I have been noticing in a lot of chains lately people using DeNoisers for clarity I would imagine? Is this a good idea? Or would this do more harm then good to my mix/master?

 

Why would you want a denoiser on the master?

 

Half baked question if you ask me...

 

lol. please read into "basics of mixing" before ask more of such questions. please.

To answer your question:
NO! Don't place de-noiser on a master track. NEVER.

 

if only he really understood he's own question lol...

 

Unless you are mixing analog on to tape at 15ips (using Dolby NR) then prob not a good idea...

 

i think he means a deeser

 

Even on the noisy outboard gear is a wrong move to use a denoiser. That's because denoisers generally will induce "chirping" artifacts which.. even if you go gently with the de-noiser, the limiter will still "amplify" the artifacts when the DR will get reduced.
Not only, but also when something is removed from the spectrum of that audio file, the "cropped" noise will take some good bytes along with it as well.
Conclusion: Never fix anything in the last stages of making a song unless you don't have a choice or whatever. Gold in -> Gold Out it's a timeless rule! Make sure you get everything as clean as you want from the beginning and it will get clean in the end as well unless you're muddying stuff on purpose.

Evo

 

When I worked at Trident, Abbey Road, Matrix Wessex, Swanyard, Nomis, Island fall out shelter, Sarm, Strongroom (to name but a few) nearly all (professional) analog mixes to 1/2 inch tape (if done at 15 ips) were run through dolby NR machines in order to reduce the noise floor of the 'analog' tape (not noisy outboard gear which if there even is any is usually fixed with a noise gate/expander)... no chirping sounds or digital artefacts would be introduced to an analog process???? Also no limiters were (or should be) used on a final master mix (perhaps some master buss compression and a GML eq), limiting is generally applied during the mastering stage (originally for levels for vinyl reproduction)...

As for digital with the very low noise floor and high dynamic range of 24 - 32 bit recording there should be little use for noise reduction if audio is recorded correctly.

 

Try any plugin you like on the master output to see how you can colour your sound - Rules are to be broken ---

 

You can pull noise (unwanted frequencies out of a vocal using eq. Sharp bell cuts?

 

Very simply, it's called "chasing your own tail".

 

No, not on the master output.
I sometimes put denoisers on my voice tracks to filter out unwanted background hiss and noise.
A home studio requires some extra tricks because it's not like a Pro Studio.

 

Don't you mean a de-esser?
And yes.... Everyone should have one, even when you make electronic music.
Must be the very last one on the Master channel, before hits the speakers

Oh... Sorry... You're really talking about denoiser....

 

Last edited: Jan 6, 2016

If you are say Mastering in Ableton on your master bus, then I think you can use a denoiser to get rid of things such as excessive reverberation etc. If applied correctly, it should help to clean up your mix. Don't put it on the end of your mastering chain though, put it near the end, before your maximizer/limiter.

Read this . http://www.sonicstudio.com/sonic/products/nonoise_bbdn

 

Last edited: Jan 6, 2016

Primarily, you should get rid of unwanted noise while tracking/recording.

Secondarily, you should get rid of unwanted noise of individual tracks while mixing.

If you follow these steps correctly, it won't be necessary to use noise removal techniques during the mastering process.

The thing is, at such an advanced stage, you can't remove just unwanted noise. You'll end up removing a lot of musical frequencies as well. It's a serious compromise.

I would say that, unless you're trying to remaster old or damaged recordings, trying to remove noise in the mastering stage is not recommended.

The same goes for de-essing...Ideally, you should control sibilance during the recording stage. De-essers can't do magic and will end up suppressing musical frequencies as well.

The same goes for removing general "harshness". Ideally, harsh frequencies should be treated individually during the mixing process, for the same reasons stated above.

All these things are cumulative. If you don't fix them during the recording and mixing stages, they will snowball out of control.

To sum up: Generally speaking, heavy-duty tasks should be performed before mastering.

Just my two cents.

 

Last edited: Jan 6, 2016

Matering is a word flung around by monkeys as if it's shit!
Sorry if i come across as rude.
It's only that life hasn't been kind on me..

 

I think that certain sounds can be bought to the front of the mix during Mastering. If you are happy with everything but just that, throwing a denoiser in there shouldn't do any harm. It can also save you having to try re-balancing these sounds (which could prove to be quite tricky) while mastering.

 

Why would someone choose to use a de-noiser instead of an EQ, or maybe even a multiband compressor, in this case?

De-noisers are specifically created to remove noise, mostly "hiss" and "hum". I really can't see a reason to use them for a different purpose, since there are better tools with way less negative consequences.

De-noisers usually use very extreme filters to remove unwanted noise. They usually leave artifacts. They make things sound unnatural.

Anyway, I'd like to see these cases mentioned in the OP of mastering engineers using de-noisers.

In my opinion, unless they're remastering old recordings, removing clicks, pops, hum, and hiss, it's not really recommended to use them at all.

 

Last edited: Jan 6, 2016

Here is a link with a short discussion about it.

http://recording.org/threads/what-are-you-using-for-noise-reduction-during-mastering.13733/