mastering thru compressor question

larryo wrote on 3/30/2004, 6:13 PM
I just purchased a Focusrite Twintrak Pro for my small home studio setup. My primary intention is to use it as a front pre for vocals and acoustic guitar, etc. However, I'd like to try to use it for mastering to 2-track. I am using a Delta 44 - 4 in, 4-out. I am assuming I can somehow sidechain this unit to send out audio into the Twintrak, and then back in to the Delta 44, and record the audio as a 2 track "master". So far my mastering process has been utilizing the "render as" feature of vegas (2.0). I'm a bit confused about the process and keep thinking that somehow this will create a feedback loop with out careful mapping of the audio signal. I've read the manual, looked at the diagrams, and still find myself scratching my head. Anyone care to offer some direction??

Thanks,

Larry

Comments

Rednroll wrote on 3/31/2004, 7:29 AM
This should be no problem, I do this all the time, by running tracks in Vegas to my external mixer and then routing a mix back to 2 tracks within Vegas. The only thing you'll need to make sure of is that you're monitoring one signal. So in your case you probably want to monitor the input signal, that comes from the compressor. Well, just make sure that the outputs of the signal coming from Vegas are not the same outputs you have set for your input monitor.
stakeoutstudios wrote on 3/31/2004, 11:57 PM
I would suggest that you're more likely to degrade the quality of your mixes by doing that with that specific equipment, although it is possible.

Just by coverting from digital to analogue and from ananlogue to digital you will lose some quality, and the focusrite twinpack is not a high-end unit - not really designed for mastering, so while it may be worth experimenting to find out what the unit is capable of, you're probably better off keeping everything digital and finding some decent mastering plugins to run through.

Unless of course you were to buy a Manley Vari-MU and a Slam, which are designed for this purpose - but at that point you'd also want to upgrade your A/D and D/A!

My normal mastering chain is Universal Audio Cambridge -> Waves Linear Phase Multiband Compressor -> Waves L2 Ultramaximiser -> Sonic Timeworks Mastering Compressor.

I find that using two different limiters I can get mixes louder with less artifacts as you only use a little of each.

Good luck and happy mastering!
larryo wrote on 4/1/2004, 2:02 PM
Thanks Red and Web - My primary dilemma was understanding the mechanics of looping audio out of vegas and back in, whether it be mastering or individual track processing. I'm actually pretty happy doing my mastering internally with Ozone and Waves. But being the simple minded guitar player that I am, thought it might be worth a try to master where I can actually turn some knobs. Anyway, I hope this unit (untried as of yet) will provide me a better vocal front end than my previous set up: AKG C2000b > Bellari single channel tube pre > ART levelar tube compressor > Behringer mixer > Delta 44 in (previously had a BBE Sonic Maximizer in final stage - The devils sick little gift to electric guitarists).

Anyway, thanks for the info.

Larry
stakeoutstudios wrote on 4/2/2004, 1:25 PM
ultimately use your ears, but try and keep the chain to your soundcard as short as possible.

Start with the momnium and then gradually add cabling and units (preferably via patch bay. Make sure you know what effect each unit is having, on noise, overall sound etc.

Sometimes not running through every bit of gear you have can be the better option :o)

Jason
Rednroll wrote on 4/2/2004, 1:57 PM
This is along the lines of how I master, but I requested a feature for Sound Forge that would make my process even slicker if it get's implemented.

When I master, I usually receive stuff on DAT or CDR. I usually Play the original off of the CDR, which comes out the digital out of my of my CD player and then goes into my external hardware's digital IN, TC finalizer. Where I then have the digital out of the Finalyzer connected to the Digital IN of my sound Card. On my PC I have Sound Forge open, monitoring the input of my sound card, where I can use the VU meter for rms levels and the spectral graph for the spectral curve. So any adjustments I make on the Finalyzer as far as EQ and compression I have visual feedbacks using Sound Forge. Once I have the settings tweaked on the Finalyzer I record into Sound Forge. I then add additional plugin processing within Sound Forge.

What I would like to do, is directly load the CDR or DAT into Sound Forge. Play the file back in Sound Forge and place my external hardware within the plugin chain. So I could place software plugins on either side of my external hardware, and be able to monitor the complete processing as 1 Step. Then when that's complete, be able to playback and record directly into Sound Forge for the final master, and save that. I can then do an A/B comparison of the original and the mastered file and burn them to CDR. So in doing this there's a few things that need to get implemented in Sound Forge. 1. ASIO for low latency. 2. Playback and Record functionality 3. A DX plugin that would allow me to excess inputs and output routing on my sound card to connect to my external hardware. 4. Input monitoring functionality.

I could probably already, achieve most of this using Vegas. The only thing, I'm concerned about is that Vegas seems a bit off to me, when using Input monitoring with plugins on the input monitor track.