Mastering questions for people familiar with Ozone 8.

Discussion in 'Mixing and Mastering' started by flguy, Apr 17, 2019.

  1. flguy

    flguy Ultrasonic

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    I'm a complete noob to mastering, and have a few questions. I know that some of these questions are all subjective to the type of song, but I'm looking for a good starting point until I can train my ear well enough.

    When using Ozone 8 to master, what would be the "best" IRC mode to use for modern trap / hip hop? Whenever I use a reference track, it defaults to IRC II, which I've heard here and there to stay away from if you're a noob. I've been using IRC IV on the "modern" setting, would that be a good starting point? Is there a specific mode that I really can't go wrong using, that won't do major negative damage to the track as I learn how to master?

    Secondly, when using the youlean loudness, meter my true peak max always hovers around 2.5-3.0 db. I can't get a definitive answer if that is bad or not as some people say it won't make a difference, others say it will. Should I work on lowering this, and how can I go about doing that, because my levels are all in good range and I'm not maximizing to more than -14db, yet I can never seem to get it lower than 2db.

    My last question is for people experienced in mastering. For hip hop, what frequencies do specifically target to EQ when mastering? I'd assume making some reductions to the mids for vocals, and some light boosts in the lows for bass heavy tracks, and a small boost in the highs to open the track up so to speak. Would you say those are good starting points?

    Thanks in advance for helping a noob out.
     
    flguy, Apr 17, 2019
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  3. Satai

    Satai Rock Star

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    Best Answer
    About true peak, it's fine if it's reading lower. You can later boop it up to whatever value you need for upload, using a basic normalize in any audio editor. Example: you're going to encode to MP3 128kbps so to be safer and let the codec have some room in case it crunches something and causes an unexpected peak to appear, you could normalize to -1.5dB just prior to encoding. Giving it space to work without clipping that way. Think of "True Peak" as a kinda covert way that things can clip above your target even though the regular normalize does not catch them. Having a lower true peak reading means there are no hidden surprises and you can use simple normalize to go to your target.

    EQ in mastering is based on listening, not genre or numbers. The numbers basically don't mean anything, you need to listen to what it sounds like for this particular track, this particular mix balance. A better way to work than pointless hz-value guesswork is to use a fitting reference commercial track that's similiar to yours in desired sound (adjust it down in volume so it has the same apparent loudness as your track first. You can use your YouLean meeter to see what Integrated Loudness your track's at vs. the reference, then turn down the reference by the difference). Listen to how highs vs lows are balanced in the reference, and then use broad EQ to try to o create a similiar balance with your track. Flip it back and forth as you work.

    I don't use Ozone so not sure what the IRC modes are good for in it. I assume they're limiter modes. Overall, the difference will be very subtle and probably not worth worrying about if you are not pushing the limiter to work hard.
     
    Last edited: Apr 17, 2019
    Satai, Apr 17, 2019
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  4. Ballz

    Ballz Producer

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    Ballz, Apr 17, 2019
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  5. KungPaoFist

    KungPaoFist Audiosexual

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    I would start with the highest (I think irc3 or 4?) and work backwards depending on sound but probably won't need to because the highest is the most recent option with the advanced features. Modern setting was cool but check with each one before settling since that option is more of a case by case basis.
     
    KungPaoFist, Apr 17, 2019
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