Lurssen Mastering Console Reviews – IK Multimedia’s Lurssen Mastering for Mac/PC and iPad looks to lower the difficulty level for producers looking to master their tracks in their own studio. Has audio mastering ever been easier?
With so many digital instruments and effects on the market, in recent years some developers have been trying to create tools that go beyond just “a great compressor” or “a stellar EQ”. Sometimes this takes the form of modeling real hardware that is either rare, expensive, or impossible to come by, and in other cases it means working with musicians and producers to recreate their unique hardware setups using software.
Lurssen Mastering Console Reviews
That’s right here, IK has teamed up with Grammy Award-winning, Los Angeles-based mastering engineers Gavin Lurssen and Reuben Cohen to bring their philosophy and sound to your Mac or PC—or even your iPad, if you choose the iPad version. Much like when Waves does a series of “signature” effects with producers, the focus here is on sound rather than giving you access to every bit of virtual hardware involved. This is the right way to approach mastering applications, because mastering is about working and focusing on one stereo file at a time.
Essential Tools For Mastering
You might think that the Lurssen Mastering app (also running as a DAW plugin) bears more than a passing resemblance to T-RackS, IK’s venerable mastering software. And the single window interface is indeed similar in design. However, it tries to keep it simple, unlike the more complex and involved Ozone from iZotope.
Drop your mixed audio file into the app and you can choose from grouped presets based on genre to get started. You may be initially puzzled by the apparent simplicity of the control set, but this is actually not uncommon in studio mastering hardware. The complicated wiring is done behind the scenes, and the engineer actually operates only a few controls—a few dials and knobs—to master the song. Unlike mixdown, you’re not endlessly tweaking every component song in a project when you master it. You are dealing with a stereo signal as a whole. Interestingly, some presets “lock” certain parameters at load, because as Lurssen himself stated, “once they’re set, we don’t change those settings.” So basically you really have control over the settings as a human would use them.
Modeled after the real studio, you get three main control sections. The Drive button on the left allows you to drive the input signal to make it warmer. The five EQ knobs in the middle let you cut or boost five frequency bands, and the Push button to the right lets you raise or lower the EQ knobs by the same amount at the same time, to “ride” the changes in the song. . The EQ knob can be set where you want it, and the Push knob will adjust everything by the same amount from their relative position. You can track in mono or stereo and skip all effects for A/B comparison.
The app supports limited automation of the Drive and Push buttons, although it runs in standalone mode and you can view and edit this data in the waveform section. I’m not sure what the idea is here: it’s useful to make subtle changes in loudness and volume during the song, but always keep in mind the mastering goal to create a stable level, not a changing level. EQ automation could potentially be more useful, although it is not available. In plug-in mode, some dynamics editors can also automatically use your host system.
Lurssen Mastering Consoleレビュー】マスタリング作業を丸投げできるソフト
If you switch to the signal chain view, you can see which modules are currently loaded and in which order. In keeping with the philosophy of having a professional installation, there is limited room for modification, although you can modify the disinfection and compressor units to a small degree. Of course, it’s also possible to save your own presets and unique EQ settings, and there appears to be compatibility between the desktop and iPad versions of the app, which is useful for on-the-go use.
As with T-RackS, you can load multiple tracks into the app in standalone mode and switch between them, copying and pasting settings if you like. This makes it easier to achieve a consistent sound when mastering multiple tracks that will end up on the same album, for example, or when giving different edits to the same track. When it’s time to export your master, in plug-in mode you simply export channels as usual, and in standalone mode you can export one or more tracks at 32-bit, 96 kHz resolution. Of course, you can also save projects so your master stays fluid if you need to go back and change it later. It’s a little less messy than opening an entire DAW project with a long chain of plug-ins in the mixer.
The mastering process is about improving what’s already there, rather than needing to have a “signature” sound in a way that a recording engineer or mixing engineer might. However, it is important to get it right and the help of the right top industry professionals will be good. The Lurssen Mastering Console takes much of the guesswork and hassle out of mastering and comes with an excellent pedigree. Most of the basics have been done for you and it’s up to you to adjust the settings. Purists may prefer subtle control over everything, but there are plenty of options elsewhere for those who do.
The regular price of 360 EUR or around $400 seems a bit high, to be honest, when the regular price of the Ozon 7 is $249 (although the Advanced version costs more). Ozone may be a different tool, more scientific to own, but it’s good enough and not hard to learn. The Lurssen Mastering Console is easier to pick up and will be friendlier especially for less experienced users. It looks as good as you’d expect, though if you’re going to dip your toe in the water, the iPad version is the cheapest way to go, even though unlocking the functionality will set you back $100.
Mastering Showdown With Izotope, Lurssen Mastering And Newfangled Audio
Pros: Very easy to use. great sound. It takes a lot of setup and guesswork from mastering. Auto support is limited to standalone mode. Work on multiple pieces at once.
Hollin Jones was classically trained as a pianist, but found the lure of blues and jazz too much to resist. Graduated from the band to composition and then production, he relishes the opportunity to play anything and keyboards. A former lecturer in videographics, music production and post production photography, Hollin launched the w … Read MoreGIVEAWAY! Leave a comment below to win 1 copy of this app! Be sure to use a valid email address (and share this page with your friends!) We’ll announce the winner on our FB page.
First let’s address the elephant in the mastering studio. This is an iOS app that costs $150 to unlock full functionality. While that kind of price is unusual for desktop music software, it’s chump change for an app. The developer, IK Multimedia, has a long history of developing quality music software for pc/mac and was one of the few major early adopters of iOS as a music production platform.
They have ported some of their desktop software to iOS, such as Sampletank and more recently Syntronic. They have also developed some great apps for iOS, such as iLectric and the excellent iGrand piano.
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I’ll try to give you some information about mastering with Lurssen so you can answer that for yourself.
Mastering is the final, shiny polish that binds your tracks together and makes them consistent no matter what you play. Usually, there might be some subtle EQ tweaks, some compression to tame some of the louder peaks and add emphasis to the quieter parts. It is also common to use a Limiter to help with the perceived volume of your mix and ensure there is no clipping or distortion.
Many professional musicians do not do their own mastering. Ideally, the advantage of the mastering process is that the person doing the mastering is a fresh set of ears and has the knowledge and experience to make your song sound great.
Most amateur musicians and hobbyists, however, do not have the resources to pay for professional mastering, so the method of doing this final step yourself has become more popular. There are several desktop software options that help you do this, such as Ozon by iZotope and T-RackS by IK Multimedia.
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On iOS there’s Final Touch by Positive Grid and the very capable and aptly named Audio Mastering by Igor Vasiliev / iMusic Albums. Additionally, for those who know what they’re doing, the FabFilter plugins available in Auria Pro, such as ProQ, ProL, ProC and ProMB, can be combined to create powerful and versatile mastering effects.
