Hey,
I'm getting ready to master my first EP, it's called House of All Seasons. It's got four songs on it, each a different style. I'm not going for loud, certainly no louder than the most recent Beatles, Rolling Stones or Pink Floyd remasters, but I do want them to relate to each other.No hyper compression on this! I definitely want the dynamic range to be preserved. I've read some really promising reviews on the Slate Digital FG-X and the Ozone 5 and I want to know which would be best suited to that. I'll also use it for the first full length album.

I am going for a vintage sound. Which one would be best for that?
I'm going to releasing the individual tracks first, then a physical CD in local stores. Should I even bother mastering them?

Thoughts and suggestions are greatly appreciated.

-Eric

If this is something you want to do as an experiment I'd recommend ozone 5. I've not used the slate software to be fair, but ozone is well kitted out and easy to use. Loads of very good info in the manuals as well!

If you're going for a commercial release I would say try to get a budget for a pro mastering engineer to do it. I'm not saying you're not capable, but it is great to see & hear how someone else responds to your sound! You may be right to say it won't need any mastering too. Impossible to tell without hearing the tracks though. Why not post some samples?

Most people on here will advise you to get it mastered with a proper engineer and they may be right.

For an EP, it might cost the same to have it mastered with an engineer as it does to purchase either one of the softwares mentioned (possibly cheaper).

I've made this decision recently and decided to do it myself with a combination of Logic's own effects, Ozone and PSP Xenon. I did have friends/ contacts I could get to listen to the results critically on a variety of systems and this is important.

Some people will sigh and shake their head at this post, but remember that the majority of ears are not as critical as those on this forum. I'm sure either software will suffice for you, but Ozone is very good.

Bazza

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This time next week, who'll give a sh*t
http://www.podcastrevision.co.uk

I've used both utilities, and I would say that if you want to simply (!) polish your dynamics and achieve a comparable 'loudness' to commercial releases, that is most satisfyingly achieve with the Slate FG-X. This is because its compression is one of the most transparent and dynamically preserving for the gain in perceived volume that I have heard. That said, it doesn't really sound like loudness in itself is your main concern in this case.

On the other hand, Ozone has a whole range of tools, rather than just dynamic control, so is more like a versatile mastering suite. There is stereo width control, multi-band dyanamics, many flavours of equalization, as well as final dynamic control, all with Mid-Side vs. Left-Right control. The dynamic control in itself might not be as good as FG-X, but you do get a fantastic range of tools. Also, as noted, the documentation is very helpful, and there are lots of fairly useful presets to get you started too.

So my suggestion would be to plump for Ozone, and if at some point you want to push the dynamic control a further notch or two, supplement it with FG-X, but only once you start to feel some limitation in what Ozone gives you.

(The UAD Precision Limiter and Multiband, and Sonnox Limiter and Inflator are also excellent tools in the dynamic control arsenal, just to unhelpfully muddy up the issue!)

Hi there, well for a vintage sound I would say neither is particularly appropriate. They are both sophisticated digital softwares which are not modeled on analogue audio equipment. You may wish to find a good tape saturation emulation or other tools to inject some 'vintage' vibe.

Good luck with achieving the sound you want and do not forget about good translation whilst pursuing the quest for vintage authenticity.

cheers

SafeandSound Mastering
online mastering studio

Thank you everyone for your suggestions. If I choose to get one of the mastering plug ins this is what I would plan on doing (feel free to share your thoughts and criticisms). I would create a separate session, import all four songs on to separate tracks and also import a reference album (one that has levels similar to those I want). Could I use the analytics on something like Ozone to compare the two albums and match them that way? Or would it be next to impossible to match something like Abbey Road or Wish You Were Here? Please keep offering suggestions and thank you for your help. Safeandsound, do you have an opinion on the new Slate Tape Machines?

I don't pretend to be able to do serious professional mastering work in my home setup (I do tend to evangelise to clients about the benefits of a Pro mastering service), but I find Waves' Kramer Master Tape followed by SG-X can give very satisfying results where budgets are limited, so long as you're dealing with a decent recording to start with.

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"We knocked on the doors of Hell's darker chambers..." But no-one answered, so we went to the pub instead.

I'm not sure you're going to find a shortcut to what you're after Eric. The session layout you're describing is a good idea. Working from stereo files & using reference tracks will be the best route for you to get results. However, any analytical templates from commercial tracks, as you're describing, are unlikely to transpose onto your own masters. You really just need to work away until the sound is matching the reference material to your own satisfaction. It is definitely easier to get a pro!

I didn't touch mastering at all until I'd sat in on quite a few sessions with a local mastering engineer for albums I'd mixed. Learned loads from it & it gave me the confidence to go on and have a go myself on some of the less critical jobs I do!

mastering engineer all the way!

they have the skill, the speakers, the tools and the ears

If you're all set up & ready to go, Ozone 5 gives you a 10 day unlimited trial. This might be all the time you need either to master it, it at least to discover you need to get someone else to master it.

DM

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Not much in life worth running for. Or from.

I've had GREAT results with both...
The Slate gets things a little more lively in my opinion though.

The Ozone overall EQ can't be beat though!!