7H7E - Mastering Comparison (Jens Bogren)

[Charlie E.]

Thanks for this. Very cool to hear the difference. Great job with the mix as well.

 

[Boerboel666]

Seems like you mistook mastering with mixing, which is indeed more expensive, and not only by small amount.

No I realise mixing costs are in another league it's just for a studio and staff that are gaining a good reputation at the mo I thought those prices were very reasonable especially for those wanting metal/rock mastered as you can trust these guy's on that material .

 

[AStudio]

Good to see Jens doing exactly what was needed for the job in hand, in this case nothing. You could have got the same results no questions at all. I think anyone with a limiter could have got the same results, but that's not the point. The point of the ME is to do what is needed. I hate it when ME do too much, bugs me.

Thanks for posting also, your raw mix was great. Jens did indeed have a super easy job, and he did a great job in my opinion.

 

[Aaron Smith]

Aaron, have you tried mastering this yourself to get similar results, and did you find it possible with your gear? Was having Jens master it in the end a much better decision than mastering it yourself?

No I haven't actually. As others have stated, I probably could have done an acceptable master myself (perhaps even just as good as Jens) but in my mind, that wasn't really the point. I basically knew that Jens had a good ear for the material (he did a test master too, which I know I sent to you to check out at the time), and I wanted to be able to pass it off to someone I trusted to really make the final call on everything. I wasn't worried about my mixes being poor or anything and that a mastering engineer would need to rescue them in some massive way, but I just felt that there were others who had more experience, a more ideal room, and of course better gear, and I just wanted to spare no expense since the project, our big debut, was particularly important to me.

On top of those practical choices that went into my decision, I really admire Jens and his work, so I mean...why would I not want to at least give him a chance with it? It was cool communicating with him on the project. And as a complete and total bonus, the press release can say that it was mastered by Jens Bogren, which looks good to people who actually pay attention to that stuff

Jens actually mastered it just a tad louder originally (.5 dB), but I felt like it was pushed just a bit too much, and there was a bit of audible clipping in a couple spots that was too obvious to me (of course, being the mixer, I was probably pickier than anyone else in the world would be), so we both agreed that the material would benefit from him backing off just a bit.

 

[Rob Logic]

...so we both agreed that the material would benefit from him backing off just a bit.

Nice. I honestly think it's plenty loud and remains punchy. A nice, balanced mix can be perceived as louder than one that that may have a higher RMS but is not balanced across the spectrum. Well perhaps not louder, but clearer which in my opinion is much easier to listen to at moderate to high volumes which metal typically is. I typically find myself turning down my iPod or stereo on some material and I'd rather turn it up and not feel ear fatigue.

Nevertheless, I know you're proud of the result and you should be. Whether or not you could have gotten similar results to Jens (and you probably could have with such a stellar mix!!) getting Jens name on it I think is fantastic choice. I can't tell you how many albums I bought simply because Fredrik Nordstrom's name was either on a sticker on the front saying producer of At The Gates, In Flames, etc..." or printed on the back of the cover art. Not to say it isn't a disc I wouldn't want to buy, but as a debut LP, any and all exposure that gets attention on the album for newer, relatively unknown band can do nothing but help. There are some great DYI results from this forum. Super professional results can be had on the cheap but using someone elses name to help (not carry) could take any serious group to the next level and goes beyond just the years of experience some like Jens, Andy, Jacob Hansen, Suecof/Lewis, etc can deliver on result alone.

Can't wait to see where you guys take it! Congrats and I'm jealous... lol