Hey fellow audio people/nerds.

I posted a short video (2min) recently A/B testing an unmastered track vs. my mastered version.

The video is nothing special but the only comment I've received is a guy saying there isn't any difference, which I don't agree with.

Would anyone here be willing to give me some feedback and go into detail about the differences they hear and what they like/dislike about my mastered version?

I only have 1 set of headphones and speakers so I'd be curious to know what differences people hear on their setups!

Any feedback would be greatly appreciated and I'd love to discuss mastering with y'all.

Here's the vid:

 

(edit- ignore this, read below)


I'm just listening on a good set of earbuds but at the moment I'm with him... if there is a difference it's so imperceptible I can't tell what it is and I certainly wouldn't pay for it. Sorry.

 

Last edited: Jan 21, 2024

Mastered version is little wider, have boosted top end and focused low end.

 

the mastered version is brighter, and more open. the unmastered version is dull. What limiter did you add to the unmastered version? You maybe already helped the unmastered version a little too much.

I think the clips may be too short to offer much more opinion.

 

It's not always about big changes. I am not making any subjective or objective judgements for one versus the other.

The old dudes used to always say that a good ME was one you could trust to not fuck up something that was already good enough to be left alone. The bad ones were always looking to make something better/different because they need to prove they did 'something.'

As said above by the previous posters the post processed version is brighter a bit more open and the low end is stubbly cleaner and a little less honk in the mids.

The other lesson you will learn with time is that it's never worth it to argue with idiots/children/zealots|crazies /grifters.

1) Idiots just will not understand no matter how obvious something is and are not interested in learning anymore than they know.
2) Children (of any age) just lack the foundation to understand and it just will not make sense to them until they catch up or go to category 1.
3) Zealots|Crazies are convinced they are right not matter what logic/science/math/proof you have to offer it will never matter.
4) Grifters don't care if they are correct or not as it is a matter or perspective and opinion and their objective requires they are correct.

 

I agree that it's cool to not fix what doesn't need fixing. I'm just saying on these earbuds the difference is too subtle to matter. Of course, I'm halfway through a gig I may be fried.

 

That's interesting. Basically what the comment said. To me there is definitely a perceptible difference (although not greatly significant). Thanks for the feedback.

Also don't worry I charge next to nothing lmao.

 

I completely agree. Basically my exact thoughts when comparing the two and in line with my goals for the master. Thanks a ton. Glad I'm not losing my mind (or my ears).

 

I only used Fab Filter Pro L-2 on either transparent or modern mode. Tried to give it a fair chance by using a high quality limiter. I agree with your analysis of the master as well.

Very good to know that the clips were a bit too short for a good comparison. I'll keep that in mind when I make future videos. Appreciate it a lot.

 

That's a lot of useful information. Thanks for the detail. Honestly kind of hilarious too haha.

I definitely not trying to fuck up a mix during the mastering process (but I'm sure I have years ago lol). I'm completely dedicated to using reference mixes and masters to compare my final product to professional products. It's also trained my ears and helped me be a bit more stable with my decision making and although it makes the process take a bit longer, I'd like to believe it gets me and the client a better final track.

5 years ago I probably had very little idea of what factors made a mix or master good or bad but as you said there is definitely subjectivity to all of it. I figure if I can make it sound sonically similar to a hit record, I'm working in the right direction. Definitely don't want to overdo it tho or remove the vision of the artist.

 

That's perfectly reasonable. I appreciate your insight and how your particular monitors may impact perception of the differences.

 

AHA! Never mind, I just realized where I'm at my bandwidth is being throttled and it's defaulting down to 360p. No wonder there's no difference; that's probably what happened to the guy that commented too... I can't get it to stream at any higher quality so I withdraw my former comments

 

the masterted version is definetively brighter, had to go with the unmastered version because i think the mellower, sort of muffled and lo-fi feel serves the track better, and brightening it up makes it a little too "nice" and looses some body on the kick and snare. The unmastered version is not perfect either but it has a nice degraded feel and distorts more notoriously, which is fitting but it can be a bit too much at times. To me it's like choosing between too muffled and too defined, and i just happen to like more the elements that the more muffled version brings.

Can't really say wether the master is better or not, because i don't know what part of it is following an instruction (like a reference, or a request from the client) and what part of it is you just going with your ear. Maybe you did exactly what you were supposed to do, idk.

 

Sometimes people get confused with mastering![ Still sounds the same without!] If you are any good with your ears! you will hear every little detail in the song & what needs saturation/widening/eq/compression/volume control/lowend etc..

 

Honestly I think you're right. I still think the final product is more professional sounding but may be too clean to suit the nature of the track. Like trying to make an alternative rock track sound like a pop track.

The one thing I really focused on was removing the muddiness and honky tone from the kick in the low mids. I rebalanced the track to bring out much more of the mid frequency and the instrumentation in that area. I feel like the kick was overshadowing too much before. By bringing out the mid to mid-high, I may have placed too much emphasis on the upper range of the track and taken away a bit from the lo-fi feel that the track originally had. I would probably back off the high frequency boost a little bit if I could go back and do it again. Still I think the tonal rebalancing made an overall valuable improvement.

A middle ground between the two versions could be best as you suggested.

 

It's really not too complicated of a process. Significantly easier than putting together a good mix. As JMOUTTON suggested, the main goal should be to not mess anything up or overdo any aspect of the sat,EQ,imaging, limiting,etc.

 

The mastered version is denser, you raised the low levels to give more body to the mix. It's also brighter and slightly richer harmonically overall. Good job

 

Thank you so much. I really appreciate that!

 

Ok, apologies (and a warning) are in order. I listened at home and made sure I was streaming in HD at 1080p ( how dumb is it that they tie audio quality to video resolution) and there is clearly a difference... and I personally prefer- drumroll please- the mastered version!! It is a little cleaner sounding in the EQ but it's really that extra bit of stereo width that makes it pop for me.
I kind of get the comment about being lofi but if that's the desired sound I would push it even further in that direction.

You might want to put a note on your video to make sure people are streaming it at a high enough bitrate that they can tell what the heck you've done LOL

 

Mastered:
Top End - Hihats, Keys gets more wider, ads a little polish to the fingered bass,
Horns/sax/brass not much noticeable. (Left panned intrument)
Mid - Nice boost in the mid range. SAx/horns detailed, but not much difference, couldn't hear the keys part though, wasn't long enough to hear the diff.. Switched to the other version at the right moment when the keys licked in.
Low end - loses a little bit, may be needs a little more pump, a slight bit of MB on the low end might be required, not a must but only if required.

Altogether a Nice Track