Elmacaco...question about t-racks...

Hey....You said you use Tracks...I as well use Tracks...mainly for vocals...but my results never seem correct.....I was wondering if you could tell me how you use it to improve your work done on the mpc.....as in....settings or presets...thank you very much, I appreciate the help. Peace. Glance

Sure.

But my music has no vocals usually (well not mine at least!)

The main thing I look for is to keep the peaks at about -2dB, when you mess with different settings the gain can increase, so it is important to watch out for that.

I first tend to start with the Parametric EQ, boost the bass if it needs it, generally cut the highs from about 16k Hz sloping down beyond human hearing limits (20K Hz if you grew up with earplugs in a secluded cave)

Since I use some analog gear, the frequency spectrum can have a lot of activity up there, and I think that tends to be a bit uncomfortable after a while.

I might boost or cut some sections depending on how the different instruments sit, to balance out the track.

Then I set the limiter, using my ears to see if overdrive will improve it or not, I haven't used the presets at all, I just go by ear. Again, to a -2 dB level.

Then compress if necessary, trying to keep the meter uniform throughout the track more or less, and with the highest peaks at -2db. Some times overdrive the compressor too, mostly not though.

If I am using overdrive, I will sometimes use the level control near the meter to set it back down below 0dB, maybe add some of that soft clipping knob.

I do this all in stereo, then after I am done I switch to mono and listen. Then Differential to see what sneaks by. If you are overdriving anything you should hear something, but it should be rather minor. I just leave that. Ideally you should hear nothing in Diff. mode. But I don't know how to erase that shit that sneaks by.

Then I listen to it a few times, through monitors, through good headphones, and through cheap in ear types. The last part really helps getting your EQ settings to translate well in all situations. If it sounds good on those tiny ones, listen to it on the good Headphones, then if you need to make adjustments, just do enough to get where you want, and check the sound on the cheapies again. if it still sounds good, process that sucker.

I tend to do realtime process on it, I tried the quick way, but I didn't like the results. Plus you can see if something starts clipping unexpectedly and abort and fix it. It is something you should have caught earlier, but that shit can happen when you are processing dozens of tracks.

Hope that helps, and if you have some tips for my punk ass, we'll, they are welcome!

t- racks is f u c k i n g horrible

get native waves gold bundle or the platiumn bundle ... thats all u need for mastering

misterrock wrote:t- racks is f u c k i n g horrible

get native waves gold bundle or the platiumn bundle ... thats all u need for mastering

mmmmmm Waves, I love those plug-ins

can you go deeper into why it's better?


Please?

It's also at least $600 more so settle down. T-racks does a decent job for the loot.

Both are nice, WAVES and T-tracks. To each his own though, different strokes.

I'd really like to know, I haven't tried waves, so I can't start no beef,

I also left the 16 year old mindset a while ago, so this won't be any beef.

I know what T racks sounds like, so telling me it is shit tells me nothing really. I would like some deeper insight.

No Beef. Really.

Hmmm. Not to start no beef but.....I have both waves platinum and T-racks, and i prefer T-racks for mastering
I suppose it's a personal thing ain't it?
Do you use the whole rack on a separate vocal track? I never do much vocals, but i would think that some Waves plug-ins are better suited to process individual tracks. It kinda makes it easier to understand what's going on when you use separate plug-ins on a track instead of a whole rack at once.
Plus i prefer to use reverb after eq, but before compressing/limiting. But i don't know much about vocal processing, it just sounds better to me that way.
Oh, i use Waves ir-1 reverb now, and it sound of the hook.

Have you guys tried iZotope Ozone? It is priced similar to T Racks but sounds amazing...great presets too.

I have all three, Waves Platinum bundle, T-Racks and Ozone. I think T-Racks and Ozone are better suited for those who are new to the mastering process as they have great presets and a very easy to use interface. Between T-Racks and Ozone I prefer T-Racks, more because I like the way T-Racks "colors" the sound then anything else(T-Racks is modeled after analog tube gear), both are great programs for the novice.

I use Waves plug ins nine times out of ten for mastering, the Linear Multiband Compressor and L2 limiter are always the last step in my mastering process. While the L2 is very easy to use the LMB is a bit more complex and can take all the life out of your mix if not used correctly.

As far as processing vocals, I've never thought to run them through T-Racks, I might try it though. As far as how I process vocals it depends on how well the original signal was recorded but I'll usually run the vocal through Antares Mic Modeler(try and find out what mic was originaly used to record the vocal, it will help you decide what models to try), EQ, Waves RVox(it's a compressor/gate) and then more EQ.

Thanks!