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"In The Box" Mastering Session 2

"In The Box" Mastering Session 2

Let's walk through one of my "in the box" sessions once again! In our studio, we usually use plugins in combination with our hardware (outboard) gear, but let's keep it "in the box" for the purpose of easier understanding. Can we still achieve a great sounding master with plugins only?

Here is the chain we'll be looking into:

0. Before starting our chain: Izotope RX9 (Phase fixing)

1. FabFilter Pro Q3 (Subtractive EQ)
2. Acustica Audio Ivory Mastering Compressor (Compression)
3. Sonnox Oxford Inflator (Upward processing & saturation)
4. Acustica Audio Ivory Mastering Equalizer (Additive EQ - high end)
5. Slate Digital FG-X (Transient designer)
6. Izotope Ozone Imager (Stereo imaging)
7. SirAudioTools StandardCLIP (Clipping)
8. FabFilter Pro L2 (Final limiter)

Optional - Send 1: FabFilter Pro Q3 - Parallel EQ

Please consider that not a single mastering chain & settings within it will be the same for every track. Every single track is different and requires different treatment with different processors.

The chain I'm about to show is just one of many, so you can actually have a vision of how mastering works and how I personally think while mastering my clients' tracks. Do not copy any strict values.

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0. Fixing Phase

Izotope Ozone RX9 is a great tool for fixing phase.

A very first step when I'm about to master my or my clients' track is to run it through RX9 in order to check phase, clicks and some artifacts that I might want to either reduce or completely delete from that audio file. In this example, I used Phase Tool to balance the polarity of the mix on certain parts and to as well remove some clicks & pops I found during the listening stage.

The plugins within RX9 actually allow you to output clicks or pops so you can hear if there are any in the audio material you're working with, so that's an amazing feature they implemented. Even if you don't hear them, you can visually check by activating this feature in RX9. The RX9 will quickly analyze your audio signal and display if there are some.

Insert 1: FabFilter Pro Q3 (Subtractive EQ)

 

Using FabFilter Pro Q3, I first narrowed the stereo image of my low end with a side channel's high-pass filter. Right after, I used a mid channel's bell filter to enhance the kick since I missed some of the punch. To compensate for clarity, I did a gentle 0.8dB cut around 250Hz and boosted around 5kHz for 0.6dB. All of this while keeping my EQ in Linear Phase mode for this purpose. I always spend additional time in picking the right processing mode for my master, so Linear Phase worked well in this case.

Insert 2: Acustica Audio Ivory Mastering Compressor (Subtle Compression)

 

Right after equalization, I used this mastering compressor by Acustica Audio to subtly glue the mix together. As you can see from the picture above, I'm sticking with subtle settings:

1. Ratio 2:1
2. Slow attack 30ms
3. Faster release 200ms
4. 2dB of gain reduction maximum
5. HPF at 100Hz
6. "Pre" feature on

Insert 3: Sonnox Oxford Inflator (Upward processing & saturation)

When I'm looking to get more details out of the mix, I'm going for either FabFilter Pro MB or Inflator. In this case, I also wanted to introduce some saturation besides upward processing, so that's why I went with Inflator this time.

Effect almost all the way up to 100%, which is accordingly to your personal preference (this works in combination with "Curve" fader which basically determines the amount of saturation you're going to introduce - above 0 equals more saturation while below 0 means less saturation).

Insert 4: Acustica Audio Ivory Mastering Equalizer (Additive EQ - high end)

Thanks to Acustica Audio, I'm able to access their awesome products & processors such as Ivory Mastering EQ.
When I'm about to amplify the top end in mastering, I usually go for Maselec EQ emulations (such as this one by Acustica Audio) or Pultec EQP-1A which sounds amazing on both low & top end.
Using Ivory Mastering EQ, I focused around 12kHz and boosted for about 1.2dB which sounded very nice on the track I worked on. Also, I'm making sure to turn that "Pre-In" button to actually pick the sound from this emulation.

Insert 5: Slate Digital FG-X (Transient designer)

When I'm finding the mix I'm mastering lacking in movement and boring overall, I reach for some transient designers. The ones that first come to my mind are SPL Transient designer, Slate's FG-X and Acustica Audio Diamond Transient.

For this purpose I went for FG-X where I played with two knobs only. First, I increased the detail knob to my taste and then adjusted the dynamic perception knob.
This transient designer sounds very musical and brings something special to masters or even bus channels.

Insert 6: Izotope Ozone Imager (Stereo imaging)

For this particular chain, I used Ozone Imager right after my transient designer to widen the top end (which in this track was very narrow). I focused on the frequency range above 2kHz (which is split into two bands - 2-10Khz and 10kHz & above).
2-10kHz band sounded great after widening it up by 51%, while I used a bit more drastic widening (79%) to 10kHz & above range. This makes a huge difference once applied, but always make sure to avoid doing this type of processing without a certain purpose.

Insert 7: SirAudioTools StandardCLIP (Clipping)

Before final limiting, I used StandardCLIP, which is the clipper I like a lot, to just clip the highest peaks & their body a bit. Slightly adding some gain to match the sound I wanted to achieve and keeping the oversampling at 4x (you can even go higher).

Insert 8: FabFilter Pro L2 (Final limiter)

Since I used StandardCLIP to add some gain up, I didn't really need to go extra hard with my final limiter. As you can see, I'm adding only 0.7dB of gain and I'm already at the numbers I wanted to be (around -4.5RMS and -7.5LUFS). In terms of exact settings, I played slightly with the attack and release while almost turning channel linking off (so the limiter doesn't actually work evenly on both L & R side) and turned "Punchy" mode on which sounded great to me for this track. Also, I made sure to turn off "True Peak Limiting" since it doesn't really sound good on transients for some reason. I saw many people mentioning the same problem, so for those reasons, I'm keeping it off. Try it out for yourself.

Send 1: FabFilter Pro Q3 - Parallel EQ

This parallel EQ is optional and highly depends on the track you're mastering. I personally like to isolate for example either mid range or high end and then maybe process even more on my parallel channel so I can later blend it in with my original signal to taste. However, as mentioned, this is very optional.

Conclusion:

As you can see, there's a lot going on in this chain, but that's not always the case. As mentioned many times in my posts & work, none of this is a must & strict to have in this chain, so have that in mind.

Not a single chain will be the same, so have that in mind too! This chain was one example of how I personally processed just one of many masters I did in my studio. Every chain is different and each setting will be different too.

If you want to share your mastering chains with us, or you have some recommendations that you want to tell, feel free to reach to us on social media or via e-mail address provided on our site.

Filed in: Mastering, Mastering Chain, Mastering Tips, Mastering Tricks
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