On 01/01/2007, at 7:41 AM, George Leger III wrote: > > On Dec 31, 2006, at 8:09 AM, Ed Billeaud wrote: > >> And, I seem to remember Ozone's limiter beating the Waves >> L2-L3 in a "shootout" that Sound On Sound did a while back. >> In my own personal tests, I preferred it too, and it also sounds >> clearer than Logic's Ad-Limiter, as well as having better sounding >> dithering than Logic's, which is quite impressive, because Logic >> sounds pretty good in that department. > > > As for limiters, the UAD-1 precision limiter is the best I've come > across, and I have allot of plug-in limiters. It seems to be able to > increase the volume without crushing the transients as much as > others, for the same amount of gain reduction. Agreed that the Precision Limiter is the best but to my ears it's the best because it offers the greatest increase in perceived loudness with minimal increase in distortion and other colouration. It, along with every other limiter will crush your transients to oblivion if used in too heavy a way. This is my first post in this thread. It's surprised me that no one has mentioned the absolute most powerful available tool to us DAW users in getting the best possible result from our mixes/ masters - total recall of our mixes. Ask any leading mastering guy and he will confirm that for mastering any well mixed track, regardless of style, that anything more than a couple of dB eq, and a bit of compression single or multiband 1-3 dB and then limiter is pretty much all you need. If your mixes need much more than that then any other processes applied are at best a band aid and the issues are far better addressed by doing another mix - which is generally pretty easy with total recall. I'm going out on a limb here so here goes. As for the best tools to master with - coloured sound is LOW on my list. That;s what mixing is for - not mastering. Words like transparent and high resolution come to mind as desirable. To this end and assuming we're all Logic users here, an "all in one" mastering package like Ozone or T-Racks etc will not give you any better results that what is already available within Logic's own standard plugins. My basic chain recommendation would be first a compressor - either Logic's compressor or multiband compressor. Then second, without doubt Logic's Linear Phase EQ and then finally Logic's Plain Limiter - not the Adaptive limiter as it has a very coloured sound. If your mixes are decent to begin with this chain will yield great useable results when set well. If I have to master my own mixes my preferred plugins are the UAD-1 Precision range - Precision Multiband, Precision EQ and Precision limiter but my rule is that I don't master anything I do that's slated for release. I do however master other product I've not recorded myself. I rely on my mastering guy's ears more than his gear even though he has some of the best analog stuff like GML and Focustite Blue plus a very accurate room and monitors. I recently did a test after he mastered one of my tracks. I tried - using just Logic to see how close I could get to his mastering and the answer was very close - but this was with me constantly comparing my attempt to his finished master. Point being it's his ears that make the biggest difference. YMMV Kind regards ::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: Paul Najar Jaminajar Music Production www.jaminajar.com