I've been using home studio 2004 for quite a while. I'm happy with it for the most part but want to do more mastering. I record mostly acoustic instruments but sometimes like to add some samples or midi, like drums, and I'm not too that thrilled with what 04 offers. I also use many VST plugins so i'm not sure if the effects that the newer version come with are of any value. Does anyone have an opinion whether i should get home studio 7 or Sonar? I'm willing to pay more for Sonar if it does something i need. Again, the key is mastering. I have not really delved into it and my recording can use some 'polish' thanks
In news: the killer robot eyesnears <> grabbed the controls of the spaceship cakewalk.audio and pressed these buttons... > I've been using home studio 2004 for quite a while. I'm happy with it > for the most part but want to do more mastering. I record mostly > acoustic instruments but sometimes like to add some samples or midi, > like drums, and I'm not too that thrilled with what 04 offers. I also > use many VST plugins so i'm not sure if the effects that the newer > version come with are of any value. > Does anyone have an opinion whether i should get home studio 7 or > Sonar? I'm willing to pay more for Sonar if it does something i need. > Again, the key is mastering. I have not really delved into it and my > recording can use some 'polish' Mastering is something that different people use different tools to accomplish. Some folks like using a mastering plugin like Izotope. Others like using an actual mastering app, like Sony Soundforge, and others just use their DAW with the plugs it comes with, or third party plugs. I originally just used Sonar with a combination of native and third party plugs. Then I got Soundforge, and always mastered in it. Later I switched totally to Reaper, and now I do both my tracking and mastering in Reaper. I mix as I record, so by the time I'm laying down the final tracks, I'm almost done with the mix too. I don't use any mastering suite type of plugin, but I do use a mastering limiter on all my subs and master faders. -- Remove YourHeadFromYourAss to Reply by email ________ __ / ____/ /__ ____ ____ / /_ ____ / / __/ / _ \/ __ \/ __ \/ __ \/ __ \ / /_/ / / __/ / / / / / / /_/ / /_/ / \____/_/\___/_/ /_/_/ /_/_.___/\____/ --------------------------------------------------------------------- Glennbo http://www.soundclick.com/glennbo Non-Linear Sound http://www.soundclick.com/jambits Hear My Music http://www.soundclick.com/ThePseudonyms
As Glennbo suggested, there are a number of approaches to mastering, and one approach might be to just use some third party mastering plug-ins within your current Home Studio product. There are plenty of choices for those, such as iZotope Ozone, IK Multimedia T-RackS, the PSP Audioware MasterPack, various Waves plug-ins, the dB-audioware plug-ins, etc. That said, upgrading to the latest SONAR Producer Edition would also get you a bunch of mastering plug-ins from Cakewalk, including linear phase coherent multiband compressor and equalizer, an end of chain mastering limiter, a tube saturator, and probably some others I'm forgetting. And it would also get you a bunch of plug-ins and software instruments for other uses, including a pretty good quality software instrument for drums. I'm not familiar with the upgrade pricing from Home Studio to SONAR Producer, but it might well be that you could do that sort of upgrade for a similar price to what you'd pay for third party mastering plug-ins while getting a lot more functionality, both in SONAR itself and with all the toys that come with the Producer Edition, in the process. I'd be surprised if upgrading to a newer version of Home Studio would make a big difference in mastering capabilities, as a number of the mastering-oriented plug-ins aren't even in SONAR Studio Edition, only in Producer Edition. SONAR Producer Edition also has higher grade dithering than SONAR Studio Edition or SONAR Home Studio provide. FWIW, I've used various approaches to mastering over the years, but these days mostly do my mastering in SONAR Producer Edition (V8.5.3 at this point). Which plug-ins I use vary depending on the project and any time pressures, but my most frequently used mastering chains include Cakewalk's Linear Phase Multiband Compressor along with a number of PSP Audioware MasterPack plug-ins (especially Xenon and Neon HR, but often also MasterComp -- I also use VintageWarmer 2 at the end of my mix bus, prior to using a separate project for mastering; I generally mix to 64-bit, 88.2 kHz files, then do my mastering at that resolution). Rick -- ======================================= Rick Paul Closet Cowboy Music (ASCAP) Web: www.RickPaul.info MySpace: www.myspace.com/rickpaulmusic ======================================= "eyesnears" <> wrote in message news:... > I've been using home studio 2004 for quite a while. I'm happy with it > for the most part but want to do more mastering. I record mostly > acoustic instruments but sometimes like to add some samples or midi, > like drums, and I'm not too that thrilled with what 04 offers. I also > use many VST plugins so i'm not sure if the effects that the newer > version come with are of any value. > Does anyone have an opinion whether i should get home studio 7 or > Sonar? I'm willing to pay more for Sonar if it does something i need. > Again, the key is mastering. I have not really delved into it and my > recording can use some 'polish' > thanks
On Jun 23, 4:05 am, "Rick Paul" <> wrote: > As Glennbo suggested, there are a number of approaches to mastering, and one > approach might be to just use some third party mastering plug-ins within > your current Home Studio product. There are plenty of choices for those, > such as iZotope Ozone, IK Multimedia T-RackS, the PSP Audioware MasterPack, > various Waves plug-ins, the dB-audioware plug-ins, etc. > > That said, upgrading to the latest SONAR Producer Edition would also get you > a bunch of mastering plug-ins from Cakewalk, including linear phase coherent > multiband compressor and equalizer, an end of chain mastering limiter, a > tube saturator, and probably some others I'm forgetting. And it would also > get you a bunch of plug-ins and software instruments for other uses, > including a pretty good quality software instrument for drums. I'm not > familiar with the upgrade pricing from Home Studio to SONAR Producer, butit > might well be that you could do that sort of upgrade for a similar price to > what you'd pay for third party mastering plug-ins while getting a lot more > functionality, both in SONAR itself and with all the toys that come with the > Producer Edition, in the process. > > I'd be surprised if upgrading to a newer version of Home Studio would make a > big difference in mastering capabilities, as a number of the > mastering-oriented plug-ins aren't even in SONAR Studio Edition, only in > Producer Edition. SONAR Producer Edition also has higher grade dithering > than SONAR Studio Edition or SONAR Home Studio provide. > > FWIW, I've used various approaches to mastering over the years, but these > days mostly do my mastering in SONAR Producer Edition (V8.5.3 at this > point). Which plug-ins I use vary depending on the project and any time > pressures, but my most frequently used mastering chains include Cakewalk's > Linear Phase Multiband Compressor along with a number of PSP Audioware > MasterPack plug-ins (especially Xenon and Neon HR, but often also > MasterComp -- I also use VintageWarmer 2 at the end of my mix bus, prior to > using a separate project for mastering; I generally mix to 64-bit, 88.2 kHz > files, then do my mastering at that resolution). > > Rick > > -- > ======================================= > Rick Paul > Closet Cowboy Music (ASCAP) > Web:www.RickPaul.info > MySpace:www.myspace.com/rickpaulmusic > ======================================= > > "eyesnears" <> wrote in message > > news:... > > > > > I've been using home studio 2004 for quite a while. I'm happy with it > > for the most part but want to do more mastering. I record mostly > > acoustic instruments but sometimes like to add some samples or midi, > > like drums, and I'm not too that thrilled with what 04 offers. I also > > use many VST plugins so i'm not sure if the effects that the newer > > version come with are of any value. > > Does anyone have an opinion whether i should get home studio 7 or > > Sonar? I'm willing to pay more for Sonar if it does something i need. > > Again, the key is mastering. I have not really delved into it and my > > recording can use some 'polish' > > thanks- Hide quoted text - > > - Show quoted text - thanks. I'll look into the pricing. Part of the reason for upgrade is my version is so old, i'm just assuming there are better features in the new. Maybe dumb on my part. Home Studio 7 xl has this Boost 11 peak limiter, which looks like some sort of mastering for dummies tool (me). Also has Cakewalk Studio Instruments. I'll look into some of the plugins. Has anyone used this Har-Bal thing. I've heard good things about it.
"eyesnears" <> wrote in message news:... > thanks. I'll look into the pricing. Part of the reason for upgrade is > my version is so old, i'm just assuming there are better features in > the new. That is probably a good assumption. > Home Studio 7 xl has this Boost 11 > peak limiter, which looks like some sort of mastering for dummies tool > (me). Yes, Boost 11 is a mastering peak limiter, and it's pretty easy to use. That is also in both versions of SONAR (i.e. Studio and Producer). SONAR Producer also adds the linear phase equalizer and linear phase multiband compressor, among other tools. > I'll look into some of the plugins. Has anyone used this Har-Bal > thing. I've heard good things about it. I haven't used that specific product, but I have used similar EQ matching features in iZotope Ozone, and those can be helpful for trying to get a similar frequency balance to a reference track. My best results with Ozone were to pick a number of different reference recordings, then try out the matching (with only a 25% to 35% matching and some smoothing of the curve) and just listen to see which ones I like the best. Unfortunately, Ozone doesn't let you tweak the curve from there. You're either using the matching or using manual settings. Thus, I started just trying to analyze what was going on in the matched curve I liked best and approximate the settings with another EQ so I could tweak from there. Rick -- ======================================= Rick Paul Closet Cowboy Music (ASCAP) Web: www.RickPaul.info MySpace: www.myspace.com/rickpaulmusic =======================================
"Rick Paul" <> wrote in message news:... > "eyesnears" <> wrote in message > news:... >Unfortunately, Ozone > doesn't let you tweak the curve from there. You're either using the > matching or using manual settings. Hi Rick. I believe it does let you tweak the curve from there. Close the Snapshots window and you still can use the manual EQ nodes to further adjust the EQ. Maybe I need some coffee >g? Poly
On Thu, 24 Jun 2010 22:23:10 -0700, "Rick Paul" <> wrote: > > Home Studio 7 xl has this Boost 11 > > peak limiter, which looks like some sort of mastering for dummies tool > > (me). Boost 11 can come in handy in other apps too. Saved me time improving the voice track on my niece's sweet 16 vid in Vegas. -- borus
"polymod" <> wrote in message news:4c24a643$0$31274$... > "Rick Paul" <> wrote in message >>Unfortunately, Ozone >> doesn't let you tweak the curve from there. You're either using the >> matching or using manual settings. > > Hi Rick. I believe it does let you tweak the curve from there. > Close the Snapshots window and you still can use the manual EQ nodes to > further adjust the EQ. > > Maybe I need some coffee >g? Whoa!!! Nope, it looks like I'm the one who's needed coffee, and for a very long time now! I could have sworn I'd tried that before and found it just got you back to generic settings, but I see it is making some adjustments to the calculated curve. It's not necessarily what I had in mind in terms of the types of adjustments I might want to make -- e.g. I might want to smooth out some specific bumps in the calculated curve rather than just raising or lowering portions of the curve -- but it could certainly be more useful than the nothing I thought was there, and there might be some scenarios where this sort of thing would be preferable. Not sure how I missed this when I know I was looking for it. Thanks, Poly. Rick -- ======================================= Rick Paul Closet Cowboy Music (ASCAP) Web: www.RickPaul.info MySpace: www.myspace.com/rickpaulmusic =======================================
"Rick Paul" <> wrote in message news:... > "polymod" <> wrote in message > news:4c24a643$0$31274$... > > "Rick Paul" <> wrote in message > >>Unfortunately, Ozone > >> doesn't let you tweak the curve from there. You're either using the > >> matching or using manual settings. > > > > Hi Rick. I believe it does let you tweak the curve from there. > > Close the Snapshots window and you still can use the manual EQ nodes to > > further adjust the EQ. > > > > Maybe I need some coffee >g? > > Whoa!!! Nope, it looks like I'm the one who's needed coffee, and for a very > long time now! > > I could have sworn I'd tried that before and found it just got you back to > generic settings, but I see it is making some adjustments to the calculated > curve. It's not necessarily what I had in mind in terms of the types of > adjustments I might want to make -- e.g. I might want to smooth out some > specific bumps in the calculated curve rather than just raising or lowering > portions of the curve -- but it could certainly be more useful than the > nothing I thought was there, and there might be some scenarios where this > sort of thing would be preferable. > > Not sure how I missed this when I know I was looking for it. Thanks, Poly. Your very welcome! After all the wealth of info I've gotten from you over the years it's nice to be able to give something back Poly
"eyesnears" <> wrote in message news:... > Ozone is a bit steep $$. Har-Bal is about $90. > From what i read Har-bal is a bit easier to use. Better make sure about that. I'm 99% sure that Har-Bal is to be used in conjunction with either Soundforge or Wavelab. One of the first steps in the process is to analyze your RMS power levels to be customize based on the genre of your music. I have an older Har-Bal guide and it says "do not continue with this tool" and has examples using both Soundforge and Wavelab. If the above is true, Ozone may be cheaper in the long run. Poly
"polymod" <> wrote in message news:4c277494$0$22506$... > I have an older Har-Bal guide and it says "do not continue with this tool" > and has examples using both Soundforge and Wavelab. apologies......make that: "do not continue *without* this tool". Poly
On Jun 27, 12:12 pm, "polymod" <> wrote: > "polymod" <> wrote in message > > news:4c277494$0$22506$... > > > I have an older Har-Bal guide and it says "do not continue with this tool" > > and has examples using both Soundforge and Wavelab. > > apologies......make that: > "do not continue *without* this tool". > > Poly i saw that too but i think all you need is the wav file, do the har- bal thing then save the new wav file and load back into whatever daw software you have.I wish they had a vst plugin. Anyway, i have not decided on hal-bar. They say 30 day money back. I'm first going to just upgrade my cakewalk to home studio 7 XL. thanks
