buzzman Posted May 31, 2008 Share Posted May 31, 2008 Im wandering what is the correct way for the mixdown? You can set the resolution to 16, 24 or 32 bit? And the samplerate to 44.100-88.200khz? I just exported a track with 24bit, 88.200khz, and it fills over 220mb for one track And i can't tell any magor differences from a lower quality export(at least not on my soundsystem) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike A Posted May 31, 2008 Share Posted May 31, 2008 when using my own mastering - dither it and export as 16/44.1, when someone else is mastering - 24/44.1 (or 32, depends what they want). no point in using anything over 44.1. too long to explain why, just take my word for it Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
buzzman Posted May 31, 2008 Author Share Posted May 31, 2008 when using my own mastering - dither it and export as 16/44.1, when someone else is mastering - 24/44.1 (or 32, depends what they want). no point in using anything over 44.1. too long to explain why, just take my word for it Ok, thanks champ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
frozen dream Posted June 1, 2008 Share Posted June 1, 2008 buy expensive soundcard, and even more expensive monitor speakers. after that, buy an even more expensive soundcard (2x to 3x more expensive than the monitors) my settings: 32bit | 44.1khz Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike A Posted June 1, 2008 Share Posted June 1, 2008 actually the sound card has 0 effect on mixdown quality.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NEMO.BOFH Posted June 1, 2008 Share Posted June 1, 2008 actually the sound card has 0 effect on mixdown quality..pwnd Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aeros Posted June 1, 2008 Share Posted June 1, 2008 Get something that lets you watch the levels really well, maybe even a spectrograph (it reads out the loudness of the different hz bands in the frequency band drawn as a 2d line graph - there are even 3d ones like if you watch them in goldwave or a sound editing program, aim for keeping the spectrograph as flat as you can , start adjusting all peices of sound you use to a common max volume level (pick like -4dB, that'll give you lots of room for having a louder lower and higher end), compress can help you out here as well as limiters or maximizers if you know how to use them. Would be a good idea to listen to some other tracks before you start the mix down to get your ears accustomed to a standard volume level, then start by matching your percussions or getting them sounding bright and comfortable, and start adjusting levels to things while watching the spectrograph. If a synth or sound makes a hill on the spectrograph (basically a certain band is much louder than others and is raising the peak / clipping out even), identify which synth or sound its coming from and cut it away with an EQ. The point of an even mix is to maximize the amount of resolution your sounds can take up, so no area of the track is made muddy and less detailed by something playing too loud and crunching the sound. Mastering + Normalizing then gets loudness to a standard and hopefully universal level. Mike is right actually, ofcourse hearing what you have clearly and loudly is important, but the bulk of the knowledge is comparing your ears with readouts you see with your eyes. Sometimes just a really good pair of ears will do it too and someone who knows what they are doing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
frozen dream Posted June 1, 2008 Share Posted June 1, 2008 actually the sound card has 0 effect on mixdown quality.. try not using it then Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NEMO.BOFH Posted June 1, 2008 Share Posted June 1, 2008 try not using it thenwhat he is saying is that if you have a crap card or a 10000 euro card, the mixdown is not influenced by it. If you were able to do a mixdown without the card connected to the pc or mac, then the result would still be the same. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Veracohr Posted June 1, 2008 Share Posted June 1, 2008 Since it's destined for either CD or MP3, 44.1k. If I'm mastering myself, convert to 16 bit then. If not, leave it at 24 bit for the ME. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
frozen dream Posted June 1, 2008 Share Posted June 1, 2008 what he is saying is that if you have a crap card or a 10000 euro card, the mixdown is not influenced by it. If you were able to do a mixdown without the card connected to the pc or mac, then the result would still be the same. suuuuuure mannnnnnn Honestly i would have believed all this if you would have mastered Mindspheres album better, but since i heard the unmastered version of the track: Inner Cyclone and your mastered version, i simply cant take you serious when i read all this. sad.gif biggrin.gif haha, can you get me these 2? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Colin OOOD Posted June 1, 2008 Share Posted June 1, 2008 actually the sound card has 0 effect on mixdown quality..?? Theoretically a good soundcard will let you hear deeper into the mix, provide a more stable stereo image, give lower latency (very useful when tweaking parameters to know that what you're hearing represents the position of the control right now rather than 1/2 a second ago) and generally enable a given engineer to produce a better-sounding final result than a cheap crappy noisy soundcard. Of course the audio doesn't pass through it if you're bouncing down offline (but then many producers have to bounce down in realtime, eg. if they're using their soundcard's onboard DSP for FX). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NEMO.BOFH Posted June 1, 2008 Share Posted June 1, 2008 a mixdown NOT using the mixer and an external source of recording. If you mixdown directly from Cubase HAS NO INFLUENCE on the result. Its all mathematics... Yeah, we are stupid. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aeros Posted June 1, 2008 Share Posted June 1, 2008 Diaks, this is what I know and have learned from the 5 years I've written tracks now, and it seems to be working pretty well for what I expected of myself. If you want me to say mindsphere isn't mastered the best, or that I'm not good there, you've got it, I just wish Ali told me that first rather than thanking me. Either way this was a long time ago, metapsychic held that thing for a year before putting it out since they couldn't secure a pressed CD release Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
frozen dream Posted June 1, 2008 Share Posted June 1, 2008 a mixdown NOT using the mixer funny man. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NEMO.BOFH Posted June 2, 2008 Share Posted June 2, 2008 Im wandering what is the correct way for the mixdown? You can set the resolution to 16, 24 or 32 bit? And the samplerate to 44.100-88.200khz? I just exported a track with 24bit, 88.200khz, and it fills over 220mb for one track And i can't tell any magor differences from a lower quality export(at least not on my soundsystem) heh. (not a comment for you buzzman) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike A Posted June 2, 2008 Share Posted June 2, 2008 I say it again - your soundcard has 0 effect on mixdown quality when making an export/mixdown/bounce offline Don't believe it? Turn off your onboard ac97 and unplug your fw - it will still mixdown, even though there is no sound card present on the system. It's all math done by the CPU. Of course a better soundcard will help you mix better - but we were not talking about it. Colin - you mean if I have a poco or uad or something I must make it online? Offline will not work? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NEMO.BOFH Posted June 2, 2008 Share Posted June 2, 2008 I say it again - your soundcard has 0 effect on mixdown quality when making an export/mixdown/bounce offline Don't believe it? Turn off your onboard ac97 and unplug your fw - it will still mixdown, even though there is no sound card present on the system. It's all math done by the CPU. Of course a better soundcard will help you mix better - but we were not talking about it. Colin - you mean if I have a poco or uad or something I must make it online? Offline will not work? I am afraid your bold text will still not get through to certain people Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike A Posted June 2, 2008 Share Posted June 2, 2008 I am afraid your bold text will still not get through to certain people I once had a friend (he still is actually) who kept insistnig what WAV sound better than FLAC. No matter how much I tried to explain it to him, WAV was better. According to him, FLAC was compressed, thus less quality. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
buzzman Posted June 2, 2008 Author Share Posted June 2, 2008 heh. (not a comment for you buzzman) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Colin OOOD Posted June 2, 2008 Share Posted June 2, 2008 Colin - you mean if I have a poco or uad or something I must make it online? Offline will not work?Depends on the soundcard; if it allows its DSP to be used as plugins in the regular insert chain then it'll probably allow you to bounce down offline. Cards that rely on your routing stuff manually like Scope or my old DS2416 tend to restrict you to online mixdowns. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
qa2pir Posted June 2, 2008 Share Posted June 2, 2008 Honestly i would have believed all this if you would have mastered Mindspheres album better, but since i heard the unmastered version of the track: Inner Cyclone and your mastered version, i simply cant take you serious when i read all this. Oh, was that Synogen. I just want to say that the Mindsphere album was completely destroyed by the mastering. To Synogen: Read more about dynamics and the loudness war. Your mastering of Mindsphere sounds like a mess. That 'standard' of having a flat, brickwalled soundwave is counterproductive to the enjoyment of music. And you haven't maximized it with style either. Maximization can't be done at mastering level if it's supposed to sound good. You have to mix according to that goal. But I don't recommend maximizing either way. It simply sounds like the music is screaming very loudly inside a little box. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pandemonium! Posted June 15, 2008 Share Posted June 15, 2008 Soundcard helps but its a good ear that makes the REAL difference. And those you cant buy hehe Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Otto Matta Posted June 16, 2008 Share Posted June 16, 2008 But I don't recommend maximizing either way. It simply sounds like the music is screaming very loudly inside a little box.What a great way to put it! I totally agree. I suppose it's one thing to know how to produce well, but it's another entirely to know how to do so with style. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
qa2pir Posted June 16, 2008 Share Posted June 16, 2008 What a great way to put it! I totally agree. I suppose it's one thing to know how to produce well, but it's another entirely to know how to do so with style. Well. Part of being a good producer is having style. That mastering on the Mindsphere album is not well done, nor stylish. It's just plain bad (bad as in: no one considered good would consider it good). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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