Mastering Plug Ins for Live 5

fmass · Post by **fmass** » Tue Aug 30, 2005 11:49 am

dear virtuabletoners,

I am involved in ambient music. as the majority of my sound/loops are very very quiet i am looking to buy some mastering plug-ins for Live 5 in order "to beef up" the final product. I use a apple powerbook.

budget is limited but am willing to invest some british pesos into.

any input / suggestion really really appreciated.

lo(i)ve 5

FMass

forge · Post by **forge** » Tue Aug 30, 2005 12:02 pm

I use waves REQ and RCOMP (renaissance) EQ and compression on individual tracks then C4 multiband compressor (only sometimes if it needs it) and L2

very happy with the resulting sound

I've also been throwing Live 5's new Saturator in a fair bit too of late

www.waves.com

David · Post by **David** » Tue Aug 30, 2005 12:10 pm

Live's own Compressor 2 - Sounds brilliant on anything.

Best,
David

forge · Post by **forge** » Tue Aug 30, 2005 12:15 pm

actually, here's a direct link to the masters bundle

http://www.waves.com/content.asp?id=58

they're not cheap though you'd be looking at about 500 quid for that, or for another 200 quid you get the Gold bundle which has the C4 + the renaissance stuff but not the L2 - but the L1 still does a great job.

They are professional studio FX and you pay a price for it but they're worth it, you'd pay alot more to get it done properly in the long run

alot of people rave about Isotope Ozone which is cheap but I wasnt impressed the quick play I had.

forge · Post by **forge** » Tue Aug 30, 2005 12:16 pm

David wrote:Live's own Compressor 2 - Sounds brilliant on anything.

Best,
David

ya reckon??

AdamJay · Post by **AdamJay** » Tue Aug 30, 2005 12:25 pm

on a budget, eh?

Well you can't go wrong with FREE, right?

Check out the Free "Yohng's W1 Limiter", its a clone of the Waves L1 from yesteryear. and a pretty damn good one at that. PC/Mac VST
http://yohng.com/w1limit.html

Need a little extra stank on it? Put the Live Saturator before the W1 to drive its peaks a little harder before you reduce them.

And for a great mastering EQ that i think is superb for Ambient music, the $149 Hydratone pluggo from www.tritonedigital.com
It is unlike any other software EQ on the market, just like your music should be.

fmass · Post by **fmass** » Tue Aug 30, 2005 12:42 pm

hey adamjay ! the man the guru !

free ????

will try that!!!

have got some troubles with live compressors ...
they are very good for certain loops/sounds ... but when you do lo-fi ambient stuff they sometimes mess the final audio output.
mind me ... nothing wrong...
i think their algorithm is cut for other type of music...

David · Post by **David** » Tue Aug 30, 2005 12:56 pm

forge wrote:
David wrote:Live's own Compressor 2 - Sounds brilliant on anything.

Best,
David
ya reckon??

yern. To my ears anyway. What I like about Compressor 2 is that all you do is slide the slider on the left down (threshold maybe?) and it sounds instantly better. Just that bit more punchy and alive and dare it say it 'warm', maybe 'cosy' is a better word, or 'snuggled up in front of the fire with a good dvd on and a glass of red wine', or maybe it just sounds a bit louder, heck I like it anyway. Maybe if I get rich I'll buy the waves fx.

Best,
Davido

David · Post by **David** » Tue Aug 30, 2005 12:57 pm

BTW, I agree also that the George Yhong Limiter sounds good to my ears, and free too.

fmass · Post by **fmass** » Tue Aug 30, 2005 1:36 pm

i agree...

waves is the posh solution but will try the "free" way ... and normally i am a good "paypal tipper"

musick · Post by **musick** » Tue Aug 30, 2005 2:20 pm

Waves is the best if you can afford it. And of course learn how to use a compressor etc. (the buying is the easy part

)

I like the Live Compressor 2 a lot on drums...

Spacerboy · Post by **Spacerboy** » Tue Aug 30, 2005 2:21 pm

PSP Vintage Warmer sound good!

fmass · Post by **fmass** » Tue Aug 30, 2005 2:24 pm

compressor 2 u say it is good in drums ... if one uses drums in his music.

my usage of drums is zero .. therefore all conventional compressors are gonna be considered / discarded.

trying in finding the best compression algorithm for low-fi drones / airwaves clicks is not that easy, believe me.

David · Post by **David** » Tue Aug 30, 2005 2:34 pm

If your considering buying xxx$'s on software mastering gear maybe you should consider getting an analog compressor. Surely analog compressor will sound better than a software one? Might even pick up something on Ebay at a reasonable price. Saying that the TC Works stuff has got to be very good, but maybe TC Electronics will be even better. However, if you making digitally synthesised electronica on the computer will anyone realistically notice the difference between a software and hardware compressor? I dont know.

fmass · Post by **fmass** » Tue Aug 30, 2005 2:37 pm

david,

i dont knwow ...

we are NOT talking about the difference between a software and hardware compressor

thanks for your input by the way