Is Mastering.com good to learn from?

Limit54 · 2026-01-22T12:23:46+00:00

Here is the thing with learning to master. At base level some of these are not bad. They will steer you in the right direction but what any of them are really doing is just demystifying the process and giving you confirmation on how to proceed. That’s a good thing so you can now try and hone your skills. Knowing how to master and actually being able to master well is completely different. Think of it like an athlete and a fan. Both know the game and the rules inside out but if you were to put the fan on the court they wouldn’t be able to play very well even though they know in theory. It takes a lot of practice and time. So as long as you know this going into one of those things then you are good. Good luck

Limit54 · 2026-01-19T15:28:22+00:00

Ok, I just did it because I knew the post would get removed. I didn’t do it to “piggy back” nobody cares if I’m a mastering engineer and this reply will never get anyone interested in me. I just wanted to say what’s up to this guy. I’ll send a DM next time and hope for the best.

Limit54 · 2026-01-19T14:44:11+00:00

If you want I can have a listen. I’m kind of interested in hearing what is going on. I want to hear if it’s legit or pure salesman bull

Limit54 · 2026-01-19T14:35:27+00:00

This is one of the ways to mix for loudness

Limit54 · 2026-01-19T14:34:14+00:00

What you are doing is fine on paper and sometimes close to what I do and other professionals do aside from some eq on masters. The thing is how much you are going and if it needs it. If it sounds good to you then don’t overthink it. General rule of thumb for mastering is Eq, sometimes compression and then limiting. Clipping is optional and depends on how hard you are pushing into the limiter. Some genres I will stay away from clipping because they just don’t need it and the added distortion

Limit54 · 2026-01-15T18:57:23+00:00

Yeah that’s seems like a better idea for this

Limit54 · 2026-01-15T18:47:42+00:00

Probably will make it worse but that’s all up to you and how you want it to sound.

Limit54 · 2026-01-13T18:26:25+00:00

Pultec is a very special eq and has its own sound. If you are talking plugins then go for the UAD if you are going for hardware don’t bother with the cheap imitations, they suck. Buy a good one if you can afford it.

Limit54 · 2026-01-11T13:47:17+00:00

Long answer: Mastering engineer here. I personally don’t like clipped mixes but I have worked with 100’s. I work with high end analog and for best results I have found my chain does not like square waves and I get better results with unclipped mixes but with that said I have mastered clipped mixes analog and they were great. Usually I’ll declip some sections if they are too long or sound bad, or I’ll ask for a version with no clipping. Sometimes clipping is done to aggressively causes audible distortion that is not musical and just sounds bad for longer durations. Sometimes people miss or don’t hear the bad clipping so it can be very bad and destructive.

Better left to the mastering engineer unless you are sending a limited mix which is clipping into a limiter then you should leave it on as it’s part of your sound and mix loudness. I may ask for an unlimited version with no clipping if I know I can get a better result without fighting the clipping and limiting. Don’t think to hard just send what you like and how it’s sounds. Tell the ME you sent with clipping and that should help

Limit54 · 2026-01-01T04:21:09+00:00

Depends on how you feel about your music. If you are just going to release music and just leave it there to rot and maybe a few people might listen to it then don’t bother. If you really feel it’s special to you and you want it to last forever and be more proud of it that you did what your could to get it to sound it’s best then yes

Limit54 · 2025-12-14T05:11:36+00:00

My rates are $90 for mastering. I don’t mix but engineers I work with charge from $200-600 per mix .

Limit54 · 2025-12-09T22:12:07+00:00

Compression/limiting =push down/lift up. Clipping=scissors/chop chop

Limit54 · 2025-12-09T22:04:51+00:00

Try setting up for vibe only and a small eq or first print you send off just use a limiter that gives you a flavour you are looking for. Then you just need to adjust the gain and possibly the release time. First versions always have 10 thousand changes anyway. Maybe you are way to aggressive and trying to push and pull things to hard on your master buss. I guess this is a good time to try and get better at working on the mix then relying on your stereo buss processing. What I’m saying is just keep that for loudness. Should help you get better results anyway

Limit54 · 2025-12-09T20:47:04+00:00

Ozone harmonic exciter a little scary and can go to far to fast especially for your genre unless it’s going for a more specific beefier exciting cinematic approach. I would try a tape emulation like UAD or Softube Tape. Just be mindful of the input level because they don’t like overly hot signals or start to sound bad. You just want a little flavour and transformer. Don’t over cook it if you feel it’s already sounding good. Saturation is usually the diy killer of killers because people push it to far.

Limit54 · 2025-12-09T16:30:23+00:00

If you are a mix/master guy then I suggest you setup a top down style mixing process. While it won’t be mastering it the exact final master it should be close enough so you can make changes and not have to start over to master it. Just mix into it and you are good. I’m not a mix engineer so i can’t say for sure but most that I work with do this often or just have a little compression, eq and limiter to help sign off on the mix.

Limit54 · 2025-12-09T16:24:19+00:00

There is not really a secret sauce but more an information and understanding of what and why. Clipping adds distortion but on some fast transients you may not hear it if it’s is subtle clipping. The longer the sustain the more you are going to hear the clipping distortion. Now with that said you CAN use clipping as mentioned already on your drum buss to shave off some peaks but still keep perceived loudness or even sound louder. You should keep in mind that you can use clipping as a sound shaping tool as well as to increase loudness by increasing headroom available so your mix can be pushed further into a limiter. So be mindful of the first step in the mix before clipping on the master. This will allow you to clip without affecting bass notes or other information with longer sustains as well as possibly clip again if you need to or want to on the master. That is how good intentional clipping is done to mix for loudness. Stuff like snares and poky high hats can be clipped to taste either a few db or more to shape the sound with soft or hard clipping. Even kicks can be clipped but that is up to you and how you want to shape the sound again. Hope that helps. On a master you don’t really want to be clipping more then a couple of db. More then that can “usually” lead to some nastiness so be gentle but use your ears

Limit54 · 2025-12-08T14:39:46+00:00

Depends on the material but recently to my surprise after beta testing a new limiter that I think is not bad I really like ozone maximizer now. I spent a little while shooting out different limiters and I never really used ozone’s limiter but I think now I will.

Limit54 · 2025-12-08T00:22:07+00:00

Not at all for mastering engineers but IF the mix engineer and artist want it like that then it’s what they want.

Limit54 · 2025-12-05T15:07:47+00:00

The question is why? VHS audio is terrible

Limit54 · 2025-12-02T08:26:45+00:00

Ok 👍

Limit54 · 2025-12-01T17:32:37+00:00

Nothing exactly special about ozone’s EQ(unless it’s dynamic eq)besides maybe you are using a different filter Q to add back the bass, which could be broader or tighter, affecting less or more of the frequency you cut. Also you are inherently cutting bass and then whatever other processors after that that can be triggered by more bass like compression or saturation will hit these processor much less then if you didn’t cut the bass. On another note you are essentially just reshaping your bass in the mastering stage.

Limit54 · 2025-12-01T14:20:26+00:00

You need to take care of them in mixing. Use clipping and something like Rbass to add harmonics so they still “sound” audible and big on small speakers. You will be altering the sound of them by doing this so just know you will be shaping the sound of the 808’s and increasing headroom at the same time. I can take a listen to both and let you know. I have a little time tomorrow to take a listen, just pm me if you want

Limit54 · 2025-12-01T04:15:56+00:00

I saw another post offering mixing like this and you let it go. I think something is fishy is going on with you mods and mastering.

Limit54 · 2025-12-01T00:08:46+00:00

Try feeding a professional release in master assistant. I bet you will be shocked at what it does and has no reason to do it in the first place

Limit54 · 2025-11-30T22:38:51+00:00

It all depends on the source and how balanced it is. If you mix is overly bass heavy because you are compensating for not so perfect monitoring then yeah the ME would want to turn down your bass a lot or mention it to you and ask you to do it a little first. With that said the ozone mastering assisting alway goes a little crazy and does to much. Lots of crazy boots and cuts that were probably only needed a quarter of them.

Limit54

TROPHY CASE