'Mastering' Recordings

[pegwill]

Hi Guys
I have used in the past the software program 'Auto Audio Mastering System' with satisfactory results it works on a Windows pc.  This is what it states on their website

"As a musician working on music, you need the best sound possible when releasing material to the public and a good commercial sound for all audio speaker systems is a difficult and time consuming task.
Take control over your music sound quality.
Process any kind of music or audio, process your own music style or mixes!
AAMS is Windows software for Audio Mastering. All audio corrections are done automatically. Process your Mix to a commercial great sounding Master with ease. Use the Reference Database to master audio or create your own personal sound. Featuring 100 Band Equalizer, 8 Multiband Compression, Balancing and Loudness. AAMS V4 is easy and far less time consuming. Having a good overall commercial sound quality on all kinds of listening systems"

There is a freeware version available that is limited by the length of the track (not to exceed 3mins 35, I think) for each recording. As most of my music is less than this it's not a problem. There is also a professional version available which does have a cost.

I just use the wizard 'Auto Master Audio File' tab, As with all recordings you just need to be aware of having too much gain in the first instance will lead to distortion, so a little care is needed when doing the initial recording.

I have no affiliation with the developers. I have been using this program off and on since version 2 and am quite satisfied with the results obtained.

The program can be downloaded from
http://curioza.com

If you want to give your recordings that something else then give it a try it's free.

Hope It helps

Regards

Pegwill

[DrakeM]

That should work for most songs. I could never figure out how to use those sort of programs as it is an art to learn.

I use the free BandLab site and use the "Universal" mastered copy of my MP3 recording that the AI makes. I am happy with the results it produces in about a minute.

https://www.bandlab.com/mastering

Have you tried using the site and comparing it to what it comes up with?

Regards
Drake

[pegwill]

Hi
No I haven't done a comparison, I will do when I get some time. I have add a quick look at BandLab and it only appears to give you three options that cover various music types where  AAMS offers a greater range of mastering using lots of reference files depending on the type of music you have eg Acoustic, Ballad, Blues, Classical, Country, and many others.

Hope this helps

Regads

Pegwill

[DrakeM]

Here is a video comparing a song mastered by hand in Cakewalk verses mastered in BandLab and using the Universal setting.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rfev8CifjRY

The video sold me on mastering all my songs using it .. it's quick and free, you can't ask for more. 

[pegwill]

Hi DrakeM
I used to use 'Sonar' the replacement for 'Cakewalk' until I came across AAMS. Using the Wizard in AAMS is a two step process - load your recording - choose the Reference file to suit the type of music from the Reference library and there you go 'mastered' nothing complicated.

Which one is the best? I don't know. I will do a side by side comparison as soon as I get a chance.

Have a good day

Regards

Pegwill

[pegwill]

Hi DrakeM
I have now had a chance to do a side by side comparison. There isn't much to choose between them to my ears. I feel the AAMS has slightly more clarity and space around the different instruments, This is probably due to the AAMS file being 24bit (37MB) twice the size of the BandLab file (I used the Universal setting) (18.5MB ). My original file was 18.5MB by using the AAMS 'AllMastering_RMS_' Reference File it also produces a 16bit depth file, Again it was difficult to tell which one sounded the best. I guess to be sure you would have to do a blind test. The AAMS Reference file also provides an MP3 file, but I did not use this for comparison.
The option in AAMS to choose the Reference File to suit the kind of music may make a difference, again this would need more analysis.

It was good to do the comparison. I guess if you are converting to MP3 then probably it wouldn't matter which one to use, the mp3 file being produced by AAMS was 4.3MB so compressed  from 18MB and as you are no doubt aware a lot of detail being removed. Of course if you are writing to CD then you need to use the 16bit file or  resample the 32bit file to 16bit after mastering (some CD writing programmes will do this automatically (or you could probably do this with Audacity).

Anyway it's good to have options.

Regards
Pegwill

[RoyB]

I've been using AAMS (full professional version) for about 12 months, and also BandLab. Whilst the free version of AAMS is functional, there are some limitations imposed on some of the features and parameters.

Basically, I didn't want to waste the rest of my years trying to learn all about the complexities of audio mastering and then ending up doing it badly, so these automated systems suit me fine and and I believe both give good results (I'm certainly satsified with them, and the results are certainly better than I would obtain than if I wasted many hours attempting to do all the mastering manually myself).

I tend to try AAMS first - it may need a few attempts to find the best reference file to use (or you can very easily create your own from a commercial recording). Generally, I find AAMS gives good results, but sometimes I have difficulty getting a satisfactory mastered audio. In those instances, I can generally get a good result using BandLab.

Regards

Roy

[Dave Nuttall]

I use the free BandLab site and use the "Universal" mastered copy of my MP3 recording that the AI makes. I am happy with the results it produces in about a minute.

https://www.bandlab.com/mastering

Drake,
I tried the Universal setting and the result seems OK except that it changed 16bit/44.1 WAVs into 32bit/48000 tracks.   It isn't clear WHY or how to control the result of their processes.   Do you (or anyone else familiar with Bandlab) know why or if you can regulate the output/results?

TIA.
Dave