Resisting plugins on the master bug when mixing...

[stevehollx]

I've never tried this before, but I threw mastering plugins (no EQ here, but a compressor, clipper, & limiter) on the master bus in the middle of mixing some new stuff. Mostly I did it so I can A/B my stuff with CDs better and get an idea of how things would roughly sound as a final result rather.

But after hearing the mix through the master plugins, I find myself mixing more with the master bus plugins enabled than in bypass mode. The mastering changes the soundscape so much I'm afraid to mix with them off. Guitars are beefier and need re-EQing, bass is boomier, snare sits different in the mix...

I'm thinking this may be a bad practice--there are probably two schools of though here:

-Tailor your mix with the mastering plugins on because it will give you a better idea of what the mix is going to sound like after it is mastered, and will help you correct things during mixdown that mastering would have exposed.

-Don't rely on the mastering plugins during mixdown, since building a mix around them will cause for a bad mix that falls apart when you disable them.

Ultimately this project is being sent to a mastering house, so I will be sending the tracks to them with nothing on the mastering bus, but I'm not sure whether I should stop mixing/referencing with the master bus plugins enabled or not. I don't want to send a mix that sounded good through my master bus plugins, but not through theirs. But I don't want mastering to expose anything that I could have caught with mastering plugins.

Anyone have any thoughts?

 

[ParsonsMatt]

You're going to pay for someone to master it, right? Let them do their job.

 

[006]

I personally mix with a pair of comps and a pair of limiters cascaded on the 2bus from the start with really light settings to begin with. I don't ever get projects where the client wants someone else to master it, but I don't consider a comp and limiter on the 2bus "mastering." It's just how I prefer to mix is all. Some do it bare-bones on the 2bus, others like me. It's mostly a preference thing so far from what I can tell. But, if you are getting it mastered somewhere else, mix it like you want it to sound with everything OFF on the 2bus. The mastering engineer should know what to do to retain the mix you have, but maximize everything like it's suppose to be (hopefully without killing it).

~006

 

[if6was9]

I mix with a limiter on from around the middle of a mix, maybe more towards the end, not with it killing the mix, just on a tad. I mess with it then once I'm almost done to see how mastering will effect the mix and make a few small changes. I take it off when I'm done, I just do it to see what kind of effect any mastering will have so I'm aware.
I don't see how its bad form if you're planning on taking them off again. I think your mix will come out at the very end sounding better if you make a few small tweaks to allow for what mastering does.
Alot of people mix through some light compression for "glue" and don't take it off before sending it to a mastering house, it's not like they're not leaving the mastering house any room to work, they just prefer the sound of their mix though this comp at those settings so leave it on.

 

[greyskull]

I mix with a limiter on from around the middle of a mix, maybe more towards the end, not with it killing the mix, just on a tad. I mess with it then once I'm almost done to see how mastering will effect the mix and make a few small changes. I take it off when I'm done, I just do it to see what kind of effect any mastering will have so I'm aware.
I don't see how its bad form if you're planning on taking them off again. I think your mix will come out at the very end sounding better if you make a few small tweaks to allow for what mastering does.
Alot of people mix through some light compression for "glue" and don't take it off before sending it to a mastering house, it's not like they're not leaving the mastering house any room to work, they just prefer the sound of their mix though this comp at those settings so leave it on.

+1

 

[TomMartin]

with regards to the snare sitting differently, have you tried clipping the individual snare track/tracks? this'll give you sooooooo much more headroom on the master bus, and your limiter doesn't have to deal with the massive snare transient peaks, I find this helps the snare 'stay where it was' ?

 

[Let it burn...]

i keep everything off and try to get the best out of a mix before i put a something on my 2 buss. I used to put a comp on it during mixing but I've noticed that my mixes are too compressed that way because if think I still have enough headroom

 

[-Noodles-]

i keep everything off and try to get the best out of a mix before i put a something on my 2 buss. I used to put a comp on it during mixing but I've noticed that my mixes are too compressed that way because if think I still have enough headroom

+1.

Even if i am self mastering, it's rare that I'll put a 2dB compressor on it.. but never more than that. If I do put one on, it'll probably to see if it "adds" anything.
Self mastering I'll usually wait till I start that before compressing the stereo file.

 

[outoftune]

same here. I always have a saturation plug and a master bus compressor running when I'm mixing