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Hi! I have Adobe Audition 3.0 Master/Mixing 3.0 software and Sonic Score Pulsar II Project (Creamware) Soundcard and Yours Breakaway products in test. And these works well together.
In multitrack-session in Adobe I´m recording record so that the 1. track is master and 2.0 track slave and Breakaway Broadcast (Preference Settings)works some kind of effect between. And it works and sounds dynamic!!! If I after this do normal CD-record from this final result and send to Radiostation (they had his own some kind "radioeffects" in operations) and they played this in Radio, how its sounds to Listeners? Its to much compress, distrotion, limiting ets?
Or its usyally or recommend to like I do? I´m not yet trying installation Breakaway Live to Adobe
Audition as VST-Plugins and it´s that bossible at all?Yours Veli
(Sorry My language is not well)
Hi Veli!
Mastering with Breakaway in this manner is definitely possible, although Breakaway Broadcast isn’t perfect for mastering yet because of the 16 kHz low-pass filter. Breakaway Live doesn’t have the low-pass filter but also doesn’t have the clipper — it’s look-ahead limiter only.
Mastering with Breakaway for playing on the air later would be much better than how most CDs today are mastered (compress to death, limit to death, and then clip the samples by saturation at 44100hz — essentially the worst thing you could possibly do to audio).
However, I’d be careful with the compression, particularly the AGC. Try turning down the Range control significantly — if it’s the master is already dynamics-free, it won’t survive another pass through a multiband processor without damage.
Best,
///LeifPersonally I have never used compression at all on any master I’ve ever done, in 10 years… besides the final limiter. And I take my limiting as fast and transparent and non-slamming as I can get it. 🙂 Typically for a "loud" master I’m only hitting about -1db -2db RMS reduction during loudest peaks. And nothing else in the way of dynamics-specific processing, other than possibly to increase kick dynamics with something like Voxengo LF-Punch.
The EQ itself is 90% of the work of true mastering. 🙂
While using a multiband compressor is a quick way to a halfway acceptable master, you’re also doing it at much expense to the dynamics, because that’s how multiband compression works to dynamically adjust the spectral balance based on program material. There have been some attempts at getting around this for certain applications where the final volume consistency isn’t as crucial (because you’re setting it yourself manually), even Leif having worked on something himself some years ago. 🙂
But yeah, mastering is truly the art of compromise. If you’re just starting out, then multiband compression might yield better results, but don’t use it as an excuse to not try as hard to improve yourself as you would have otherwise… or then it becomes your enemy. Too many people want cake without putting in the time washing dishes. 😉
Also, when requested I do several things for radio masters 🙂 Example:
Original:
Kjell – Wind Tunnel (master by JesseG).mp3Radio:
Kjell – Wind Tunnel (radio master by JesseG).mp3Roughly 6db less peak limiting (almost zero) and notice it’s not as wide. Play them both through Breakaway. See which sounds better. And remember that’s a best-case scenario. The things that make the radio version sound better in Breakaway are even more pronounced in "normal" broadcast processing.
Hi, and thanks for the Answer! 🙂 I´m thinking the radioplaying. It`s so that if radio have in use his own Soundsystems like Breakway, so is it worth at all mastering the records to 0-level if the system in radio raises automatic the level close to zero? And if the recording is mastered 0-level and same record playing after that in radio so the result its like "two times Breakaway mastered" and the result is a lot worse? 🙄
Yours Veli
You’ve got the right idea, Veli. If your target is airplay, it’s NOT worth squashing the master. The result on the air will not be pretty — and this is part of the reason why radio sounds like it does today, with all music on CDs being completely ruined before it even gets to the station.
It’s not a bad idea to do a *little* bit of processing though for the master, but be extremely careful with the final limiter!
///Leif
And be careful to not go over 10db peak RMS… but that’s kind of open to interpretation.
Good news, I’m working on a meter which uses ITU BS.1770-1 (aka LKFS metering) in combination with the K-System…. K-20, K-14, and K-12.
Then I could just recommend not to master it hotter than K-14, if your peaks are hitting -0dBfs… and you would be good. 🙂
In fact, the beta version of it should be out soon. Lucky you.
Maybe 1-2 weeks at most. I have some other stuff to do in the mean time, but it’s coming along nicely. Other than the config menu, the meter is basically done. 8)
Jesse,
Will this meter be VST or stand alone?
Scott
Jesse,
I look forward to seeing it. With latency couldn’t you just have the VST report the latency to the host and the host should compensate for it.
On the subject of Mastering, one of the reps we see occassionaly directed me to the Tech Library on the TC Electronic site:
They have a PDF that went with their Finalizer, written by Bob Katz:
The Secret of the Mastering Engineer
Mastering is an art and a science. In this acclaimed booklet, Bob Katz shares good advice about monitoring,
metering and processing. About listening to the music and supporting it as the road to Nirvana – from one
of the true yogis of our industry.
by Bob KatzAt 17 pages it’s certainly not his Mastering book but makes for good reading.
Scott
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