mastering "Wrong"

[Franz]

Here is my mastering proposal 


And now a new mastering in V2

The V3 mastering

[empty signifier]

With the caveat that I lack both the experience as well as the appropriate monitoring system to provide any kind of objective judgement on a master:

I can hear that you really put some effort into beefing up the low end that was missing. I don’t think it’s working very well though. It does sound like a master that tries to force something out of a mix that just wasn’t there and sacrificing the things that worked in the original mix. Really loud low end but a very hollow mid range. And it’s pushing mostly the low end of the bass, whereas the kick is still drowning out. So I think a little more subtlety and precision on the low end treatment would be needed. The cymbals also sound a little unpleasant, but that might just be to the balance shift in the low end.

No hard clipping, but I can hear it distorting quite a bit in some places, so I think whatever you added prior to the final limiter is a little too aggressive.

So, if I were a client, I would definitely ask for a revision. But if it’s matching your taste, it’s all good, of course.

[Franz]

Well, let's imagine you're the client. I now have very precise information.

So I remade a second mastering, trying to reconcile all these elements.

I hope you'll be more satisfied with this V2.

Cheers!

Franz

please see #1 above

[empty signifier]

Well, let's imagine you're the client. I now have very precise information.

So I remade a second mastering, trying to reconcile all these elements.

I hope you'll be more satisfied with this V2.

Cheers!

Franz

please see #1 above

I love that you are really sinking your teeth into this. I like the new one a lot better. It’s sounds much less forced in the low end, and with less artefacts from dynamics processing on the 2 bus. It is still a little bit dull and muddy. Might be because the low end is still pushing a bit too much, but I don’t have the listening system to make good judgement calls there. I did try to some tweaks on your master, and found that a really wide +1.5db bell at 4k to get more midrange excitement, a relatively narrow -0.5db cut at around 250hz to tame some of the muddy build up, and optionally a really narrow 1.5db boost at around 50hz to get more thump from the kick got it pretty close to what I think it should sound like.

[Franz]

Yes, your analysis of my V2 master is relatively well-founded. 
I admit that it's a bit loaded in the low-mids around 250 Hz. So I've remedied that. For the low frequencies, it remains problematic, and the kick is very difficult to bring out in the mix. So a compromise must be found. As for giving more presence and attack to the mids, it's more in the 2K to 3K range; beyond that, we find problems with vocal "aggressiveness" and excessive cymbals. I've corrected this in this frequency range. 
With more excessive manipulations—it's possible—we end up with compatibility issues between the many audio listening systems. So, a real choice (perhaps a bit restrictive) to make. That should do it, right? 

Franz

see first post for V3

[empty signifier]

Yes, your analysis of my V2 master is relatively well-founded. 
I admit that it's a bit loaded in the low-mids around 250 Hz. So I've remedied that. For the low frequencies, it remains problematic, and the kick is very difficult to bring out in the mix. So a compromise must be found. As for giving more presence and attack to the mids, it's more in the 2K to 3K range; beyond that, we find problems with vocal "aggressiveness" and excessive cymbals. I've corrected this in this frequency range. 
With more excessive manipulations—it's possible—we end up with compatibility issues between the many audio listening systems. So, a real choice (perhaps a bit restrictive) to make. That should do it, right? 

Franz

see first post for V3

Sounds better to me for sure. Still missing a bit of upper midrange above 3k for my taste, and don't really hear a problem with cymbals or vocals there. But I  fully realize that my tolerance for cymbal presence is higher than current norms in rock production. I just tend to dislike neutered, washy sounding cymbals. Maybe it's the hearing loss setting in.