Hi Guys,

Can anyone suggest any quality mastering software/plugins?

I'm looking for something which is fairly easy to use and a good fit for ReadBand/BIAB.

Many thanks

Mike

Have you tried the plugins that come with PG Music products? Limiters, compressors and equalizers can get you a long way. You should first experiment with what you already have, and get the hang of using plugins and concepts of mastering.

I use Ozone by Izotope. I haven't tried it in BIAB/RB (I learned SONAR first) but it should work. Even if you don't buy it, they have a terrific free guide that is a must read for someone starting out in mastering.

Another top quality program you will encounter is the plugin suite by Waves. This is the industry standard but the last time I checked, it required iLock copy protection, which I will not use.

I am making a distinction here between mastering and mixing. If that isn't clear to you, then we need to drop back a step and clarify what mastering is.

Another Ozone user here... it's great software. I use it with BIAB/RB files in Reaper.

Hi Mike,

I also use Ozone in Real Band. The beginner will find it easy to use by using one of the many presets. After getting familiar with the presets, you can tweek away at the many parameters for custom settings. The results are amazing! You can download the program for a free trial. I don't remember what the trial restrictions are, but I do remember having the ability to fully test on my arrangements. Go to their site and check it out; try out the free demo download!

Don

Yep! Another vote for Ozone! With all due respect to Matt, imho life is too short to be farting around with the built-in PG plugs! If you can afford Ozone you will be instantly amazed with what you can accomplish using the many presets!! If I never really understand mixing and mastering but I can get great tracks using these tools I will die a happy man!

My "go-to" polisher (I don't call it "big "M" mastering) is Ozone and I use it in Sonar.

Regarding the built in or default plugs that come with BB/RB as well as any other DAW on the market.... You can produce radio ready product with the default plugs, but, for many folks including myself, the aftermarket plugs help get the job done faster.

Thanks very much Guys for taking time and trouble to reply at Xmas, all very much appreciated and read with interest.


Ozone keeps coming up so I will check it out. The goal is to find a product which will allow me to produce music which will be professional enough to be played on radio and which will sound the same across most formats. I used to mix myself and pay for the mastering but it is about time I learned!

Have a great Xmas!

Cheers

Mike

Ozone costs a few hundred but is completely worth it. Ease of use is a great feature. My recommendation on this or almost any plugin: turn it up till you hear it clearly, then back off by half. Otherwise, it's very easy to overdo things.

Mastering also involves the relative balance of one song versus the others in the same collection. This used to be more important when people bought albums, cassettes or even CDs where there was a planned order of songs. Now, with individual MP3s etc. most songs are just jacked up to maximum volume, however horrible that is to the artistry of the music. And the radio station is going to further add their own compression to squeeze the life out of whatever you give them. Anyway, if you are making a collection of songs, then I recommend CD Architect by SONY.

Thanks again Matt.

I've checked out Ozone today and will be almost certainly get it. Just have to decide whether any of their bundled products are worth having as well. I'm back into this for the long haul with the goal of getting a few more songs on the radio!

Have a great Xmas.

Regards

Mike

They have a very effective noise reduction program.

They also have Alloy, which you could think of as Ozone Lite. Ozone is meant to go on the final bus, or a stereo audio file. Alloy uses much less of your computer resources and is intended to be applied to individual tracks in a mix, before you mix down to a stereo file. You can have many instances of Alloy running concurrently, but I don't recommend that with Ozone.

That isn't a knock on Ozone, though - I highly recommend it.

Waves moved on from iLok a couple of cycles ago. Their copy protection is similar to Celemony and PGMusic now.

Yes, the waves copy protection is not bad now, and they have some fabulous plugins!

I use the waves plugins on individual tracks and I use Ozone for the final master.

I use Ozone on tracks as well as busses and of course in the master output buss.

I haven't checked, but at one time, and perhaps still, Ozone was offered as a fully functional demo that worked for 10 days before shutting down into demo mode.

Anyone who makes the mistake of downloading the demo to use had better have the money saved up to buy it. It's THAT good. You WILL have to purchase it after you get a taste of what it can do.

The most salient point IMO was made by Matt:

“Have you tried the plugins that come with PG Music products? Limiters, compressors and equalizers can get you a long way. You should first experiment with what you already have, and get the hang of using plugins and concepts of mastering.”


Ozone is great, but it has a tendency to suck all of the dynamics out of a mix if overused. (And a lot of people overuse it, myself included ). Real Tracks are already compressed at the time they were recorded (SOP), and adding more limiting and compression can reduce your headroom considerably.

Try some judicious EQ, limiting and compression on the Master Buss, and you might find you have a brighter, cleaner mix.


Regards,

Bob

That is still the case.

Ozone also includes a standalone app that you can run your stereo mix through independent of the DAW. Also Ozone 6 (my product) has a suite of "light" presets and they will not "suck the life out of your" as somebody mentioned. The other presets can indeed do that unless you modify them per your song.

It may have been mentioned but I suggest you resist the temptation to use Ozone for mastering at any point during your production until you are satisfied with your mix.

A great companion to Ozone is Izotope's Nectar which is for vocal processing but has an incredible reverb that can be used alone for non-vocal tracks.

Bud

All very good advice. About just this quote, if you were referring to my post, I said the radio stations will do that no matter what you do. It's their mission to make all volumes sound the same over radio. But if it was Bob's post, or others, the advice is well taken to use Ozone or any other plugin in moderation.

Thanks. Somebody else mentioned that. Think he said suck all the dynamics out. And it certainly can if you get carried away with the compression modules. Typing on phone so I'm not particularly expressive!

We're good! I just re-read the thread and clarified my post. Many of us are saying something similar. This thread should be very helpful to anyone starting out along this route. I remember twenty years ago asking the same question: how come my mixes don't sound like the ones on my CDs?

All of your experience and comments are very welcome. Thank you and have a great Xmas!

Best wishes


Mike

Regarding Ozone supposedly sucking the life out of your mix....

First, that is not limited to Ozone. Anyone can do that with the default plugins that come with any DAW including BB & RB.

Second point and probably the most important one. If you learn what you're doing and use only what you need, you can use any preset in Ozone and still have a dynamic mix. Some tweeking of any preset is always a good idea. AND.... there is a PDF that helps newbies learn about using compressors and limiters and all the other tools in Ozone....and the best thing is, it applies across any plug in used in the mastering process.


It is ultimately YOUR choice and by the decisions you make whether your mix looks like this which is compressed to the max:



or if it looks like this one which is also quite loud but still retains the dynamics it needs to impart a pleasant listening experience:



A good wave editor lets you see the final wave. This is one time I do recommend using visual information in the mixing process. And yes, a simple compressor adjustment can make the difference between the top photo and the bottom one. And unless you have good ears, it may be difficult for a newbie mixer to hear that difference but your eyes will spot it.

My 2 cents

I have been recording my band for many years. For anything serious, we have it professionally mastered here in Chicago or New York for $100-$150 per song. Those guys are using gear that would never make sense to own, and (more importantly) have the experience to get things sounding as close to "radio-ready" as possible.

Back to the original poster's question... Which mastering suite/plug-in is best suited for BIAB/Realband? If you're happy with the overall sound of your mix, you can just run it through a peak limiter to get things a little louder. Look at kvraudio.com for free peak limiters. This one is highly regarded:
http://vladgsound.wordpress.com/plugins/limiter6/.

I use the Izotope Mastering Essentials. It's included with Mixcraft Pro Audio 7, which costs less than half of Izotope Ozone. Essentials doesn't include nearly as many features as Ozone, but has a lot to offer in terms of shaping the sound and amplifying your mix. That, and Mixcraft is a great DAW if you need features that extend beyond Realband's capability (I use both).

Lastly, here's some great general advise:
"The short version: Stop recording so hot. Instead of trying to get your tracks to peak at -2dBFS, have them peak between -20 and -12dBFS and your recordings will almost undoubtedly sound better. Mixing will be easier. EQ will be more effective. Compression will be smoother, more manageable and predictable. You're in the age of 24-bit digital recording - Relax and enjoy the headroom. Even if your only concern is the volume of the finished product (which would be a shame, but it happens), recordings made with a good amount of headroom are almost undoubtedly better suited to handle the "abuse" of excessive dynamics control. QUIETER recordings have more potential to be LOUD later. It's because they're usually better sounding recordings in the first place."

John Scrip - MASSIVE Mastering
-----
I hope this helps!

Best,
Mark