Hello everyone

Just recently I have made the switch from Cubase to Logic Pro and I am finding the usability easier and the user interface easier to navigate.

I was watching a video on youtube of mastering in Logic and in the video the guy mastered a track, but used the mixdown and didn't put the effects on the output channel on the project itself.

Is using the mixdown track to master correct, or do you master within the project?

 

I do mastering in logic . I never master from the project you master from a single wave file unless you’re stem mastering . In regards to routing I route my track on a premaster audio channel which goes through buses . I have a bus for plugin chains which is routed to another bus with limiters , that bus is routed to my analog chain . I also have a channel set up for reference track which has plugin alliance metric ab on that channel . On my main stereo output is my meters . Spl hawk eye , mtm levels , sonar works room correction ect . Might be easier for you to understand from my picture

 

To be honest, apart from the master from a WAV file, I didn't understand any of that. I have learning disabilities and get overwhelmed by a lot of information easily

 

That’s why I added my session photos for you to look at so you could understand what I was trying to explain . Take a look at my photos and you’ll gather what I’m saying with routing .

 

You can do that however you want. There is no right or wrong. If your CPU has enough capacity to run an additional mastering chain, why not?
The advantage of 'realtime' mastering is that you can quickly adjust the level of channels which are suddenly too loud with a final limiter.
The advantage of mastering a rendered mix is that you can duplicate it and try (complete) different mastering chains and compare them and that you maybe can lower the buffer so you have a faster response.

 

Do you mean: Can I master on the stereo bus track of my project or do I have to bounce and master that stereo track in a new project?
Answer: You can do both, just that when you master in your current project the CPU can overshoot because mastering plugins can be quite dense in computing power.

That's neat, but on the other hand stem mastering does roughly the same which is probably why more and more people go for that.

 

When I master other people's mixes, I prefer stem mastering for sure.