ViLo Posted May 20, 2001 Share Posted May 20, 2001 Once you mix your project,what do you use to make it sound like other commercial CD's. I know about mastering, but obviously I don't have money to send it to a mastering house, so I want to do the best I can to make it sound good, I've been trying the TC Finalizer Express, so far there's no difference. Is anybody using, the Finalizer? Any ideas? Comments? Tips? Thanks ViLo Dallas, TX., ------------------ HE'S COMING, MAKE MUSIC, BE HAPPY! http://www.musicplayer.com/ubb/smile.gif This message has been edited by ViLo on 05-20-2001 at 09:01 AM This message has been edited by ViLo on 05-20-2001 at 09:03 AM Jesus Is Coming, Make Music, Get Ready! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tmfields Posted May 21, 2001 Share Posted May 21, 2001 The best way is to get your levels right from the very beginning and every stage there after. Tracking, overdubs, mixdown, etc. ALWAYS WATCH THE METERS AND USE THEM TO YOUR ADVANTAGE!!!!! Making it up at the end will just add unwanted noise. You can't add or increase something that isn't there. Tom Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ViLo Posted May 21, 2001 Author Share Posted May 21, 2001 Originally posted by tmfields: The best way is to get your levels right from the very beginning and every stage there after. Tracking, overdubs, mixdown, etc. ALWAYS WATCH THE METERS AND USE THEM TO YOUR ADVANTAGE!!!!! Making it up at the end will just add unwanted noise. You can't add or increase something that isn't there. Tom Thanks Tom, I did not use a preamp, I guess that will make a difference, however I noticed this afternoon that I can bust the signal but on certain parts my cd burner is clipping is there a limiter for under 200.00 that I can use? Will that be the right thing to do? Thanks for your help, ViLo ------------------ HE'S COMING, MAKE MUSIC, BE HAPPY! Jesus Is Coming, Make Music, Get Ready! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Curve Dominant Posted May 21, 2001 Share Posted May 21, 2001 ViLo, Do you have the March issue of EQ magazine laying around? If not, go find one, and read the interview with Gus Dudgeon. Fantastic stuff, man. He really breaks it down on how to get the most out of the complete frequency spectrum. curvedominant Eric Vincent (ASCAP) www.curvedominant.com Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KenElevenShadows Posted May 21, 2001 Share Posted May 21, 2001 >> on certain parts my cd burner is clipping is there a limiter for under 200.00 that I can use? Will that be the right thing to do? >> I'm assuming that you are talking about an effects box, and not a plug-in. If this is not the case, ignore this post! The RNC 1773 comopressor made by FMR (http://www.fmraudio.com) is a fine compressor for under $200. it is super-clean, has an interesting mode called Super Nice Mode in which there are basically three compressors in series to minimize artifacts that can be caused by compression. I know that you are asking for a limiter. However, limiting is technically considered -- depending on who you talk to -- usually defined as compression ratios of 10:1 to 20:1. This compressor has ratios of up to 25:1. There's nothing fancy about this box. It uses 1/4" I/O. However, it sounds really great and is extremely easy to use. Within a month, my band will be going to a mastering guy. It'll be really interesting to see (and hear) how he goes about getting levels to the point of where they sound somewhat comparable to other major label releases in terms of compression and EQing. While I wouldn't want to get too hung up on having the "loudest" CD, I have definitely noticed that our raw tracks that are burned on our CD-Rs, while they sound really good, are noticeably quieter than commercial releases that have been mastered. I have, just for fun, compressed and normalized and lightly EQ'd our audio tracks in SAW+, and while this helps quite a lot, it's definitely not the same!!! ------------------ Ken/Eleven Shadows/d i t h er/nectar ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ music*travel photos*tibet*lots of stuff "Sangsara" "Irian Jaya" & d i t h er CDs available! http://www.elevenshadows.com ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Ken Lee Photography - photos and books Eleven Shadows ambient music The Mercury Seven-cool spacey music Linktree to various sites Instagram Nightaxians Video Podcast Eleven Shadows website Ken Lee Photography Pinterest Page Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ViLo Posted May 21, 2001 Author Share Posted May 21, 2001 Originally posted by Curve Dominant: ViLo, Do you have the March issue of EQ magazine laying around? If not, go find one, and read the interview with Gus Dudgeon. Fantastic stuff, man. He really breaks it down on how to get the most out of the complete frequency spectrum. curvedominant Thanks Curvedominant [i think I have the EQ mag somewhere], Thanks Ken. I guess it'll be better to do the best we can and then use a mastering house instead of spending more money on equipment to try master my cd myself, I heard a lot about mastering and how you can acomplish it by having the TC Finalizer, the Behringer 9024 or other stuff, but I have the TC F/Express and so far when I compare it with commercially done CD's there's still something missing, that's why I posted this question, but I see now I'm not the only one with this dilemma, I guess experience and trained eng., ears can not be replaced by any equipment. Thanks, again guys ------------------ HE'S COMING, MAKE MUSIC, BE HAPPY! Jesus Is Coming, Make Music, Get Ready! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nhcomp45aol.com Posted May 21, 2001 Share Posted May 21, 2001 ViLo,I send out anything that is important,but for my own band and projects I use a TC Triple C compressor and a DOD dual 15 band eq.At first trying to do my own mastering seemed hopeless.It was like learning to play piano.Before the TC I used 2 Ashley CL-50s which gave fair results.Now my CDs sound better than Many pro releases.The finalizer will give good results but it will take many hours to learn how to get that. You can buy a brand new Les Paul but it doesent mean you will be a guitaist. Practice makes perfect. Paul. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Calfee Jones Posted May 21, 2001 Share Posted May 21, 2001 ViLo - Let me confirm the decision that you seem to have made. Take it to sombody and have them master it. I spent years doing small recording jobs and believing I couldn't afford to have them mastered. And I wondered how much difference it could really make. Then I finally did have a project mastered - cause I had read everywhere that it was the right thing to do. And guess what? It was the right thing to do! Mastering by an engineer with the know how and the equipment is usually exactly what is needed to make your project sound similar to the big boys. So don't buy that new piece of gear - take it to an engineer! (I just now made that up...HA!) - Calfee Jones Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GZsound Posted May 21, 2001 Share Posted May 21, 2001 Since I record, engineer and master, I can relate to your difficulties. Using meters is helpful but there is nothing better than being able to see the waveform on a screen to be able to determine where the problem lies. A snare drum hit can overwhelm the level and be twice as loud as the musical content thus making the overall level sound quiet. In computer mastering, limiting can bring down the spikes and bring up the levels of the musical content without degrading the signal if done properly. If all you have is outboard gear, you can try to get close with a finalizer or compressor but you really, really need to watch the meters and ride faders on mixdown to avoid spikes. ------------------ Mark G. Mark G. "A man may fail many times, but he isn't a failure until he begins to blame others" -- John Burroughs "I consider ethics, as well as religion, as supplements to law in the government of man." -- Thomas Jefferson Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ViLo Posted May 21, 2001 Author Share Posted May 21, 2001 Originally posted by nhcomp45@aol.com: ViLo,I send out anything that is important,but for my own band and projects I use a TC Triple C compressor and a DOD dual 15 band eq.At first trying to do my own mastering seemed hopeless.It was like learning to play piano.Before the TC I used 2 Ashley CL-50s which gave fair results.Now my CDs sound better than Many pro releases.The finalizer will give good results but it will take many hours to learn how to get that. You can buy a brand new Les Paul but it doesent mean you will be a guitaist. Practice makes perfect. Paul. I'm not giving up, I will keep trying like you say "practice makes perfect" For now I will send it to be mastered, when ever I finish, that is. Thanks Guys, ViLo ------------------ HE'S COMING, MAKE MUSIC, BE HAPPY! Jesus Is Coming, Make Music, Get Ready! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Anderton Posted May 23, 2001 Share Posted May 23, 2001 I think going to a professional mastering engineer will set you on the right path and learn much about mastering. It was only through watching others that I figured out what was going on, equipment-wise. One comment is that neophytes spend waaaay too much time worrying about what type of compression and such to add. I think the EQ you choose is equally, if not more, important. Get the EQ right, then add loudness maximization. Check out the article on this site called "Mastering Step by Step." You can download examples and hear how each process changes the sound. I'll also be doing a similar article about guitar processing in the near future. All best, Craig Craig Anderton Educational site: http://www.craiganderton.org Music: http://www.youtube.com/thecraiganderton Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/craig_anderton Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Anderton Posted May 23, 2001 Share Posted May 23, 2001 I think going to a professional mastering engineer will set you on the right path and learn much about mastering. It was only through watching others that I figured out what was going on, equipment-wise. One comment is that neophytes spend waaaay too much time worrying about what type of compression and such to add. I think the EQ you choose is equally, if not more, important. Get the EQ right, then add loudness maximization. Check out the article on this site called "Mastering Step by Step." You can download examples and hear how each process changes the sound. I'll also be doing a similar article about guitar processing in the near future. All best, Craig Craig Anderton Educational site: http://www.craiganderton.org Music: http://www.youtube.com/thecraiganderton Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/craig_anderton Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DC Posted May 23, 2001 Share Posted May 23, 2001 I just wanted to say that I've got a Finalizer Express. It's a good piece of gear but really easy to abuse. Like Paul said, it takes practice. I've done one original project where the cuts came from reel to reel, ADAT and hard disk sources. With the Fin Ex I was eventually able to get all the cuts sounding like they came from the same source/studio. The thing is to be subtle with it. Drastic settings will sound bad. I don't like the soft clippers much, and my EQ settings all tend to be really close to the 12 o'clock mark, just tiny increments off. The emphasis buttons make a huge difference also. If you want it to behave more like a limiter, then start with all the EQ knobs set to around 3 o'clock and adjust from there. Remember that you can set the Finalized version to the same volume as the original by turning down the fader volume and A/B-ing. It's a competant piece of gear but the learning curve is way steeper than you'd think by just looking at the front panel. When I finally get mine set right, it makes a huge difference. -David http://www.garageband.com/artist/MichaelangelosMuse Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ViLo Posted May 23, 2001 Author Share Posted May 23, 2001 Originally posted by DC: It's a competant piece of gear but the learning curve is way steeper than you'd think by just looking at the front panel. When I finally get mine set right, it makes a huge difference.[/b] Hi DC: I have the Finalizer Express, but so far I don't see any diference between the processed material and the unprocessed material, I tried different settings but I can not hear the difference there's monitor outputs on the back of this thing, so I connected my monitors, do you supposed to hear the the changes in the settings thru the monitors? I connected evreything as the manual says but I don't hear the results. I'm going from my AKAI DPS16 digital out to the F/xpress's digital in and then from the digital out of the f/xpress to the digital in of my Tascam CD recorder the signal levels are there but I don't hear anything different, I recorded a CD with 2 different versions one with F/xpress and the otehr one with out it, I played it on my stero and computer and nothing. The salesperson @ MArsMusic says maybe I have a defective unit, and told me to try the analog side, which I did but the only thing I can get from it is more gain but nothing else even with different settings, I even tried my Sonic Maximizer and actually I can get more with it. AmI doing something wrong? Do you have any suggestions? I'm thinking about returning the unit, and get some kind of mastering software and do it in my computer. Thanks, ViLo ------------------ HE'S COMING, MAKE MUSIC, BE HAPPY! http://www.musicplayer.com/ubb/smile.gif This message has been edited by ViLo on 05-23-2001 at 09:56 AM Jesus Is Coming, Make Music, Get Ready! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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