Some mastering Techniques I've personally used.

[SunkLo]

Should have clarified I meant subjective power, ie loudness in SPL.
http://www.sengpielaudio.com/calculator-levelchange.htm

[twilitez]

Lots of sweeping statements in here and not alot of good advice.
Im disapoint.

[RmoniK]

Loudness is considered 10 dB per halving, but obviously there's no objective way to measure this.
Double SPL: 6 dB.
Double power: 3 dB.

Back on topic:
Don't put a preset EQ on your master, i never got why people do this. It's basically the same as copy pasting that EQ on every single one of your mix channels, so if you sorted out your mix, there is no need for it. If you want to EQ during the master, values will RARELY be larger than 3 dB cuts and especially boosts. People who said that it's not noticeable: I agree, master EQ'ing is very, very subtle, it's basically just making a few final tweaks. Personally, i don't use it, since i both do the mix and the master i can just as well try to sort things out in the mix. I use a mid/side EQ though, and sometimes i sliiightly tweak the sides, because i feel i have little control over that in the mixing process.

About the resampling: I do this too, just because my CPU can't keep up if i don't. Resampling is not too bad, just make sure when you do that you have a lowpass filter on the master to cut out everything above 20kHz to prevent aliasing. I'm not sure why i'm even getting aliasing when not doing this since a DAW supposedly works in a certain frequency band as well, but i get aliasing, so i have that EQ in my Ableton template on the master (along with a utility device mapped to my launchpad to monitor in mono once in a while, and a spectrum analyzer). What i'm saying is, export the project rather than recording the master. It gives you more control over the settings.

I also like to bounce it down at 24 bit, i can't notice a difference personally, but it makes sense that you'd try to have the least quantization error as possible before mastering. Exactly why you should only dither once, AFTER the master. Also, don't normalize. Neither of the bounces should be normalized, hell, i even turn my final master down -.3dB, supposedly prevents artifacts when converting to mp3.

So basically you use 2 limiters? If you fail to achieve a loud sound with just one limiter, i suggest you look into multiband dynamics.

[Gravehill]

You start with talking about resampling the mix. As an engineer you are always advised to avoid any resampling at 'all' costs.
Because you simply loose quality. Digital audio isn't perfect to begin with, so resampling just adds to this.

So when you finish a tune you just keep it as a project in your DAW?

[titchbit]

You start with talking about resampling the mix. As an engineer you are always advised to avoid any resampling at 'all' costs.
Because you simply loose quality. Digital audio isn't perfect to begin with, so resampling just adds to this.

So when you finish a tune you just keep it as a project in your DAW?

What, you delete all your MIDI, patches, and effect chains?

[Mason]

You start with talking about resampling the mix. As an engineer you are always advised to avoid any resampling at 'all' costs.
Because you simply loose quality. Digital audio isn't perfect to begin with, so resampling just adds to this.

So when you finish a tune you just keep it as a project in your DAW?

yeah lol so you would send your whole project to a ME?

[kylekronez]

Loudness is considered 10 dB per halving, but obviously there's no objective way to measure this.
Double SPL: 6 dB.
Double power: 3 dB.

Back on topic:
Don't put a preset EQ on your master, i never got why people do this. It's basically the same as copy pasting that EQ on every single one of your mix channels, so if you sorted out your mix, there is no need for it. If you want to EQ during the master, values will RARELY be larger than 3 dB cuts and especially boosts. People who said that it's not noticeable: I agree, master EQ'ing is very, very subtle, it's basically just making a few final tweaks. Personally, i don't use it, since i both do the mix and the master i can just as well try to sort things out in the mix. I use a mid/side EQ though, and sometimes i sliiightly tweak the sides, because i feel i have little control over that in the mixing process.

About the resampling: I do this too, just because my CPU can't keep up if i don't. Resampling is not too bad, just make sure when you do that you have a lowpass filter on the master to cut out everything above 20kHz to prevent aliasing. I'm not sure why i'm even getting aliasing when not doing this since a DAW supposedly works in a certain frequency band as well, but i get aliasing, so i have that EQ in my Ableton template on the master (along with a utility device mapped to my launchpad to monitor in mono once in a while, and a spectrum analyzer). What i'm saying is, export the project rather than recording the master. It gives you more control over the settings.

I also like to bounce it down at 24 bit, i can't notice a difference personally, but it makes sense that you'd try to have the least quantization error as possible before mastering. Exactly why you should only dither once, AFTER the master. Also, don't normalize. Neither of the bounces should be normalized, hell, i even turn my final master down -.3dB, supposedly prevents artifacts when converting to mp3.

So basically you use 2 limiters? If you fail to achieve a loud sound with just one limiter, i suggest you look into multiband dynamics.

Ok.
I instead of just using 2 limiters. I put one over the main audio. I resample the whole song in its entirety and then what I do is I flip it to a new track.
So lets say were using a DAW
There would only be one audio track, I throw the EQ onto there where I'd take out SOME frequencies mainly the snare because I let them peak on the original. It actually works. Then I'll throw a Limiter on the where I do the whole -3db. So I'm reducing the volume on that one. I learned this technique through Mr. Bill
Then on the master I throw the other one and just put it +3db. Then its ready, but thats after I'm done mixing the track before hand. It's just a volume trick that worked for me. I did it on that one and the wav in general looks very nice.
Soundcloud

[kylekronez]

You start with talking about resampling the mix. As an engineer you are always advised to avoid any resampling at 'all' costs.
Because you simply loose quality. Digital audio isn't perfect to begin with, so resampling just adds to this.

So when you finish a tune you just keep it as a project in your DAW?

What, you delete all your MIDI, patches, and effect chains?

No not at all.
What I do is save the original file resample the whole track. Copy and paste to a new file.

[knobgoblin]

In a mastering context, it is rare to cut or boost more than 1.5-2 dB, especially if there isn't something fundamentally wrong with the mix down. If you cant hear what that amount of cut/boost does, even with a very tight Q, you probably shouldn't even be using anything on your master bus or attempting to master your own tracks (let alone anyone else's)

[kylekronez]

I miss the Bay area.

[kylekronez]

Oh everyone needs to stop judging, did you listen to what I posted?

[Littlefoot]

cut the 240hz by about .5db

Yeah you can definitely hear the difference that .5dB makes


"It's too bright in here..." <sticks postage stamp over window> "Yeah that's better."

I deal with 0.5s all day long here!

[AxeD]

You start with talking about resampling the mix. As an engineer you are always advised to avoid any resampling at 'all' costs.
Because you simply loose quality. Digital audio isn't perfect to begin with, so resampling just adds to this.

So when you finish a tune you just keep it as a project in your DAW?

yeah lol so you would send your whole project to a ME?

Why is resampling suddenly the same as bouncing. Yeah, usually it involves a change in sample rate, but that
doesn't mean you shouldn't try to avoid it when you want to keep the digital signal as clean as possible.

I usually just think about what medium the end product is going to be and start the mix at the appropriate settings.
For stuff I produce myself in x daw I don't care too much about these technicalities.
To use the old analogy: it's like thinking about what material the frame should be, before you made a remotely decent painting
Just my opinion though.

[RmoniK]

Why is resampling suddenly the same as bouncing.

[Sharmaji]

I deal with 0.5s all day long here!

.5 dB in mastering is no joke.

most of this thread, however...

[outbound]

I deal with 0.5s all day long here!

.5 dB in mastering is no joke.

most of this thread, however...

[kylekronez]

It was just one technique I used...
Some new stuff I'm tworkin on.
https://soundcloud.com/kylekronez/gameboy-demo

[kylekronez]

You start with talking about resampling the mix. As an engineer you are always advised to avoid any resampling at 'all' costs.
Because you simply loose quality. Digital audio isn't perfect to begin with, so resampling just adds to this.

So when you finish a tune you just keep it as a project in your DAW?

What, you delete all your MIDI, patches, and effect chains?

No no, I just Resample the track copy and paste I did that on ONE track I was taught this "technique" from Mr. Bill. He's pretty ill to be honest. Just a thought, not a process I do on EVERY track. I just like to test different variations of mixing techniques on my stuff to see where it goes. I do love using Ozone Maximizer if you can get your hands on it omy. Makes tracks go bump in a trunk. Don't judge btw thats rude I came here for constructive criticism. NOT YOU you're brilliant from what I can tell. (now I'm just being a hypocrite) but positivity never hurt anyone.

[kylekronez]

Lots of sweeping statements in here and not alot of good advice.
Im disapoint.

It's because there is no "real" way to master a song. You have to have an ear. Alot of people don't seem to understand that just by listening you can tell most of the problems. I mean honestly... My favorite Producer by far I know this would sound silly to alot of you guys.. but Dr. Dre just kills with the way he masters his stuff. I wish I had a REAL EQ Limiter and Compressor. So much nicer.

[Brothulhu]

It was just one technique I used...
Some new stuff I'm tworkin on.
https://soundcloud.com/kylekronez/gameboy-demo

Those drums are hella squashed man, ease up on the limiter