Best Mastering Chain
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- Опубликовано: 5 окт 2024
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I study youtube so much, and yet this is still the greatest mastering informational that exists for experienced engineers
That's awesome! Thanks Eric!
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amazing ! just let us compare the plugin bypassed A/B a little longer. it's hard catching the difference the very first time. great stuff!
Thanks for watching Kay! Good point! In our newer videos we make the demonstrations longer.
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Best RUclips channel ever for mastering no doubt.
Awesome! Thanks for watching Josh!
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I find this channel extremely helpful .
Hey Ismael! That's awesome to hear! Glad you're finding these helpful!
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One of the best RUclips channels for tutorials for all kinds of audio pre/post-production.
Thanks for sharing your experience
Hey Compound Audio! Thanks for watching and leaving a comment - also thanks for your continued support of the channel!
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@@sageaudio pleasure.😇
I can't believe the number of subs you have considering the quality and knowledge that's being provided from yourselves. 🤔
One of the Best Channels when it comes to Plugins, Mixing and Mastering advices :-) *thumbs up*
Awesome! Glad you're liking our videos!
Thanks for watching!
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Another Sonnox fan! I’ve been using their limiter for ages, I just like what it does. I’ve tried to switch it out for others (Fabfilter, Ozone, DMG etc) and there’s just some barely perceptible thing about it I like. Guess I’m just used to how to get what I want from it
Thanks for watching! That's a greta limiter and if you know how to get the sound you want from it, no need to change it!
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@@sageaudio a funny aspect of the Oxford Limiter is that the “enhance” parameter actually sounds significantly different from Inflator, I suspect they’re doing similar things in a different way, and in my experience they don’t pair well together. It’s one or the other. Inflator makes things sound fatter to my ears, feels more like “more loud” for less of a better description and the Limiter’s enhance kind of accentuates transients and makes things feel a bit brighter. What I use is completely source dependent, 50/50 🤷♂️
I’ve been reading your articles online for a while now and so glad to know that you have a channel 🦉
Hey Deep Things! That's awesome! Thanks for checking out the channel!
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Sage is doing the most
Thanks for watching!
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tnx alot this is my best thing that id watched about mastering
Hey Armin! That's great to hear! Thanks for watching the video!
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the Oxford inflater def gave it a greater low end presence !! great job !!! AS ALWAYS !!
Thanks, similar chain here together with some analog warmth.
Hey Mathias! Awesome! That sounds like a good combo.
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Congrats on the 10k!!! I am so glad that I discovered your channel some months ago. EVERY video is just a banger. I instantly knew that this channel gonna blow up and I am glad that i found it before the 10k mark ✌
Hey Bonzvy! Thank you so much for your support! Great to hear that you enjoy the videos. Hopefully the channel continues to grow the way it has been!
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this is an awesome mastering chain, works great for me!
Exaggerating the effect like you did with the inflator, then pulling it back helps a lot (for me anyway) to tune my ears to what the plugin is doing-- great video!
Thanks for letting me know! Also, thanks for watching!
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Thank you! Love to watch this type of videos. Very clear and pleasant presentation. This chain seemed very same as my go to. I just love izotope a bit more than ff, so ozone eq (sometimes paired with dyn) stays mostly at first. Same with last limiter. I use combination of weiss & ozone, most of the time. People complaining about price of soothe should try Dseq from tbpro audio, its very close but half the $. When it comes to weiss, its just worth everything.
Thanks for watching! Great to hear that you're enjoying the channel and liked this video. Weiss is great - I bet pairing it with Ozone works well especially for a clear transparent sound.
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This channel is killin it as far as info goes... well done
Thanks! And thanks for leaving a couple of comments!
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@@sageaudio You guys got the music AND video production down, these vids are super helpful. Defintely deserve more subs but I'm sure that'll come. Just glad to have found you guys! Cheers
Thanks for sharing all the sauce and breaking down the signal flow. Love your vids 🤟.
Thanks man! I appreciate that for sure!
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It’d be great to see an example of a chain for indie folk/rock or similar genre please🙏
SOUND AMAZING THIS SONG
Thanks adel! And thanks for watching and leaving a comment!
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it´s just great, i´m learning with every video, thanks.
That's great! Thanks Masterkey!
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Great video. But if it doesn't hurt, could you level match before and after plugin inserts?
Hey El OnTheBass! Thanks for watching - we'll try to compensate for gain changes in future videos, thanks!
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Solid techniques, and really inspiring chain. However some constructive feedback for videos like these would be to level-match your plugin chain. The before and after is really misleading. For all the viewer knows it's just louder.
Hey RMKTOPPEN! Thanks for watching and leaving a comment! That's a good idea! I do still want to show how they sound when making the signal louder, but maybe I can include a level-matched section to show what the plugins do in addition to increasing the gain.
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@@sageaudio i think that would be more educational, it’s almost impossible to make a fair comparison of what a compressor is adding in tone if the gain is boosted. If you want to showcase louder there’s always the gain plugin ;)
Instant like - always learn so much from you guysv💪🙌❤️🙏
That's awesome! Thanks for watching and liking the video!
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I really love the oxford stuff
Hey Yoshi! Thanks for watching - they're great!
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@@sageaudio No problem! Subscribed! Good videos
Although the actual plugins are still evolving, my chain is similar to yours, effect per effect, maybe because I learned to master with your videos. However, and likely because I don't have vocal with words in my songs, I don't have a de-esser. I'm currently mixing a metal song for friends and I'm de-essing directly in the vox bus, but I guess it's another one of those mix related things that you don't have the chance to deal with before hand. In this mix I also tested Slate Digital's software and the Virtual Tape Machines brought tears to my eyes. It's so sweet.
I have not had good results with two or more limiters yet though. I think it's related to the actual plugins, since all I have access to is quite transparent.
One thing you didn't mention and that I have used in the past is a slight reverb to add a bit of life and cohesion to the track. If my memory serves me right, I only did this once, but the result was good.
A suggestion: although it is "yet-another-mixing-thing" I'm having issues with vocal pops, the Ts , Ps and Bs kind of thing.
Hey Synaptic Schism! Cool to hear that you've incorporated some of the steps from this channel into your mastering! Makes sense that you don't use a de-esser, since it wouldn't be needed for your music.
I'll have to give the Virtual Tape Machine a try!
The 2 limiters thing might just be a preference of mine, but you're right, it does help if at least one of them has some color or a unique timbre.
A very small amount of reverb can be good too - I typically avoid it, but I've tried it before and it can help for sure.
Plosives are definitely difficult to clean up during mastering - Izotope's RX program may be your best bet if you can't get you hands on the mix or stems. Thanks for watching!
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I was waiting for this one... finally got this❤️
Hey Adarsh! Thanks for watching 😊
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The best channel. If you could put a subtitles in spanish you will take more spectators. Just advice😂 thanks for everything.
Those are good choices of plugins for ITB mastering of this song. If this were EDM or rock, your Mastering chain could be very different. If it works and it sounds good, it's the right tool, until you find something that works better. That said, I think most of the plugins you showcase are a safe bet for someone wanting to get a good toolbox of mastering plugins. For limiters. I would suggest owning several others in addition to the ones you show. Those could be Elevate, L3-16, and Limitless. Limitless is a bit advanced for the novice though, so maybe learn with something simpler like the Pro-L or Ozone Maximizer.
You already replied to my comment about limiters on your other video of limiters, so no need to revisit what I said there, so I'll add that this chain you're demonstrating is good for "this" song, but for any other song, different plugins may work better. I'm surprised you didn't mention Clipper plugins. I would not use a clipper on this song, but clippers are such a great tool in the mastering chain. Anyway, I'm not here to educate anyone. Fantastic job!
Hey TheChosenOne! Thanks for watching and leaving a comment! You're right - the signal chain here will may be the best one or one of the best ones for this song, but maybe not for another track when we consider factors like genre, how it's mixed etc. I'll have to check out some clippers! Thanks!
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Fantastic Job. Also a great track
i love this channel
I'll check it out! Thanks for watching!
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I’m a big fan of the Black Box HG-2. It’s actually one of the more common pieces of hardware I’ve seen in some successful producer’s studios. Before the quality plugins, it seemed like everyone in LA had one haha
@@sageaudio really appreciate the response
Sonible Smart Limit is an excellent new Limiter
I've been watching a good number of your videos. May I bother you to clarify something? In other videos you emphasize the importance of setting a limiter's release to around 30-50 ms to help prevent possible distortion and/or unwanted artifacts. In the example in the video, you have the Oxford set at 7.34. I am not at all trying to point out inconsistency. I am only seeking a better understanding. Thanks for your videos. They are very helpful.
Thanks for watching and good eye! In this video it was just something I overlooked.
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Great video as usual however in similar regard on previous video, you had pointed out to the fact that it was better to turn off true peak detection for cleaner results but that’s not the case for this video. Any submissions on the change?
@@spiritsoundzlab7636 I was wondering the same
What's the point of bypassing if you're not going to gain match so that we can actually HEAR the differences between the A/B, and not just be enamored by the change in level?
And like another comment suggested, A/B the exact same parts of the song.
Otherwise, this was a pretty dope 4K video with a great selection of plugins. Sage Audio has excellent blogs as well.
Hey Corin! Makes sense! I think the gain added by plugins is important, especially to understand how it may or may not create distortion - but I see what you mean! I'll include these in future videos.
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Some good tips for each plugin, but if you needed all these in one mastering chain, I would talk to the client and suggest they sack the mix engineer. Over the years, from when I first started mastering, I went from an EQ, compressor and limiter (in the early 90s thru 2000), to a ton of plugins I probably didn't need in my chain through the 2000/2010s, through until a few years ago where I am back to an EQ, maybe a compressor if it really needs it, and a limiter (maybe stacked if I need a lot of gain).Keep it simple.
Hey Conan! Good point! Sometimes using less is more - if you can avoid using unnecessary or redundant processing, that's definitely a good idea. Thanks for watching!
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@@sageaudio Thank you. Subscribed.
Thanks for this man. Very informative!
Thanks for watching! Glad you liked the video!
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Amazing sound. Good job.
Very helpful video. I love it!
Awesome! Thanks for watching and leaving a comment Michel!
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I master with T-Racks, the vintage mastering chain, and honestly, it sounds pretty much like this, what are your thoughts about that program?
Hey Erre! Thanks for watching and leaving a comment - great to hear that you can get similar results with their plugins. I'll have to delve more into their plugins and test them out for mastering!
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@@sageaudio test "TR5 classic compressor" after your first effect on your rack (fab filter q3) this plugin is amazing . set it about 3db reduction
I liked a lot the video, but why so short times in the "listening scenes"? I would like some more time to compare the plugins when activated and bypassed and listen more closely to what they are doing, but the short times makes it kind of impossible. I mean, I loved the video and how you explain why are you using them and how are you using them, but with almost no time to listen I cant tell what are they doing, and we are talking about mastering, small moves, very subtle changes and flavors... Im trying to be constructive. Dont take it wrong :)
Hey AudioLab! Thanks for watching! Great point - the samples here are a little too short to get an understanding of what's changing. In our newer videos we try to add longer and more consistent samples to make the changes more apparent. Thanks for the constructive thoughts - we appreciate it and the comment!
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Along this line of comment: do you know that when you solo a band in the eq or in soothe or etc that there is no sound at all? At least I can't hear it. Maybe my ears are getting to old...? ☺️
@@briancase6180 no there definitely is sound, its just hard to perceive
Hey, love your videos. I am wondering why you don't choose to use multiband compressor in the chain to flatten the peaks or let some transients out from the low end? I saw some mastering engineers do that in order to crane more volume to the song. Are there any reasons you don't do that?
Hey HSIANG! Thanks for watching and leaving a comment - that's a good technique! I've tried that a few times and show it on occasion, but I find most mixes already have a fair deal of compression. That was the case with this one so I decided to leave it out of the chain. Thanks again!
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Wish i had the budget for soothe ... :( one day.
Hopefully it'll go on sale! But you're right, it's an expensive plugin.
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Thank you 👍🏼
Hey Mel! Thanks for watching and leaving a comment!
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As always, great video. Interesting reasons behind saturating after "deharshing". I usually saturate first to bring out detail and tame some dynamics (though not always - depends on the song) and drop BX refinement in to tidy up some nastiness. Love that Sonnox is getting a mention, seriously underrated and still great plugins. Inflator is a bit of a beast really. What's your take on console emulations in the chain for some subtle flavour?
Hey Luke! Thanks for watching and great question! I like to attenuate unwanted aspects of the signal first - otherwise, they can get amplified/made more perceivable. Since saturation introduces harmonic distortion, this can amplify parts of the signal - so if the sibilance is harsh, saturation can make it worse. But if what you're doing is working for you that's awesome!
I'm really impressed by how great the Sonnox plugins sound considering they're a bit older.
As for console emulations they can be helpful! They'd have a somewhat similar effect as saturators or other analog emulation plugins, but I can imagine a lot of them having too strong of a character for mastering. Thanks!
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nice example of overprocessing
Thanks for watching!
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Thanks for this.
Thanks for watching!
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Great, nice song!
Thanks for watching!
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Great video! thanks!
Hey Michael! Thanks for watching!
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Only criticism would be that you should show the differences in the exact same part of the song, not let the song play and bypass the plugin at random times.
Hey Bruno! Great point! I think having a longer period of time to hear what the plugin is doing, as well as hearing it on a consistent part of the track would be a good idea. Thanks for watching and leaving a comment!
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Great video, but I agree on this point.
Goat
amazing..............what would your alternative for inflator be ?
OTT is a good free option, or maybe MV2 by Waves. Thanks for watching!
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I got a goldmine here!
That's awesome - thanks for watching!
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awesome vid man :)
Hey El Yanfi! Thanks for watching and leaving a comment!
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I loved ❤
Awesome!
Is that your studio at the end of the video? If so, why did you not use any of that wonderful analog gear in your mastering chain?
Great video! thank you for sharing the information. Quick question, instead of using Soothe 2 as the second insert, wouldnt be the same or similar to use Fabfilter Q3? for those we dont have Soothe? Thanks man!!
lol I read this as "Best Mastering Chair" And saw the chair in the thumbnail thinking like wtf are u serious haha
So, what was your headroom when you started this mix (or any mix)? By the time I get to the final limiter plugin, I'm still hovering around -18dB.
Hey Dustin! I'm starting with about 4dB of headroom.
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nice,nice,i like it
Awesome! Thanks for watching and leaving a comment!
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Hi there! Great video!! Any recommendation for alternate plug ins on Weiss stuff? A little bit out of my price range. Thanks ahead of time
FabFilter is a great option! Still expensive but less so than Weiss. Thanks for watching!
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Hey, what substitutes for the Weiss EQ1 and Saturn would you go with? Thanks
Check out toneboosters! They make some great plugins that replace Fabfilter plugins well
Thanks for watching!
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Why so much processing? Quite a big difference, almost like there was too many problems with the mix
Remember that if mastering sub-heavy music like modern hip hop or edm, tape on the master is a bad idea cuz it rolls off at around 50Hz
Hey Erza! That's a great tip - thanks! At lower tape speeds it should still work well, but at the 30ips setting used in this video, that would definitely cut into some of the sub.
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@@sageaudio yeah for sure. That's why if I want to use tape saturation on my master for those genres I turn to something like saturn that emulates the harmonics but not the eq.
Is there any chance you could do updated version of this chain? Thanks
Aint Logic 32bit/64bit float processing? I think you should use dither when printing after processing 32bit/64bit float to 24bit fixed. There is an audible difference in many ways!
Hey jaykons1985! Thanks for watching! The example we're using here is 24-bit, but even if we recorded at 32-bit float and truncated it to 24-bit fixed the quantization noise/distortion from that process wouldn't be as loud as dithering. Additionally, it's likely that the self-noise from the microphones, room, hardware, etc, is sufficient. But, I can still see why you might want to use dithering to be certain of that!
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@@sageaudio Cheers! I think you dont take in to count that when you put in a plugin or change the level of the track or do a fade the signal changes from the 24bit fixed to 32 or 64bit float! It’s about the plugins, level changes, fades that will process the audio in 32 or 64 bit float and coming back from there to 24bit fixed would be beneficial to dither. Noise from mics etc wont cut it. Dithering will take away some bluriness from lower mids and affects to the stereo width. I suggest that you’ll try that and let me know your findings. Have a nice weekend🙏🏾
Uad Tape Ampex ATR-102 best tape emulation period. Plugin Alliance bx limiter has many opinion to sweeten the master.next time try it.👍
Hey Kevon! Thanks for watching - I'll check it out!
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@@sageaudio awesome, reply. I love it..🤝
Некоторые говорят, что Soft Tube MK3 не подходит для громкой, танцевальной музыки в качестве мастер компрессора.
Thanks for watching! That sounds right - I probably wouldn't use that EQ when mastering dance, but it might sound good in some instances.
Спасибо за просмотр! Звучит правильно - я, вероятно, не стал бы использовать этот эквалайзер при овладении танцами, но в некоторых случаях он может звучать хорошо.
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Best mastering chain - only limiter in chain)
The thumbnail has an arrow pointing just slightly above the chair and I read "Is this the best mastering chair?" 😂
Haha it looks like a comfy chair though.
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In a past video I remember you saying to watch out for using the Ozone stereo imager because it can cause problems due to its multi band imaging vs. other plugins that can add width. Can you explain the danger of using it again?
My eternal problem. After Saturn your focussed sound turns into a fat phasy bottom. Maybe it sounds more groovy, but it lost focus on girl and solid of song. Or maybe I cant understand how it must sounds today. Every time I do this, I turn off a lot of stacks back.
Thanks for watching! Sorry to hear it's giving you phase issues!
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@@sageaudio Probably problems with my ears )))
Why are you working on audio channel instead of master channel ? Thanks
Hey Ömer! Just a force of habit - no real reason other than personal preference. Thanks for watching!
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@@sageaudio thanks for your fast feedback 👍🏻👍🏻
I literally do the direct opposite in my chain . I clean with eq and processers then decorate. You decorate then clean
Thanks for sharing - cool to hear your process. I've changed my strategy up a little since making this video. It's a bit closer to clean then decorate.
Great
Thanks Khaliq!
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I wish you guys would level match. It's something I've noticed with your masters that you ceaselessly promote.. they're very loud comparatively. Loud is not always better and I'd appreciate being able to hear a level matched comparison to hear what you're really doing to the audio signal as I'm not convinced by some of the moves as a lot of the mastering examples on your site sound very harsh.
Thanks for watching! We're using more level matching in our newer videos to help show this AB in a way that isn't affected by gain changes. Also, you're right! Louder is not always better.
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Coulda sworn I thought it said "Best Mastering Chair"
Haha maybe we'll use that for another video!
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@@sageaudio 🤣
I thought the exact same!!! lolol
Hy Sir sir plzz give any vocal song without processing of high quality mic plzzz i want to do practice
Hey Sing play! All the tracks I use for these demonstrations have processing from mixing, so I unfortunately don't have one I can send you. Thanks for watching!
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@@sageaudio you can send demo
HI Sage! I have a question I cannot get a clear answer to. I noticed that you didnt use multiband compression in your chain. When should you and shouldnt you use multiband compression in a master?
IMO, if you need mulitband on the master, you may need to go back to the mix and fix it there
Why pro-Q3 in natural phase instead of linear ?
Hey Carlos! Just a matter of preference - thanks for watching!
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This is similar to my chain, except i set the loudness first and then do the rest
Are you using master for iTunes app to create an AAC file?
Hey Patrick! I've used it before! It creates a better AAC file than Logic Pro X, so it's a good option if you need to convert the file. Thanks for watching!
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you can make a video tutorial EDM 128 bpm
Thanks for the suggestion cheque! That's a little too specific to make a full video on, but I'm sure we'll cover some topics that will help with your project!
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thank you, if i had to buy a hardware stuff to complete or replace one of this plugin, what will be your choice ? i'm looking to add some analog feeling to my masters
I'm not entirely sure! But the new Neve MBT looks really awesome
@@sageaudio Nice. So a bus transformer can add the Analog touch if I understand
Where can I find the full song
If I bounce it to mp3 still don't need a dither? (Working on 24 bit) thanks!
Hey Pepe! I wouldn't use it since the noise from recording is enough to compensate for any changes to the quantization noise. Since Mp3s are 16 bit though, if your recording has very little noise, then dithering would be a good idea.
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Links to these plugins?
I use all plugins in masterchain and my CPU almost explode. Very heavy masterchain. But a greit sound, tray to not use oversampling.
Haha fair! It is a very taxing chain - I've cut back since making this video to use less processing. Thanks for watching!
What about a hybrid mastering chain?
Those can be great! I know a lot of engineers like to combine analog and digital.
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@@sageaudio maybe one day, would you be able to show a video and strategies?
Niceeeeeee
Thanks for the video. I have a question regarding streaming services. So I know streaming services target the -14 lufs level. However when I pull audio files off of these services some register as much as -5 lufs. How is this possible when anything over -14 gets compressed to that level?
Hey Brandon! That's strange! Have you turned loudness normalization off? This is an option in a lot of streaming apps.
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can anyone tell me whats that console shes using at 0:55 please
hey sage audio check out tbproaudio dseq 2 it's better than soothe2 and it has A.I
How is it better?
@@DalleyMusic more options and more transparent
@@aviatedviewssound4798 What is the "A.I." that Soothe doesn't have though?
@@DalleyMusic it analyse the audio to know where to apply the processing while adjusting the other settings.
@@aviatedviewssound4798 I thought that Soothe does that also though? Am I wrong? Just trying to understand any differences of the two. Thanks!
Ok so imma supposed to put all of these into my mastering?????
Hey E X O D Prod! Thanks for watching! You definitely don't have to - this is more of a suggestion based on personal experience. Whatever works best for you and the mixes you're mastering is what you should go with!
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No. You shouldn't watch this! Don't try to repeat. It s a secret!😁
My thoughts too 😕
Thought it said mastering chair 🪑 lol
lol thanks for watching Aneek!
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Very expensive endeavour getting all of these plugins.
😍😍
Thanks for watching!
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WTF 🤬 10 plugins with an EQ after a Maximiser?????
Ok it did sound pretty good, but an EQ after a Maximiser!?!
I thought Maximisers sit at the end of the chain before the Limiters...... really confused now 😕
Hey Tony! This way you get to equalize what you maximized instead of maximizing what you equalized haha. Thanks for watching!
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@@sageaudio
Oh, ok 👍🏽
if only the weiss plugins were not so expensive 😭😭😭
👍🏿
Thanks for watching!
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@@sageaudio keep up the good work 👌🏿
Dear Santa . . . . .
Haha thanks for watching!
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