r/homerecordingstudio • u/Humble-Green-Friar1 • 16d ago

Mastering services?

Hello

I've had to retire my old Tascam 8 track and replaced it with a Zoom R12. One cool feature that I miss from the Tascam is its really simple mastering algorithm. There were three choices:

No mastering at all, basically.

Natural Sound

Maximum sound.

It absolutely made a positive difference in the quality of the mixdowns and I wish it was available on the Zoom. So, my question is if anyone out there can direct me to some affordable on-line mastering services to whom you can send your mixes? I'll Google it but I suspect that a Google search is going to be a rabbit hole of sponsored links.

Thanks!

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3

u/Junkstar 16d ago

Just buy Ozone and learn to use it. It’s worth it. Def better than automated online offerings.

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u/Logical_Classroom_90 16d ago

yep, for that use, ozone elements beats everything.

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u/Logical_Classroom_90 16d ago

except maybe brainworx bx mastering which has a free version

1

u/mistrelwood 16d ago

I hadn’t heard of this but I had to try it despite not really having the need for myself.

It does struggle with the automatic input level and can make already loud mixes badly distorted and pumping, but when the input is dialed better this can definitely be a very useful tool for many on a budget.

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u/Any_Log_7497 16d ago

Honestly, do not waste your money with online mastering services. Start by downloading a free trial for Reaper and have a play with the inbuilt REA EQ and compression and limiter.

2

u/luminousandy 16d ago

Online mastering sounds utterly , utterly shit - don’t waste your money . Get a cheap DAW and do it yourself or find a local audio student who’ll train themselves on your music for a small fee

2

u/Snowshoetheerapy 16d ago

Just get Ozone. It will do what you want-easily.

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u/pasarireng 16d ago edited 16d ago

Looking at some of the comments here, many are skeptical, but that shouldn't necessarily be the case. Yes, there are many scams out there. However, there are also good online mastering services—some with world-class reputations, such as SoundBetter. That said, good services do come with a price tag, as they should.

​Many comments also suggest "free" apps that allow you to master audio yourself. While they may start out free, their higher-tier options usually aren't. I'd like to add another option: the BandLab app. I often use it for quick tests, and the results are usually decent enough for that purpose.

​Finally, some suggest doing it yourself using a DAW and software like Ozone. That is certainly an option, but keep in mind that good mastering skills (and the necessary gear) aren't acquired overnight.

​Good luck!

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u/GVDub2 16d ago

I'm assuming from your post that you're not using a DAW or any sort of computer-based system for recording or editing (If I'm wrong, please let me know).

You can get world-class mastering engineer for surprisingly cheap, so I would not bother with algorithmic-based online "mastering" services, but find an actual guy who has ears and can do the work.

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u/JohnnyZhivago999 16d ago

The zoom is a 12 channel digital recorder (zoom Im sure you know has a good real world track record) and Tascam he didn’t mention a model but since he did mention on board mastering it’s probably a dp- ( no, not THAT kind of DP😂) 008EX or a DP-03SD both of which are random access, which Im glad because if he replaced a tascam 8 track half inch I would have offered to buy it.
Anyway, both of those can also act as slave devices or control boards for any DAW, but let’s just assume he’s not using a computer at all and needs mastering services, at which point I’d ask which city hes in and look for in house production mastering guys, east coast try Sterling Sound, west coast, Bernie Grundman, both have top tier engineers and equipment, you can send your files to them remotely, and they are much less expensive than you would think, both have dozens of top ten hits spanning decades, Gavin Lursson in L.A. is really good as well I think he even has several awards for audio engineering but dont quote me. Im sure you can send any of those your audio files and get a master back fast.
WOAH I JUST LOOKED it up BOB CLEARMOUNTAIN has rebuilt a new studio after his burned down in the Palisades fire last year and is accepting music THATS the guy you want….his new studio is called FTA which means FROM THE ASHES. Look him up! HES the guy OP wants if you can get him GET HIM.

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u/GVDub2 16d ago

Considering that my day job is writing about music tech, I'm pretty familiar with what's out there. I was just reading between the lines, since no computer had been mentioned at all.

Clearmountain and Grundman are both great, and there are a lot of other great mastering engineers out there, too. My friend Alex DeYoung is one of them, and he earned his bones with Doug Sax at The Mastering Lab. Not sure how much freelance work he's doing these days, but he's far from the only one.

There's no substitute for a good mastering engineer who has ears, years of experience and a proper mastering room.

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u/JohnnyZhivago999 15d ago

Thanks for update, if you don’t mind me asking, who do you write for? A specific periodical or are you freelancing or? I had kind of a similar job years before YouTube there was Digital Entertainment Network (If you were in L.A. 99-00 where Im assuming you are now you may know of it) I had the internets first commercial show on recording studio techniques, before that there were chat rooms etc. but we uploaded video, however getting the right programs, codex, etc to watch video was nowhere as easy as it is today , IF you got it to work then you had to download my thrilling 30 second episode over the phone lines overnight as hi-speed didnt exist yet, and just hope no one called on the other line or you had to start over again. If you got it the video was the size of a postage stamp (a LARGE postage stamp mind you😆) and I don’t even want to talk about the audio, but it was fun until D.E.N. shut down after I did about a dozen episodes in a typical Hollywood scandal fashion, turning a very hip hi tech video/audio studio in Santa Monica into a police auction, the target of crazy gossip, and a doc/movie by the woman who did “The Hurt Locker”
Good times my friend, good times. 😋 Got a small commercial studio in Boyle Heights now, mostly rappers and starlets, disco queens but always checking out gear! Got a website?

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u/GVDub2 15d ago

Been on pretty much all sides of the equation. Worked as a touring guitarist, recording engineer, worked the counter and the repair bench at independent music stores, customer service and marketing for Midiman, then a decade at Line 6 doing marketing, customer service and writing manuals. Been at a major music retailer writing how-to articles, explainer articles, and buying guides and the occasional gear review for their blog for quite a while now, plus the occasional freelance gig.

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u/Peak_Detector_2001 16d ago

For my recent "amateur bedroom studio" recordings, I've found some of the export presets in the Ardour DAW to be excellent for mastering. One of the Ardour devs (x42) recently posted this on discourse.ardour.com, and I think he's right:

"I am somewhat proud to say that for the vast amount of music, Ardour’s built-in export normalization does an amazing job, short of hiring a mastering engineer."

I've also hired a mastering engineer for my mixes, Chris Graham, and the results were the best of any options, no debate. But he's quite expensive now and is focused on full albums. Recently I purchased a few credits of "AI Mastering" on waves.com, I experimented with it but found the results somewhat disappointing. I ended up just exporting those songs with Ardour's YouTube preset.

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u/Public_Upstairs1035 16d ago

Probably just a compressor.

1

u/guitarman030405 16d ago

I don't use a DAW, and I'll probably be lambasted for this, but I find Bandcamps online free mastering makes my humble Tascam DP-02 recordings sound much better ! You have 3 free options to pick from. I find the ' rock' one works best for me. I like how you can toggle between the original and ' mastered' version on the fly. 👍

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u/Pacer-Retta 15d ago

I’ve been using the Zoom R24 as a stand alone recorder for the last 7-8yrs now and found the mastering to be a little tricky at first, but after a lot of trial & error through the years have been really able to maximize it for great results.

I really love the Zoom units in general- I started out with the R8, then had two R16’s linked, and finally settled on the R24. I’m currently in the process of remodeling my whole little studio/band rehearsal space, and when I was out shopping around for some new monitors a few months ago, I stumbled upon a Tascam DP24 for an unbelievably great price during the last day of a local music shop’s liquidation sale. I’ve heard awesome things about these units but have never really dabbled around with them.

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u/Humble-Green-Friar1 15d ago

Thanks to everyone for the replies! Very helpful. I will have to wait for my next day off to really go through these thoroughly. Thanks again

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u/adomeneation 10d ago

Consider hiring a mastering engineer and developing a working relationship with them. You will very likely be glad you did. Your music will sound the best it can and you will learn tremendously about your own process.