budget mastering setup...

[legend4ry]

im aware i do bang on about them all the time, but ive never bought anything thats such a radical improvement.

Not cheap but the quality and ease of use (def this, i used to spend hours demoing and fiddling, now can just insert an eq, twist for 30s and sorted).

The fatso is an uber beast as well, one smacking the drum bus and one subtly lushing the master is phenomenal.

You're just nuts anyways, prefectly made music whats perfectly mixed and mastered...

[Mad_EP]

Lets just remember whos asking the question - fstizzle knows how to mix down .

Oh I know... And I def know FSTZ knows how to mix. BUT if he is looking for louder punchier mixdowns, yet is happy with his overall set up and doesn't want to add any more plugins... then indeed refining the mixes even more is going to have better results rather than driving hot to VHS.

[FSTZ]

Lets just remember whos asking the question - fstizzle knows how to mix down .


I would maybe invest in a UAD, everyone I know whos looking for something awesome on the cheap, copped one!

thanks ledge

I have the powercore system and some nice eq's and comps for it

I finished the project I was working on and I think the thing I was missing was a analyser. so I snagged that Voxengo Span plugin.

it's free and it most certainly did the job

refining the mixes even more is going to have better results rather than driving hot to VHS.

yep

you are correct

[safeandsound]

An ART compressor will not obtain any further perceived level on your mix. (no more than any other
correctly set up compressor which is compressing, arguably in some instances/tracks the release on this specifc
compressor might be a slow 150m/s)

Mix substance, (the building blocks of the mix itself, textures, balance), correct
application of compression, correct and creative use of EQ (including filters) will get
you a good way to obtaining a mix that will be perceived loud.

To obtain further loudness, EQ, harmonic excitement, limiting, soft clipping, hard clipping (not my style personally)
all perfectly optimized (which takes time) is where it happens in mastering. The mix integrity will determine how far one can push these
processes before the inevitable trade offs of loss of punch, loss of dynamics, loss of detail and distortion occur.

cheers

[komanderkin]

first of all, i must also vote against that vcr. :]
i mean, it might make things sound hella interesting, but it certainly wouldn't do much good in trying to achieve the classic goals of mastering.

anyway, considering that you already know how to mix (make track elements have their own place in the spectrum, balance gain levels, and so on...), things that help me achieve a full sounding and loud mixdown are:

1) clean, proper mix is important (although not essential. i love hearing some of my old uneducated mixdowns that were pushed to the limits using all the 'wrong' methods.)

2) adding subtle distortion using a saturation plugin (now, i know you're happy with your tools, but i must suggest trying bootsie plugins called ferricTDS and nasty vcs. reading the manuals for this would be a wise thing to do, some interesting points to be found there. these pluggies are free and brilliant. od course, you can always experiment with other distortion/saturation tools, the point here is first cut some peaks using soft clipping, before adding compression. observing peak levels and using your ears to achieve improved loudness before going into distortion is crucial at this stage.)

3) after using soft clipping to cut the first measure of peaks, add patiently add subtle amounts of compression/limiting using your favorite tools. check out the peak meters while listening to the overall loudness to make sure you're going in the right direction, and prevent overdoing it.

as someone said before, adding loudness in small increments is the way to go. clean your mix up, add some soft clipping, add some more soft clipping, compress a little, try the other way around, and so on untill you're happy/don't give a fuck anymore.

and good luck with your music fstz, it kicks plenty ass already!

[FSTZ]

ferricTDS and nasty vcs

ok

I'll check these out