Professional Analog Mastering.
Professional Analog Mastering.
226K+ subscribers
Starting off the chain, I have some subtractive EQ and saturation, set up to minimize unwanted artifacts.
For example, the subtractive EQ is just a couple of filters - a side-image HP with 12dB slope keeps phase rotation at a minimum while still focusing the lows into the center of the stereo image.
A mid image dip to the highs reduces some sibilance - and that’s about it. Where your bell filter is centered will depend on the mix, and you may need a couple instead of 1, but try to only change the spectrum where needed.
Additionally, people think that only linear phase EQs affect transients, but all EQs do in some way, so I try to use it as little as possible.
For saturation, I’ll use this MB Saturn 2 processor. In short, I’ll find the kick, bass, and snare fundamentals and isolate the range, before saturating a fair amount. Meanwhile, the high range has no saturation.
This keeps the harmonics more musical by only generating them from the kick, bass and snare, as opposed to sibilance, cymbals, etc, which can result in some ugly distortion.
Additionally, by only saturating lows I don’t need oversampling, since it’s unlikely a harmonic will go past the highest allowed frequency, which as you know would cause aliasing. Oversampling is useful for that, but the linear phase filter it introduces affects transients.
For these 2 reasons, this setup creates the best sounding saturation in my opinion.
Let’s listen to the A/B of these 2 processors. Keep in mind that the genre I’m mastering here is more punk, so some additional distortion is part of the expected sound. That said, this chain will still work for most genres and could be used with subtler settings if that’s needed.
Watch the video to learn more >
I really enjoy the sound of taking quiet aspects of the mix, and amplifying them through maximization. It’s creates more detail by reducing masking to these quieter parts, while increasing overall loudness.
Meanwhile, the peaks are left unaffected.
I came across this free MasterDesk plugin, and thought I’d never use it - it’s marketed as ‘achieve a pro master in 1 minute’ types of plugins, back when every developer was trying to claim that.
Although I don’t think that marketing is true, the plugin is still impressive and adds really enjoyable imperfections to the track.
The frequency response becomes more indicative of classic hardware, with unique boosts and cuts, and some more significant attenuation to the highs. Additionally, subtle variations in the left and right channels add a unique sound.
The harmonics also include modulating noise similar to dithering, reducing the dynamic range but also the perception of quantization distortion.
And then tone and foundation allow for some subtle tone shaping - in other words, some very mild and broad changes to the frequency spectrum.
Finally, maximization is built in, as is a mid-side matrix that allows for alteration to the stereo image.
You’ll notice I don’t change much from the original settings - it really has a cool sound without much tweaking.
But it works better as part of a chain, then as 1 processor attempting to cover all bases.
Next, the majority of maximization is caused by Omnipressor, one of my favorite plugins.
I don’t even engage the compression and expansion function - simple inserting this plugin on a mix maximizes the overall signal by a few dB, while imparting a strong 3rd order harmonic.
It’s simple, brings up quiet details, and doesn’t affect my peaks, which is great since I want a loud sound without sacrificing transient detail.
Let’s listen to these 2 processors being enabled.
Watch the video to learn more >
With a M/S EQ I’ll shape all of the processing that I’ve introduced so far.
Some of the lows bled back into the side image, but a subtle 6dB/Octave HP on the side image helps keep those focused.
I’ll dip a little of the 3rd order harmonic added by Saturn 2 and Omnipressor, to reduce its masking effect on higher ranges and to just generally balance the sound.
A little stereo expansion to the mid frequencies goes a long way - it takes the most info-heavy range and opens it up slightly, providing some needed complexity to the side image.
Then, a little air introduced with a high shelf brings up some lost details in the range.
Sonnox Oxford Limiter comes next, but I use this not for limiting, but more maximization and some harmonic distortion.
The maximization is pretty subtle, but the harmonics really fill the spectrum. A question I get a lot is if the inflator is identical to the limiter’s enhance function.
They’re very similar - enhance is the same as the inflator when set to a curve of 50; however, the harmonics caused by the inflator are higher in amplitude in the lows, and much subtler in the highs.
The enhance function on the Oxford limiter sounds more balanced, with some emphasis on high-frequency harmonics that really tie the high range back to the song’s root note.
And that just leaves us with a final limiter to protect from overs and subtly shape peaks.
Since I’ve used so much maximization, I barely need any attenuation with the limiter. With this mix, the limiter is attenuating up to about 2dB if not less, which is almost imperceptible.
However, the integrated LUFS is about -8, meaning I could use even less limiting if I wanted.
Since it’s doing so little, almost any limiter will work here, but Elephant by Voxengo has very little effect on the sound of the transients.
If I notice any changes, I’ll go into the settings and tweak the attack and release shape parameters until I get the right mix of control and transient retention.
Channel linking is kept higher to retain mono comparability and 2x oversampling is needed to reduce some aliasing, but overall, the plugin isn’t working too hard.
It’s there simply to limit on occasion, not smash the peaks so that I can bring up the quieter details. I’ve already achieved that through maximization, so it’s not needed at this point.
Let’s take a final listen to the before and after. Let me know in the comments if you’ll try out this chain, and let me know of any recommendations you have and I’ll try them out.