My mastering chain signal flow

31/05/12 16.58

My mastering chain signal flow

A question I get asked all the time is whats your mastering chain ? meaning What order do you put your processing in, when mastering ? So for what its worth, here is the answer. Ive worked like this ever since I was first trained as a mastering engineer, and it applies whether Im in the studio with clients or working on my own stuff at home. 90% of the time, my chain is: 1. 2. 3. 4. Gain EQ Compression Limiting

However this isnt set in stone, by any means ! Heres a more detailed list I only use the items in italics occasionally, not on every project. 1. 2. 3. 4. Gain EQ Stereo processing Compression
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My mastering chain signal flow

31/05/12 16.58

5. 6. 7. 8.

EQ Gain Soft clip Limiting

Stereo processing This is probably the most likely of these options a fair number of projects benefit from a little extra width or depth in the image, or tightening up slightly. Theres nothing fancy about this I just boost the mid or side signal slightly as necessary. Rarely I might use some M/S processing, too, or only work on the width of a certain frequency range. Once in a blue moon I might use M/S compression, but this is a real last-resort and only where a remix isnt an option. EQ & Gain after compression I think this counts more as a preference, really EQ and gain after compression have a very different effect on the sound. Before compression, EQ & gain changes are harder to hear, because the compression itself works against them. For example, if a kick drum is too high in the mix, or contains too much low-frequency energy, it can cause more pumping than you would like. Cutting the frequency where most of its energy is before compression will reduce the pumping. Cutting it after compression wont affect the pumping, but will still balance the EQ. In general, EQ and gain after compression have to be used in much smaller increments. +/- half a dB before compression may go unnoticed, whereas after compressing to release levels it can be like night and day. Soft clipping / saturation This can be via the compression or limiting processing, or by pushing high-quality analogue gear hard. This isnt recommended with budget A/D converters, or any analogue gear where headroom is in short supply, though ! Its not necessary on evhttp://productionadvice.co.uk/mastering-signal-flow/ Pagina 2 di 4

My mastering chain signal flow

31/05/12 16.58

ery job, but sometimes its just what the doctor ordered. [Edit - I've had a few people ask for more detail about the gain stages, so...] Gain Ive listed gain as separate stages for a few reasons. Here they are: 1. Just because Im using compression and limiting, doesnt mean Ill necessarily change the level. These are methods of dynamic control, not purely for boosting level. I wanted it to be very clear this is a separate decision 2. I like to be able to A/B as many different stages in the process as possible, to get a clear idea how they are affecting the sound. If I use the gain parameters in a compressor plugin (say) to boost the level, when I hit bypass the level will drop, and I wont hear a fair before/after comparison. For the same reason, I always keep the gain in the limiter at unity, and if I boost several EQ bands, I will often pad the level slightly in the EQ itself so that when I bypass, the levels sound consistent 3. I wanted to make the possibility of having gain both pre- and post-compression see above 4. I use Logic if Im working at home, and I use these various stages as inserts in the mixer. In Logic, the fader gain is always post-fader, meaning that if you want to boost the level going into an insert, you need to add a dedicated gain stage, unless you boost it via compression or EQ see point (2) (Important note if you want to use Gain in this way, its crucial that your DAW uses floating point DSP for all its internal calculations. Otherwise youll clip all the processes prior to the limiter. An easy way to check is to crank the first gain stage right up till its exceeding 0dB, bypassing everything else except for the limiter, and check that the limiter is working hard. If it isnt, youll need to keep plenty of headroom until the final limiting stage and lift the final level there. In fact, this could be a major headache and you might want to consider doing your mastering in another app Luckily most audio software does use floating-point DSP these days, but its worth double-checking all the plugins need to be correctly written to support this feature, too.)
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My mastering chain signal flow

31/05/12 16.58

So, there you go as I say all of this can change depending on the source material, but thats my default processing setup. How about you ?

Image by Robert Fornal

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