GrooveEnth wrote:
Just a word of caution on that comparison - the 'mastered' track is at an overall higher level and it's a well-known phsycho-acoustic phenomenon that people will always thing that something that is louder sounds 'better' (which is why everyone compresses stuff in mastering!).
Still this looks pretty interesting. Curious whether anybody uses any of the built-in Reaper plugins for this though?
Basic Reaper Mastering goes like this but this applies to all DAWs.
This is just basic Mastering and the chain /order is basically the same always.
1. Mix in mono. This is what the big boys do. Get everything sounding awesome in mono then go back to Stereo. You will get a much more accurate mix.
The following you add to your MAster EFX chain located on your Master volume slider in this order before you render.....
2.First step is EQing. There are many EQ plug ins. I personally am a fan of Voxengo software but I now use TDR VOS Slick EQ. There are many Mastering EQs for free to download. If you are new to Eqing , alot of times EQ plug ins have presets that are very good and will do a great job with one click getting you in the ballpark.So no worries.Your first EQ question to yourself should always be "Are all the instruments clear and does anything sound muddy". Start from there and try the presets to clen everything up from muddy/crossover frequencies.".
3.Next is Compression. Preferably a MultiBand. I use C3 Multiband but it isnt pretty but its deadly and has many presets for tracks.
4. Third step concerns Saturation. Youll need a Saturation software like Density Mk3 or YOU WA Shock to name a few. Think of this step as preamping your entire track. It is more then simple "making louder". It is adding fullness and dimension.
5.Finally a limiter. Controls volume fluxuations and peaks and overall glosses your track.There are many but for Reaper ...two stand out... Limiter no 6 and Molot. Both are on lists for best mastering limiters and are free.
Optional Step 6 can be stereo enhancement plug in or some kind of audio Dolby process etc...whatever.
Just install in your Reaper VST folder and go to effects and update the effects list.
Everything I just mentioned was used using just the presets in those plug ins to do this. It makes even an idiot like me look good.
https://soundcloud.com/relativity1/acoustica
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Edited by
LeftTheLoops9-18 on March 07 2018 00:34