Shadow Hills Mastering Compressor Alternative
Pascua Gomer
So I haven't seen this question actually asked verbatim though I've found permutations to it. I just happened to give the Mastering assistant a try and was quite impressed with results. Per documentation it mentions EQ, spreading the stereo image and controlling the true peak of the audio.
I guess the jist of what I'm asking is "Is this a Mastering Assistant" or is it supposed to be a "Mastering all in one" thing. Because I wouldn't want to throw a Mastering plugin on the bus and have my work compromised by the latter.
Well, maybe I should have been a bit more clear on "compromising". If I'm mastering a track I'd place a mastering plugin somewhere in the chain (e.g. Shadow Hills, Weiss DS1-MK3 or etc) and when I think in terms of a Mastering Assistant plugin I'm generally thinking in terms of a plugin that may perform tasks as adding subtle harmonics, introducing very subtle EQ curves or any other type of task that would enhance the audio. So compromising to me would be introducing a plugin onto my chain that unknowingly adds more compression.
If I know the plugin is actually performing compression in the backend, then I can make a knowledgeable intended use of it; but if I don't know it's adding compression to my track; that's the compromise. Not that it's destructive, but that I'm using it in a way contrary to what I thought it was doing.
for a series of 10min long tracks I am now using Logic's assistant in addition to my mastering chain (I am a sound engineer though) regularly. All in all, I can work with it. I would just like to point out that I often experience extreme pumping and distortion. Strangely enough, this comes up by incident, without me having made any changes that would increase the volume or the frequency behavior before the Assistant. Since then I've been very cautious and skeptical again with this new feature.
Hey, thanks for that important piece of information you shared. That was somewhat along what I'd experienced as well which led me to ask the question in this post. I also noted pumping as well though probably not as extreme as you have stated. I think it's prudent to say as you've said, it should be used cautiously.
Especially if you've already got a compressor on the same bus with the intent of actually mastering the audio b/c the Mastering assistant apparently is employing some type of compression under the hood and so the result may not be as intended or favorable under those circumstances. There is no documentation stating the type of compression it's using, the attack and release time (if any) and etc.
IMHO if you use it on a bus that already has compression in the chain, you're somewhat flying blindly from a technically perspective and relying "solely" on what you hear. Probably fine if that's what "floats your boat"
I just want to mention that the Mastering Assistant behaves really annoying here. It does not seem to be designed to be activated for long periods of time and/or to really use the "Re-analyze" button. Results with bass-heavy content is distortion everywhere and distorting everything. The solution is not to throw it out and reinitiate, because that doesn't change anything.
As I use it at a multitracks stage, not with a single stereo mix, and after my usual "mastering chain" and what I think is an already decent mix, I have the possibility to change the EQ and/or compression in the track(s) I suspect to cause the problem.
It means that your mix is not ready for mastering. Look at your multimeter and do your best to take care of the low end of your mix and treat the peaks in your mix too as a stated earlier. You have to get it to a ballpark of a good mix. Then export or bounce the mix, open a new project and import the mix. Only open the mastering assistant. (I think this is the intended way and the most efficient way to use the mastering assistant )Do a few tweaks and it should give you good results. That's what it was made for. If you're constantly going back re-tweaking everything and re-analyzing everything I'm sure there will be Bugs turning up their heads sooner or later.
You may be correct and that seems to be the general consensus based on most of the responses. Which to me suggests that Mastering Assistant is more of a Mastering alternative. Else what you've suggested shouldn't be required. Just dropping my 2 cents in the bucket
Yes, I agree with @Maestro777. The functionality is there and it is to be used like a mastering chain. So for sure I play my mixes through this to check how any mastering engineer might listen to it on their side to save this person time - and myself money.
I am reporting more a kind of a bug, Jim. There is no reason for this behavior, the mix is well balanced, and there are no big dynamic changes, the MA works fine at the beginning and without tweaking it starts distorting and pumping without a reason, at least I know.
Where do I start with this nightmare purchase? I purchased Shadow Hill Mastering Compressor along with the Avalon VT-737. Went through the whole download process on the UA Console. Was only able to download the Avalon plugin and never received the Shadow Hill Compressor although I was charged for both. I reached out to support and still have not receive neither an phone call nor a follow up email going on two weeks now.. Never buying anything from UA what a con job!!!!
le compresseur gauche est un opto et le cot droit plus polyvalent ,ce qui le rend tres particulier. sur le master faut y aller tres cool car il est tres musical et meme sur les voix ca sonne tres bien
An excellent sounding compressor! This compressor is extremely versatile: it can sound extremely clean, clear or also strongly coloring, saturated. The possibilities that this compressor opens up are remarkable and extraordinary! One of the best-sounding compressors currently available. Highly recommended!
This compressor is a whole other alternative to Neve, SSL, API and Chandler. I own all those but this still on a number of songs is just right. It has a different, more subtle, yet beautiful feel to it.
I've tried many different mastering compressors, and while they all sound great and have their unique qualities, I always come back to the Shadow Hills. The naturalness and transparency are second to none.
Ideally, the mix is well-balanced and ready when it comes for mastering, so the mastering engineer mostly works with expressiveness and power of the music. The engineer corrects frequency spectrum, shapes the sound qualities, and brings the song to the needed loudness.
The rock music is characterized by very high loudness, and a lot of content in the middle-range frequencies. Of course, there is a lot of sub-genres, including classic, heavy metal, alternative, grunge, indie, and others.
In rock music, there tends to be a significant amount of distortion on guitar and vocal parts. Consequently, during mastering, the engineer can utilize more saturation and apply stricter peak limiting compared to other genres.
At our Major Mixing studio, we have mixed and mastered hundreds of rock songs. With experience, we have developed our signal chain for mastering rock, which we know works the best for us and helps produce a perfect rock master record.
We use saturation aggressively here because rock music only sounds well with good tape saturation. Tape, preamp, and distortion characterize the sound of rock music because historically all classic rock was created on console (out of the box).
When you compress the rock tracks, you pull the quiet parts up, until there are no more quiet sounds in the rock song, the music just rushes to your face, powerful and full of energy, and this is how it should be.
All classic rock music goes through some of these compressors during mastering. And although rock is aggressive, at the same time, beware that compressing too much can damage the sound. There is a level where the song will become perfect, and the mastering engineer must know to what degree to compress.
e59dfda104