$5 is nothing. You'll like the results or you won't. If pleased, no reason not to keep on keeping on. Compare with what Bob Ludwig or other equally well-known name will charge you. Then you get to the pros whose names you do not know—we can't do it for $5 either.

Your tracks go into a preset matrix of plugs and parameters that give pretty good results for a lot of people. It will likely survive the automatic compression applied by YouTube. There's absolutely nothing wrong with that but you do get what you pay for.

At this point, a reality check is in order.
Quote:
2) They should play with a consistent sound on all kinds of different hardware – audiophile studio setup, car stereo, phone speaker, etc. (If this really works, it would be great – I'm tired of feeling like I have to listen to everything I do on every device I can play it on.)

That mix does not exist and never will. The destination makes a huge difference. CDs, Radio, YouTube, TV etc. each has different requirements. KLOVe Christian radio is a good example where, if you don't master for their 10W format, your mix is at the mercy of the brickwall limiting that they will apply for maximum signal strength.


If you have a desire to master, $5 per song is a really inexpensive way to learn. You pay the money, compare it to your own attempts and learn things or not. Which leads to


There's no set of plugins or tools that just does the work for you–it does not matter how many marketing departments and fanboys of A, B, C or whatever say differently. Likewise, if inexperienced, you will not learn enough in a 30 day evaluation.

That said, iZotope Ozone is on sale for half price or less (depending on the bundle).
iZotope Ozone 9 Sale

It's a good set of tools at a great price with good support forums etc. Ozone Standard will get you there but the Tonal Balance Bundle includes Ozone Advanced (more and separate plugins) and Nectar 3 Plus for the price of Nectar, an awesome tool for vocal production that includes Melodyne. Music Production Suite 4 adds Insight 2 (advanced monitoring), RX 8 (audio cleanup) and three wicked cool reverbs (R4, Nimbus and Neoverb). Divide any of those prices by $5.

These aren't the only tools I use anymore but it's a good basic set that will let you master for any environment you encounter. Learn how to use them and you'll be telling others,
Quote:
$5 is nothing. You'll like the results or you won't etc.…

BIAB 2024 Audiophile, 24Core/60CoreGPU Core M2 MacStudioUltra/8TB/192GB Sequoia, M1 MBAir, 2012 MBP/color]
[color=#FF0040]Digital Performer11, LogicPro
Finale27/Dorico/Encore/SmartScorePro64/Notion6 /Overture5