Re: Mastering Question...

Are you dithering? create a stereo master track and put the dither plug on the master fader.Even if your session is 16 bit still dither.Digi recomends it. Of course mastering is a whole nother story.

Hi canteenboy, Good questions. My advice would be to do your mix as per normal (but don't over-do the compression etc). It is normal practice to have a master-fader on your whole mix btw. BTD as seperate L & R tracks. Go to bed and have a good sleep. A day or two later.... Create a new session and import these two files. Now, on the master fader, you can begin to use plugs such as Maxim or L2, Ren EQ, C4 etc. You may even wish to drive up the level of the two imported tracks. Have dither as the last step in the chain. Now BTD as 16 bit/44.1khz. This should get you a bit closer, or at least you'll get an insight into this part of the process. Best regards, Haigbabe

Mastering Question... 

It can be a real trial to get your music to sound "right" through a home stereo, or car speakers.... In fact, once I do a mix the first thing that I do is A/B it against some of my favorite bands in a few different systems to see how mine compares - kind of like a real world type of test. I'll take notes, and then make adjustments and do it all again until I'm happy. My goal is to be able to put one of my CDs in any system and have it sound professional... A couple of things that you can do to help dial in your sound is to import a song or two from a band that you like straight in to your project and A/B your music right up against some professionaly produced music. You can hear how the bass is produced, how the vocals sit in the mix.... what ever it is you want. And the real important thing about that is you can see how a mastered / professional CD sounds through your own monitors, because knowing the sound of your monitors is key to getting a great mix. If your going to do your own mastering I would suggest using Waves mastering tools. I master my music the same way as above - using reference music as a guide, and I use the Waves PAZ to get a visual at what's going on at the master fader, as well as using the A/B method with my ears. The Waves L2 and C4 are some great tools to use on the master fader - but you can squeeze the life out of a mix if you get carried away! The best way to master your stuff is to send it to a true pro, but if you want to try it on your own, Waves is what I would recommend... Good luck, Carl

Hi y'all!Happy new Year! I'd like to know what do you, guys think of mastering method I usealy do. I record my mix to Dat through ART PRO VLA with a light amount of compression as analog and then return it to Digi as digital 16 bit 44 khz, then open it in Wavelab for mastering. Is just one conversion realy a big deal for sound quality? Thanks for criticizm.

Hi Viktor, Season's Greetings. I'm sure you're getting great results, and I'm not sure that the extra conversions are doing a lot of harm to your work. However, you are altering the files once they are in 16bit. That kind of goes against one of the reasons for using 24bit in the first place, you have greater resolution to play with in 24 bit. So, if it works for you, fine. But on paper you're really losing some quality. Best regards, Haigbabe

Hi Haigbabe! Thanks for feedback.Does what you've said mean that I covert in very early stage? Beacause sooner or later one have to fall down to 16-bit 44 khz? Thanks again.

Thanks Haigbabe! Appreciate that.And I'll give it a try. You have a good time in Digi 2003!

Thank you all for the replies, but I still don't really have an answer to my basic question: Why import the bounced, two-track version of my tune back into PT, when I can just add the same set of plug-ins to my master fader in my full mix? What is gained by bouncing it to two tracks, then importing? I must be missing something. Thanks in advance...