Mastering w/ T-Racks and/or Logic

[smithju]

Hey guys,

I'm definitely very new to mastering and from everything I've been reading is that mastering is a very subjective process and everyone does it differently.

That said, I'd like to hear some opinions on my specific set up. I use Logic as my DAW and i've been mastering with it as well. I'm basically just throwing Compressor, EQ, and a Limiter (in that order) to the main output track and fumbling with knobs until it's acceptable. I was thinking of a getting a separate stand alone mastering software (T-racks). The way I understand it is that I will get the mix how I want it in Logic and then bounce the whole track to T-racks. Is it a worth my time and money to get something like T-racks or should i just stick with Logic until I'm ready to step up and spend a lot of money?

Thanks.

[richiebee]

If I was mastering, I'd want a decent stand alone wave editor. I understand that Logic gives you Soundtrack Pro for this purpose. Check it out - the version I have sucks, but I'm sure its much better now. See if this does what you need it to from an editing standpoint and whether it can integrate all the plugins you want to use.

[sparqee]

The greatest value of traditional mastering is that you have someone other than the producer/mixer listening to your mix and offering their creative input. When you master your own material you loose this. Given that if you finish your mix and then take a break of a couple days or more before you come back to master you'll have fresh ears.

Whether you use Logic or get T-racks is really just a question of your own preferences in workflow. If you're not completely satisfied with the plugins you have in Logic then T-racks might add to your bag of tricks, then again you might gain more flexibility by purchasing other individual plugins that you could use both for mastering and for tracking/mixing (T-racks is too CPU hungry to be very useful as a tracking/mixing plugin).

I demo'ed T-racks and while I liked it I decided that I still preferred Ozone 3. Ozone 4 is now out and though I haven't tried it yet I hear good things. You might demo them both.

[Audio~Geek]

Originally Posted by smithju

I'm basically just throwing Compressor, EQ, and a Limiter (in that order) to the main output track and fumbling with knobs until it's acceptable.

This is NOT a good reason to buy more software. T-Racks just has more of the same tools that are already in logic but they look more like rack gear.

There is no fumbling allowed in mastering.

[sparqee]

Originally Posted by Audio~Geek

There is no fumbling allowed in mastering.

Perhaps not, but fumbling is one way of learning. For some, it's the most effect way. Sure, you may bruise your music at first. Give it a few cuts and scrapes but in the end, what doesn't kill you (or your music) makes you stronger.

Remember; spending money stimulates the economy! Er.... is IK Multimedia an American company? Well, just make sure you buy it from an American distributor.

[Audio~Geek]

lol, good point

Still theres a lot of technical knowledge that goes into audio engineering.

The money goes further by sitting in on a mastering session and observing. Ask a few questions after. Then go home and try to match the master with the tools you have.

[sparqee]

You know... what you say is very true. It's been too long since I sat in on a mix session and watched and learned. I've never done this with a mastering engineer and if I could find a good one that was chatty I'll bet it could be great fun. Strangely, the ME's that I've met have been rather uncommunicative about their process/philosophies. It's too bad because that just leads to mistrust and I sure as hell am not going to pay someone to tweak on my babies if I don't trust them.

Maybe I need to join an Abused by Mastering - Mix Engineer's group therapy session. We could all sit in a circle and bitch about how these over paid yahoos crush the life out of our perfect mixes.

[smithju]

Unfortunately I don't really have access to an sound engineer (not in the music business), so for now, I'll just be learning by trial and error. Thanks for the input though guys. I do have one other question. As far as compression goes, do you guys compress tracks separately (i.e. vocals or percussion) or just wait and compress the entire final mix. I feel like it would be counterproductive to compress a track and then compress it again in the mastering process. Also, is it beneficial to buy a hardware compressor instead of using the digital plug in that your DAW provides?

[Audio~Geek]

I do both.
All software.
I often start the mix with a compressor on the master bus, then again in mastering.

did I just blow your mind?!

[TonyB]

Originally Posted by sparqee

The greatest value of traditional mastering is that you have someone other than the producer/mixer listening to your mix and offering their creative input. When you master your own material you loose this. Given that if you finish your mix and then take a break of a couple days or more before you come back to master you'll have fresh ears.

Whether you use Logic or get T-racks is really just a question of your own preferences in workflow. If you're not completely satisfied with the plugins you have in Logic then T-racks might add to your bag of tricks, then again you might gain more flexibility by purchasing other individual plugins that you could use both for mastering and for tracking/mixing (T-racks is too CPU hungry to be very useful as a tracking/mixing plugin).

I demo'ed T-racks and while I liked it I decided that I still preferred Ozone 3. Ozone 4 is now out and though I haven't tried it yet I hear good things. You might demo them both.

Good points. Although I've yet to tame Ozone. Man, I just make a mess of things with Ozone.