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Isratrance Mastering Shootout 1
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Babaluma
IsraTrance Junior Member
Started Topics :
18
Posts :
729
Posted : Sep 28, 2012 15:07
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I guess everyone was waiting for me to go first? 
OK, I just listened to all in my group, subjectively volume matched, and compared to the original mix. Here are my notes:
Original track:
I thought the mix was pretty good, the only thing I could fault if I had to would be the high end roll off, leading to a slightly old school/analogue/muffled sound, but this is easily enhanced in mastering. From listening to the track it's obvious that the artist is fond of dynamic range and percussive hits in his music, and with his only requests being to make it sound better, and not over-limit/over-compress, I was determined not to over-do it with the limiting.
Babaluma (Hermetech):
I thought my version stood up well against the others. I tried to enhance the overall sound, keep the transient response, and add a little lift to both lows and highs. If I could do a revision, I wouldn't really change anything, except perhaps to lower the output ceiling on the limiter to -0.3 (I'd been experimenting having it a little higher the last couple of weeks, but have gone back to -0.3, as you never know what DACs people might be listening through - some clip way before digital full scale).
Bleeps:
Nice dynamic range, you've kept the transients nicely/not over smashed it. On the downside I think it sounds somehow more "woolly" than the original, like you have lost some of the snap in the drums (especially noticeable on the snares), and maybe have a little too much energy in the lower mid range.
Colin:
Very clear, clean and present sound, has that "deep black wall of silence" behind it that I associate with a quality job. On the downside, I feel there's a slight over-emphasis on the mid range and high end, at the expense of the bass, and whilst it's not so limited, the amount of compression used is squashing the percussion somewhat. You also have audible distortion at 4:17 that is not present in the source file.
Crn:
High end sounds more present than the original, although there is a lot of nasty digital aliasing type distortion there too. To me, it sounds like there has been an over-use of some kind of MS device, the mix has been completely changed, everything sounds very out of phase, and it is severely over-limited with audible distortion throughout.
Daark:
Got the high end more present. Lots of limiting, but you've managed to retain the transients well. I'd say the frequency response was slightly skewed too far towards the highs. Compared to the original, you are not feeling that bass thump from the kick drum as much. I'm also hearing distortion in the highs, especially on the glassy pads around 2:10, that is not present in the source file.
Dimitri:
You have stayed pretty faithful to the source file, which is good, but I would have liked to see more transparency in the sound. It still sounds a little muffled, I think you could have EQed out some lower mid range or enhanced the highs a little more.
KnocZ:
Again, you've stayed pretty faithful to the source file. I like the level, dynamic range, and high end here. Lower mid range still sounds a little muddy. Basically, very similar comment to Dimitri above.
If I get a chance, I'll listen and comment on all the others in Group 2 on Monday.
  http://hermetechmastering.com : http://www.discogs.com/artist/Gregg+Janman : http://soundcloud.com/babaluma |
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reEto
IsraTrance Junior Member
Started Topics :
44
Posts :
31
Posted : Oct 1, 2012 11:54
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@Babaluma: you did a great job. what speakers do you have? i listen to the traxx with my air20. what is your favor till now?
·».¸¸.·*¨`·» .hiB - modular created & tri modular mixed Music - http://www.reeto.de «·´¨*·.¸¸.«· |
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Babaluma
IsraTrance Junior Member
Started Topics :
18
Posts :
729
Posted : Oct 1, 2012 17:22
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richard
Started Topics :
0
Posts :
7
Posted : Oct 2, 2012 20:24
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Sorry if any of the comments below seem harsh. Please don't kill me. All I can say is I listened “anonymously” both at home and in the studio without knowing whose I was hearing so there is nothing personal about it. In fact I didn’t correctly identify my own master and it was not my favorite either. I wanted to be brief so I hope these comments don’t sound dismissive. This was not an easy task! I found both the mastering and listening quite hard actually – it was a challenge. But I’d like to do it again sometime with a different track
Original mix
Sounds dull and veiled. I found it difficult to roll these frequencies back in with without it sounding harsh and brittle. Significant congestion in lower mids (I suspect it was mixed on hyped near-field monitors). Mixwise the two bass drums are the main problem area and I had some aesthetic problem with the combination of a panned drum machine bass drum and drum and bass sampled break, which to my ear were fighting each other - or at least not really in a dialogue sonically.
Padmapani
A little dull sounding with not much high frequency definition. Problem in lower mids not addressed. Punchy but over compressed and a little one-dimensional to my ear.
Storm
Smooth sound, spacious stereo image, brings out mid range very nicely, bass not heavy but well-defined. Lower mids sorted. Not too compressed.
POM
Powerful – in yer face. Space not very well defined and a little bass heavy. But kicks! Snare not very well defined but somehow very listenable. Lower mids not sorted
Docdic (mine!)
Bass quite well defined, although not that loud. High frequencies have a nice definition and texture. Well controlled, spacious but a little one-dimensional overall
Overdream
High frequencies nicely defined (although a little harsh?) Sound loses focus the busier it gets (incorrect compressor settings? – too fast attack, to slow release? – a guess obviously!)
Sine Freq
Metallic rather thin sound which makes me think of a not-ideally adjusted multiband compressor (?). Sounds a bit small and distant somehow,
Winterfur
Bass drum sounds more centred but very heavy. Low mids problem not addressed. Stereo image seems uncertain – phase issue or indistinct midrange?
My favorite was Storm’s, by quite a long way
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PoM
IsraTrance Full Member
Started Topics :
162
Posts :
8087
Posted : Oct 2, 2012 20:35
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i think this mix needed eq automation at mastering,anyone did or felt the same? the first part low end is more heavy and don t really needed the same equing than the rest of the tune cause of the synth bassline and maybe kicks if i remember
i didnt bothered but i think it would have benefit from it |
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Padmapani
Started Topics :
2
Posts :
431
Posted : Oct 2, 2012 22:03
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thanks for the feedback richard. i surely did the worst master in our group, and didn't find the feedback harsh at all (some things i did expect, some i did not, like that lower mid problem. but i guess we'll first hear more comments before we get into discussion).
it will likely take me one more week until i can comment. i'm moving atm and laptop speakers coupled with an otherwise completely empty room don't cut it for this  |
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Sprocket
Started Topics :
7
Posts :
37
Posted : Oct 3, 2012 16:48
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This is great.. i'm up for a round of this if it goes again |
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Upavas
Upavas
Started Topics :
150
Posts :
3315
Posted : Oct 4, 2012 04:41
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xoC
Cubic Spline
Started Topics :
10
Posts :
179
Posted : Oct 4, 2012 13:15
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Ok here are my comments, I only listened to group 1, I don't have much time to listen to all master.
I have written this comment on the first impression that the masters gave me, and I didn't litstened over and over again.
Babaluma
Nice one. You could have put a tiny bit more sub, but this really comes more to my taste than pure objectivity.
Bleeps
Dynamic wise, it's not squashed. On the balance side, it's still too much dull sounding (like the original).
Daark
Frequency wise, I found it to have to much high, making it aggressive. It's also too mono sounding, with sides hypassed : it's a nice thing to do on dance tracks, but with the nature of this track, i don't think it was necessary.
Colin
Really in your face sound. I find it a little bit aggressive on the high mids, and perhaps a little bit too much notched on the low mids. Dynamically, there are some interesting things, it pumps a bit, sounds very processed. Good thing or not, it comes to taste. Could be great if the artist is looking for dynamic transformation at the mastering stage, or not so great if he liked his mix like it was.
Crnorizec Hrabar
It's squached too much and is distording on a lot of sounds. It's also widened too much, the kick is too much on the left. Frequency wise, it's bright, and could have been less disturbing if not over limited.
KGB 16D
Nice one, still a little mid muddy/dull. It is also a little bit narrow.
KnocZ
Pretty faithful to the original with some enancements. It is still a bit muddy sounding. Not overlimited, good dynamics.
I don't mean to offend anyone with my comments, and with my not-so-great english, perhaps it can be seem rude sometimes, when it's not actually !
http://www.storm-mastering.com |
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daark
IsraTrance Full Member
Started Topics :
58
Posts :
1397
Posted : Oct 7, 2012 11:42
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Sorry i post with no connection to the groups because sendit did not let me download so i downloaded from dropbox links mostly and one missing. So i will comment on all the others again abit later. Not much time to this right.
Original -
The mix has alot of problematic spots.
The highs and the closed hat that pops up.
The megaelectric noises. Lots of antiphase. Huge dynamic range. The bass frequencies. Some sounds should have been EQed better there. And more.
So it was frustrating but challenging and educating.
Knocz-
You did a pretty good job not touching it to much and keeping to the source as the artist asked. Your sound is clean and good.
Colin-
The low end is really really well proccessed. It adds alot. The only miss i see is the sound is thin and crisp with small clips(also saturation?) but the meat is awesome. Overall a very good job.
KGB16D-
The mix became too muddy. Which it was in the first place but the mud went up. It is more pleasent then the crispiness. Overall i don't hear much change which is good.
PoM-
Such a nice sound
Bu here the mix is boomy. Just that out of the equation and its perfect.
Daark -
Subjectively the mix is way too hot and crisp. Hard to listen to.
Well i would change everything. So much wrong has been done in a such small period of time. The aprroach was totaly wrong. I would change all - lower thresholds longer attack release settings and M/S proccessing instead of usual stereo maybe on this one. Would add some breathing to the lowend smaller rolloff.
Forgot to highpass the end result and ended up with tons of highs there. My point was to add to the highs with some saturation and it went pretty bad because of position in the chain. Noticed only later the big fuck up. Mainly i would never do such a thing but here the highs drove me crazy and i tried to come up with something creative.
...but its special
More to come
Stay tuned ...
http://soundcloud.com/magimix-1/chilling-forest-whispers
Wierd shit happens :) |
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daark
IsraTrance Full Member
Started Topics :
58
Posts :
1397
Posted : Oct 7, 2012 12:25
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....and
Overdream-
Verrry nice
The sound is flat and clean. Problem here it is only a little bit too much air very bit but its subjective. Very good job.
Hermetech-
This is a very good one. You stayed on track and the result is a good clean sound.Great job.
To note nobody did a perfect job imho and the sound changes from person to person drasticaly each has his own aprroach so far .In one thing you nail but the other thing you forget.
Guys some of your links went down on dropbox you should recheck them Richard , SineFreq and Cubic Spline.
http://soundcloud.com/magimix-1/chilling-forest-whispers
Wierd shit happens :) |
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Babaluma
IsraTrance Junior Member
Started Topics :
18
Posts :
729
Posted : Oct 7, 2012 17:52
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daark
IsraTrance Full Member
Started Topics :
58
Posts :
1397
Posted : Oct 7, 2012 18:51
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Babaluma
IsraTrance Junior Member
Started Topics :
18
Posts :
729
Posted : Oct 7, 2012 20:29
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richard
Started Topics :
0
Posts :
7
Posted : Oct 7, 2012 22:47
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