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Hello all,
I know this subject has been discussed in a previous thread but I would like your opinion or advice on mastering the final mix. I am currently using Sonar X1 Essential and that came with Boost 11. This is really the only tool I have that I’m familiar with for the final mix and it does a great job but I am considering a plug-in, stand alone app, or upgrading Sonar. I know little about this and would like to know what you guys are using that works well. I like the idea of presets that come with some of the apps at least until I learn how to use it. I have looked at T-Racks and Ozone 4 but I know there are many more out there. I have the 10 day trial version of Ozone 4 but I haven't had the time to learn to use it although I have tried the presets.
Also those of you with Sonar X1 Producer – do you use what comes with the program for mastering or something else? Do you think the difference between the Studio version and Producer version is worth it? Do you use the pro channel for mastering? Does it come with presets?
I know it’s a lot of questions but I want to make sure I spend my money as wisely as I did with BIAB. For about the same money of some the plugins I could upgrade to Sonar X1 Studio or Producer but again I just don't know enough about the choices to make a wise decision.
I’m using Windows XP 32 bit, SonarX1 Essential, and BIAB 2011.5 EverythingPak.
Thanks for your time.
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Hi MrEd, I recently bought Ozone4 and find it exceptionally good. I use it with Reaper (by Cockos). For many years I used Cakewalk/Sonar Home Studio and, about 12 months ago, changed to Reaper after Sonar 7. One of the reasons that I changed was because Geoffrey Francis has written some brilliant books on how to get the most out of this DAW. It's different from Sonar but well worth the effort to learn. (It's only $40 for home use.) I have found that the many plugins that come with Reaper are terrific but I wasn't able to find one that does the job the Ozone does when it comes to mastering. If you want to hear my latest song that was made entirely with Realtracks, Reaper and Ozone4, it's here (it's still a work in progress but you're welcome to listen) ... ... link to latest song(Please note, the above link is a streaming one so it may take a few seconds to start.) Regards, Noel
MY SONGS...Audiophile BIAB 2026
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Noel thanks for the reply and wow what a great tune - very well done. Sounds really polished.
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The various effects included with Ozone are very nice. I use it in RB with no problems.
I do not work here, but the benefits are still awesome
Make your sound your own!
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Okay so what exactly is Ozone and what does it do for you when mastering?
And I would sell my soul to the devil to have a voice like yours. I really can't sing very well.
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Quote:
Okay so what exactly is Ozone and what does it do for you when mastering?
http://www.izotope.com/products/audio/ozone/
Quote:
And I would sell my soul to the devil to have a voice like yours. I really can't sing very well.
If only it could be done, you and me would be in the same line... 
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Tell ya what, Dan, my dear friend Rachel here in Ohio REALLY belongs in Nashville. She is THAT good. Alas, life happens....
I am going to inbox her web addy to you. I don't know about posting it publicly until I get her permission.
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Ozone is worth checking out. Very nice.
Last edited by rharv; 08/25/11 07:43 PM.
I do not work here, but the benefits are still awesome
Make your sound your own!
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There is a stand alone program that I like to use alot, I am not good at the final stages of mastering the finished product, and this program takes alot of the guess work out, as it is fully automated. AAMS (Auto Audio Mastering System) http://www.curioza.com/Link to the song, “The Outstretched Hand” That I used AAMS on: http://www.dannyriddle.com/music/DannyRiddle-TheOutStretchedHand.MP3Keep The Music Alive! Danny
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I also use AAMS & think it is well worth the price. I mainly use it for it's readouts on all the various EQ & compression settings, and then go back & make adjustment based on that...AND you get 21 days to try it out...can not beat that!
Another one that folks rate highly is Hal-Bar, tho I have only tried it a few times...
i5 3.20GHz, 32gb RAM, 1tb SSD OS, 12tb HDD, 4gb gForce vid card, 32" monitor, Audient id44, Win10 x64, BiaB/RB 2023, Reaper 6,IK Multimedia Total Studio 3.5 MAX, Waves 10
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jcspro, it's har-bal as in harmonic balance.
To those of you that jumped on the killer Tracktion deal months back, the FinalMix plugin that was included in Tracktion is an outstanding 'mastering' plugin but it only works in Tracktion.
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Thanks everyone for your input. Some great suggestions and it's very much appreciated.
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Danny I really like your song and it is a very good showcase for AAMS.
Thanks for sharing.
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I downloaded a few plugs a while back i liked for mastering. T Sledge, was good, there were others. I also bought Sonar Essentials, recently, as well as Reaper. I find Reaper to be less cluttered, but i find Sonar to be slightly better. Reaper has a gazzillion small features that you can customize ever detail, but i find that confusing, and distracting.
Many like the Reaper evolutionary growth process, but as i said i find it to be a waste of time, there is update or change every few days, and one feel compelled to make the change, as if I am missing out somehow. Also my DAW is not internet connected so all changes have to be transferred by thumb drive or such.
All the crying over at Sonar to me is just that. I have not had one single issue so far with stability. I think if you do a good plug in search for mastering plugs you can get a half dozen or so and be fine. Really what you need is a solid Multiband EQ, a good compressor, a very clean limiter, and a spectrum analyzer. Having a better reverb, and such does not hurt.
Having a very clean mix to start with helps, making sure tracks are panned properly, that offending frequencies are tamed, goes a long way to polish a project. clean up the mud, stop any clipping problems, and you are really there.
HP Win 11 12 gig ram, Mac mini Sonoma with 16 gig of ram, BiaB/RB 2026, Reaper 7, Harrison Mixbus 11 , Zoom Livetrack L-8
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Robh,
I wasn’t aware of any problems with SonarX1. I haven’t had any issues at all and I’m very pleased with it. I did try Reaper but I think I was already leaning toward Sonar and for me it works great but I know a lot of people use both.
I plan to in the next few days try some of the mastering software mentioned here and hopefully find something that I will be comfortable with.
Thanks
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I've had a few challenges with SONAR Xi, but Ozone works fine with it on my system. Also, anyone with older versions of SONAR can continue to use them while testing X1, since they reside in separate installation folders.
BIAB 2026 Win Audiophile. Software: Fender Studio One 8, Swam horns, Acoustica-7, Notion 6, Song Master Pro, Win 11 Home. Hardware: Intel i9, 32 Gb; Fender Quantom HD8 & Faderport 8, Royer 121, Adam Sub8 & Neumann 120 monitors.
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Hi Don, Mr Ed, and Eddie1261,
Thanks for listening to my song.
Eddie: I composed the music, wrote the lyrics and then got Jason Wyatt in Nashville to sing the vocals because I'm not that great a singer!
Robh: My experience with Reaper updates is that they're pretty much like PG Music and come out at about the same rate.
Regards,
Noel
MY SONGS...Audiophile BIAB 2026
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Yeah i hear you, but Reaper puts out a small update about every three of four days, and your system sees it and asks, i always feel like i should so what i do is constantly update. I do like Reaper a lot, and may end up using it, but i find MTS better at simple audio and midi tracking as it has far less options, but not really far less features and abilities, and i tend to like Sonar a bit better because the midi area is still pretty far ahead of Reaper.
We will see, I am going to give both Reaper and Sonar a solid shake down, and see which i personally like the best.
The other issue is i hope as RB matures it begins to close the gap.
Last edited by Robh; 08/27/11 10:03 PM.
HP Win 11 12 gig ram, Mac mini Sonoma with 16 gig of ram, BiaB/RB 2026, Reaper 7, Harrison Mixbus 11 , Zoom Livetrack L-8
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Rob,
I agree. Reaper isn't as intuitive where MIDI is concerned but it's ok once you get the hang of it. What I normally do is to take my MIDI from BIAB as a wav file and then work with it as audio in Reaper.
If it's any help, what did I to learn Reaper was work through the instruction book and do all the suggested exercises using the demo project file "All Through The Night.RPP". It took a couple of weeks of learning but the time spent was well worth it in my opinion.
Cockos have approached the design of Reaper from a completely different perspective than the majority of DAWs. I found that this meant that what I had learned in Sonar was not always helpful with understanding Reaper. After my couple of weeks of "induction", though, I started to see just how easy Reaper made working with audio. Procedures like "auto crossfade" when a section is simply pasted in place, "splitting at zero crossing", working with "takes" as opposed to "tracks" (just to name a few techniques) have been invaluable to me.
If you get around to trying Repear again, it might surprise you. (Note: I find it better to set the Options | Themes to "Default_3.0"; I find teh visual layout of this theme easier to work with.)
All the best,
Noel
MY SONGS...Audiophile BIAB 2026
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Ask sales and support questions about Band-in-a-Box using natural language.
ChatPG's knowledge base includes the full Band-in-a-Box User Manual and sales information from the website.
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Guess who’s back again? That’s right! It’s our XPro Styles PAK’s triumphant return with the 11th edition in this series! 100 new styles are coming your way spread across the rock & pop, jazz, and country genres. And this edition's wildcard genre explores the immense and far-reaching catalogue of electronic music! The included 31 RealTracks and RealDrums can be used with any Band-in-a-Box® 2026 (and higher) package.
Special offers available until August 31st, 2026!
All the XPro Styles PAKs 1-11 are on sale for only $29 ea (Reg. $49 ea), or get them all in the XPro Styles PAK Bundle for only $149 (reg. $299)! Order now!
Learn more and listen to demos of XPro Styles PAKs.
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XPro Styles PAKs require Band-in-a-Box® 2026 or higher and are compatible with ANY package, including the Pro, MegaPAK, UltraPAK, UltraPAK+, and Audiophile Edition.
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It’s time to celebrate! Xtra Styles PAK 22 for Band-in-a-Box® is here, and we've got 200 brand-new styles coming your way!
No Xtra Styles PAK is complete without the classic rock & pop, jazz, and country volumes you know and love, and we’ve got plenty to share, with 150 styles spread across too many genres to list! Of course, it also wouldn’t be complete with our special wildcard volume to add a little spice and pizzazz to the mix. This year, because we loved it so much the first time, we’ve decided to make the second iteration of our SynthMaster volume, full of new sounds, interesting genres, and 50 engaging styles, all making use of the diverse SynthMaster plugin! Here you can find genres such as airy yacht rock, sultry electrotango, and even some synth soca funk. Don’t wait, pickup up Xtra Styles PAK 22 today!
In this PAK you can find: dulcet folk ballads, funky gospel country, Brazilian jazz fusion, upbeat 1980s pop, classic Americana, a plethora of breezy bossa novas, indie singer-songwriter, scintillating synthwave, exuberant electronica, and many, many more!
Special offers available until August 31st, 2026!
All the Xtra Styles PAKs 1-22 are on special for only $29 each (reg $49), or get all 22 PAKs for $199 (reg $399)! Order now!
Learn more and listen to demos of the Xtra Styles PAK 22.
Video: Xtra Styles PAK 22 Overview & Styles Demos: Watch now!
Note: The Xtra Styles require the UltraPAK, UltraPAK+, or Audiophile Edition of Band-in-a-Box®. (Xtra Styles PAK 22 requires the 2026 or higher UltraPAK, UltraPAK+, or Audiophile Edition. They will not work with the Pro or MegaPAK version because they need the RealTracks from the UltraPAK, UltraPAK+, or Audiophile Edition.
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