Level Matching and "Robo Mastering"

I ran a poll recently on a couple of home recording forums where I asked people to identify the best sounding master out of 5 possible masters.

I used the following to "remaster" an old song called "Future"
AAMS
LANDR
Masteringbox
A Professional Mastering Engineer
A Master that I produced myself

If you want to do this blind test yourself, check out my web page:
http://www.levityproject.com/home-mastering/mastering/audio-mastering-shootout

Since was a blind test, no one knew which one was which. This made things interesting ... and the results surprised me (sort of). One of the auto services actually got more love than the rest, but the reason why might be more predictable than you would think. I'll explain in a later post.

To complete the test, you will need to download Reaper, which can be found at http://reaper.fm/download.php

There are two Reaper Files in the test. One is not level matched, and one contains masters that I have level matched so they are all the same perceived volume. Try out both and see which master you like best in each.

Once you made your choices, check the results page to see which master you chose! Leave a comment to let me know which you preferred.

Leave a comment here or on the facebook page about which master you chose. I'll explain why you may have chosen it in a future post, but I believe the results will be fairly consistent (as they were when I ran the tests in some audiophile forums).

Photo Source: Wikmedia

Microphone Hack - Make it Sound Like a Neumann!

This is one of my favorite hacks of all time. I have some decent condenser mics, but what I've really wanted was a Neumann u87. It's almost $4000US, and I can't afford to spend that kind of money on a microphone. 

Well, I found and impulse model that completely negated my desire for that mic! I attached the model so you can use it, too!  You will need either SIR or Reaverb to load the impulse model into your DAW.

I like Reaverb myself. Here's a video on how to use it!

Here's what to do

1. Record yourself using a large diaphram condenser or sm58. Stand 15cm/5in away from the grill. To tame sibilance, rotate the face of mic to the left or right slightly. 
2. Load up the Neumann U87 impulse on your take using sir or reaverb
3. Be amazed! The sound is awesome. It's not perfect, but it's really good!
4. Hack #2: if you are using an sm58, load up the impulse with -sm58 in the title. This negates the sound of the 58 and adds the character of the u87. Fantastic!!

Click here to download the Neumann u87 impulses