spent on more 'fun' toys in the studio

Hi Paul, please check your private messages on this site!

Eat Bass wrote:can you polish turds? i dont consider myself good enough to get my tracks mastered but maybe ill try one just to hear the difference it can make. do you take USD?

PayPal accepts your credit card for major currencies transactions.

im currently working with paul, and all i can say is if you are thinking of using his service, do it. for the price he is offering, the attention you receive and promptness of said attention is everything one could ask for. obviously mastering is a very subjective task, and paul has done every possible thing to make the track sound exactly how i want. when the process is done i will be posting an A B of the original compared to the master on soundcloud so you guys can hear the work.

Immerse wrote:im currently working with paul, and all i can say is if you are thinking of using his service, do it. for the price he is offering, the attention you receive and promptness of said attention is everything one could ask for. obviously mastering is a very subjective task, and paul has done every possible thing to make the track sound exactly how i want. when the process is done i will be posting an A B of the original compared to the master on soundcloud so you guys can hear the work.

Excellent, i was thinking of doing that myself if the weekend rolled around and no one had done it.