# Mastering Plugin - What is the best Mastering Plugin?



## Sonnie

What is your favorite plugin for mastering and what is it that you like about it?

I have been considering Waves and Cubase, but there seems to be too many options out there. How do you choose the right one?

Thanks!


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## spacedout

Do you mean using Waves plugins within Cubase? If so, I'd suggest looking at Wavelab rather than Cubase for mastering - Cubase is designed as more of a multitrack production enviroment, and doesn't include a CD burner, which you would probably want in a mastering situation...

Can't speak for Waves plugins b/c I don't own any - I use Ozone though, and it's good


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## bantam

I won a copy of ozone 4 from vintage king and was less than excited when i heard. After using it though im very impressed. it sounds fantastic.


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## chonc

I'd say as a whole Ozone 4 is a great mastering plugin. It has everything you need just to do that. I'm not particularly fan of the eq section, but it is adequate. The maximizer section sounds very good too (although I think Maxim does the job better but that is only available for protools). What blows my mind is the band compressor, that one I absolutely love! It also has a stereo spreader and a pretty good mastering reverb for opening your mixes.

With a waves bundle I guess you can maybe get some better results audio-wise, but you have to use several plugins (and be sure your bundle has everything you need for mastering). In addition waves bundles are pricey.

I've also used T-racks bundle which has a decent eq, but everything else not too great for my taste.

Overall Izotope's Ozone 4 is probably the best buy for a mastering plugin.


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## tehguit

+1 for ozone 4. Awesome plug and you can always supplement it with other plugins if you need to. Unlimited control.


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## DOMC

its not an easy question sonnie - there are many many plugins that all do very different things. Some are clean, some are coloured. some are eq's, some are compressors, some are limiters etc etc. I think a combination of different choices gives you a mastering arsenal - but I never have just one plugin that does the entire job. I use a combination of outboard and plugins to reach a final decision for each song. and each song is very different.

Dom


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## jonathanm

Dom is right of course....there is no best plugin for mastering (or anything else).....

But I also think that Ozone is a great bit of software. It's comprehensive and flexible enough for lots of different approaches, and the presets are good starting points to learn from if you're new to the concepts.

If you don't already know exactly what you need, and why...then Ozone is a good start. using it is an education in itself for a non mastering expert. (like me). It has given me the best sounding results other than handing off to a mastering engineer....


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## DrGeoff

I'm with DOM on this one. There are many different tools available to perform different functions. What is required will depend on the source material.
Cubase is my platform of choice for tracking, mixing and mastering (when required).
For mastering operations the plugins I have available in the toolbox are the UAD precision equalizer, Pultec pro EQ, precision bus compressor, precision multiband compressor and the Kjaerhaus precision limiter.

- Geoff


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## chonc

I can see where DOM is coming. If I were a mastering engineer I guess it would be pretty hard pinpointing a single plugin (or even suggesting a plugin for that matter) for a mastering job.

But for an audio enthusiast that doesn't plan to spend loads of cash for giving his demo or small project the final edge I think Ozone is a great tool. I'm actually quite interested on what DOM has to say about Ozone, maybe he knows other similar tool to get the job done.

My advice for that amateur-going-pro enthusiast for finishing a bigger project (read paying) is to go to a mastering engineer in a mastering house to get that "master" sound.


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## DOMC

I use ozone a lot - but only the limiter. I really like the amount of different sounds I can get with this limiter - I think its one of the best. I dont really use much else in it  not because I dont like it - I just have other stuff I like better.


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## DragonMusic

Use many different plugins for EQ and compressors. But the one I always use as a limiter is the Massey L2007 brickwall limiter. But that one is only RTAS. Can't use it with Cubase.


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## ngarjuna

I try really hard not to "master"; it's not where my experience is nor is a lot of my equipment / software really designed for it. However, some amount of "This song will never be mastered, so we need some level adjustment due to all the headroom you left for mastering" is inevitable amongst us mixers who actually leave headroom for mastering.

For those occasions I use Voxengo's Elephant. After a long comparison of different mastering limiters it was between Elephant and Ozone (they both sound very good) and I went with Elephant mostly because I was not interested in the rest of the Ozone package (I have my own equalizers and reverb and what not), so the Elephant was a better buy for what I was trying to get.

No regrets, Elephant is a fabulous limiter, I can see why it has generated the kind of praise it gets on forums.


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## Darnstrat

Sonnie said:


> What is your favorite plugin for mastering and what is it that you like about it?
> 
> I have been considering Waves and Cubase, but there seems to be too many options out there. How do you choose the right one?
> 
> Thanks!


T-Racks 3 works well for me. Works in RTAS/AU/VST and standalone.
Massey L2007 = one of the very best mastering limiters, much better than Maxim, IMHO.


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## ejbragg

I usually don't master anything, because I'm just really not qualified. A mixing engineer with a lot of experience and a great ear might be talented and qualified enough to become a [good] mastering engineer, eventually. But those guys can do some really weird stuff with 2 tracks of audio. There are a lot of wanna-be's, but I think the real guys are kinda like .... the sonic version of true hackers. They can be kinda scary! They just see things from a very different point of view, and I believe the universe warps around them like space-time around a massive black hole.

However, there are many projects that are merely glorified demos, and the client wants to keep everything in-house. To keep the cost down, I first lay the claim that it will NOT likely compete with commercial CDs when I'm through. Then I do my thing with PSP plug-ins. They have some interesting stereo field controllers and spatial monitors, an excellent parametric EQ, and their "Vintage Warmer" is a very, VERY nice compresser / limiter. But I then turn to the david brown mastering limiter at the last stage, which tends to smash things down with very little distortion.

This, Sonnie, I do in my multi-channel DAW. So there are, in fact, some of us who are using "mastering" plug-ins on our mixing stations.


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## BoogieBear

Although I have no connection to the company whatsoever I am a registered user and can recommend Har-Bal http://www.har-bal.com/ as a very powerful mastering tool

It takes quite a lot of getting used to the way of working but it can be so quick to get results once you have set the parameters you want

Take a look at the YouTube link on the home page :T

Cheers
Anton


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## chonc

BoogieBear said:


> Although I have no connection to the company whatsoever I am a registered user and can recommend Har-Bal http://www.har-bal.com/ as a very powerful mastering tool
> 
> It takes quite a lot of getting used to the way of working but it can be so quick to get results once you have set the parameters you want
> 
> Take a look at the YouTube link on the home page :T
> 
> Cheers
> Anton


It looks very interesting:T too bad there's not a Mac version


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## Sergey

Hi people , does anyone has tried the roger nichols digital v1.2 , cause im starting to really like them but im not sure against the other plug ins how they come out, i have used the ozone 4 and its one of my fav, but now im starting to need diferent sounds and i just saw that series and seems to me really good ones, what do you think guys ?? :mooooh:


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## biigniick

i like the flux Epure II very much. it's the only plugin i frequently use day to day. also, the PSP xenon limiter is very nice in my opinion.

- nick


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## DOMC

i will have to check them out - I am about to try out slate digital FG-X


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## rone92027

chonc said:


> My advice for that amateur-going-pro enthusiast for finishing a bigger project (read paying) is to go to a mastering engineer in a mastering house to get that "master" sound.


Being an _amateur enthusiast_ I have to agree... but I did recently purchase some of the Flux plugins to play and learn... there is certainly more then meets the eye to mastering :doh: but I like there flagship plugin Alchemist, and Epure II and Syrah as well.

I have only used them on one song so far :rubeyes: opened my eyes to the art of mastering :yikes:


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## redmountain

I like the colors that 
http://www.pspaudioware.com/plugins/dynamic_processors/psp_vintagewarmer2/
can have...

then there is their limiter
http://www.pspaudioware.com/plugins/dynamic_processors/psp_xenon/

Take care

Klaus


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## GamerG

Me.. I'm PSP VintageWarmer,L3-16,Sony Wave Hammer (very underratted plugin Windows Only) RComp (possibly the best all-purpose compressor there is..lol):T:bigsmile:


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## Erki

+1 for ozone 4:T


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## JohnScrip

Although I'm generally a hardware guy, I find the stock plugs in the Samplitude (Samplitude Professional, Sequoia, etc.) more than capable for 95% of what I'd need on any given project if I were to stay ITB.


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## HiFi1972

I believe it depends on the material, but the ones I use the most are the UAD Precision series, the Massey L2007 and Flux:: Pure Limiter II.


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## edd221

*i like the Massey 2007 and really like the Slate Digital FX-G Virtual mastering processor it's super transparent*


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## matula

Never been a fan of Ozone and T-Racks, I think it takes out a lot of fullness. I use Wavelab and mostly some stuff from Brainworx. These plugins are heavy on my processor, but gives me good results.


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## Andrey

PSP Xenon is definately "pleasent for ear" and must have mastering plug.


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## MusicalFreq

I know this is an old post, but I will give my 2 cents here as well. I find that the UAD plugins as mentioned before to be probably some of the best out there, as I have used and tested many in my search for superior plugins in order to refine my ITB (In the Box) techniques. Having had experience with analog recording, mixing and mastering, I have now come to the conclusion that you can produce an audio that competes with the old methods, I find that difficult to say being I am old school. But I am enjoying using these new tools. So if anyone reads this, you have to check these out, they cost a little but the quality can't be beat.


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## rocksure

tehguit said:


> +1 for ozone 4. Awesome plug and you can always supplement it with other plugins if you need to. Unlimited control.


I don't have iZotope Ozone 4, but I do have Ozone 3. I use it lots. It's pretty cool. However, I prefer to use Waves L2 rather than the Ozone limiter as the final stage. I also like the PSP mastering compressor, which I sometimes use. Sound Forge is the platform I use when mastering, and Sony CD architect for compiling the disc.


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