Mastering.Studio offers new members one FREE online master and the bx_meter ($99 value) plugin from Brainworx.
Mastering.Studio was founded by Dirk Ulrich, the man behind Brainworx and Plugin Alliance.
I was happy to see this because Dirk is known for his meticulous attention to detail when developing plugins. So, it’s hard to imagine he would roll out an automated mastering project without the same painstaking process.
With that said, I’ve no experience with Mastering.Studio, and can’t comment on results beyond the website demos yet.
Free Online Master By Mastering.Studio
Whether talking about digital (in the box) or analog mastering, it’s the last opportunity for human decisions to impact the sound of your project. I’ve always believed that it’s important to maintain that human touch when possible.
I use a bunch of mastering plugins, but I’m not a mastering engineer by any means, and I wouldn’t master a commercial project myself. I suspect a lot of people are in that position and paying for a professional mastering engineer every time you produce a new track isn’t realistic for most people.
See also: Free Mastering SoftwareSo, while I believe the human touch should be maintained, I think online mastering services have a place. I’m genuinely intrigued to try out Mastering.Studio, because I just don’t see Dirk Ulrich doing it unless it offers something the current options do not.
The free Master has a $10 value, and after uploading your track, you can choose from four mastering styles; Miami, LA, London, and CD Remaster.
Free Copy Of bx_meter
The icing on the cake is a free copy of bx_meter from Brainworx ($99 value). The plugin is a sophisticated dynamic range meter with M/S.
The option to view the mid and side signals separately is an example of the precision visual feedback that bx_meter provides. You also have Solo listen buttons for the left, right, mid, and side signals.
As well as Peak, RMS, and Dynamic Range meters, it also features Balance and Correlation meters.
I like plugins that help you understand a problem properly before fixing it. The visual feedback you get from bx_meter tells you what you are hearing and why, so you can make the best possible decisions for your mix/master.
As I see it, there’s nothing to lose. I’m off to dig out an old un-mastered project and get a freebie from a well-established developer.
bx_meter is available in 64-bit AU, VST2, VST3, and AAX formats for macOS and Windows. Intel Macs only – macOS 10.9 – 11 and Windows 7 – 10 are supported.
More info: Mastering.Studio
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12 Comments
ege
onThis is great .Thank you
Jedex
onWhy should i use this when Bandlab’s online mastering is totally FREE ?
Eggs
onBecause you don’t get bx_meter with it. Which is a cool plugin.
Rox Roll
onThx,Tha’s nice,I got bx_meter for free,just sign it up.
Carlo
onUsed to have the TT Dynamic Range meter back then, which I had to drop because of the 64-bit only thing on Mac. I signed up immediately when I saw this. Many thanks!
KL
onI signed up but how do I receive the plug-in
PureFire
onThanks James, BPB & PA, i hope all is good 😉☘️ great work & much appreciation.
KL, hi. You need to use this code:
MASTERING-STUDIO-FREE-MASTER
I have this meter already, so i haven’t had to go through the process here.
I am not 100% sure if you use the code at the master.studio website tho. I would have thought that you need to go to plugin-alliance . com to get the BX Meter plug-in & use the code there.
Good luck with it, i hope this info is of some help to you.
When you install BX Meter, you will need to fill in your email to activate the plug-in while online too.
To get the most out of the meter, add this meter into more than one of your audio effects plug-in slots after everything else on your master bus channel.
This way you will benefit from selecting different displays in each meter eg: stereo in one meter / mid side in another meter & so on.
Then you can monitor all of your meters at once if you need to have them all open at once (i think it has 4 different displays to choose from in the meter).
I do it like this because you can solo each meter to actually hear that process too 👍
Chris S
onYep, 64 bit float is problem there and hard just two variants 44100 or 96000, only 24 bit (no remarks about need use dithering or not) This second free test on line mastering (analogmastering 1st) and too shame result, bass & kick is terrible, in fact sounds worse, I use Miami Loud. I try later LA preset, but now I’m not satisfied
Chris S
onLA both type same worse…
PureFire
onHi Chris, did you leave plenty of headroom in your wav file ?
Its best to have a lower volume at around -8db to get the best results from mastering. Me bad lol 🙄, as i rushed it at first when i used the Plugin-Alliance Style Creator app, which is a free trial & uses the same engine as Mastering.Studio, it also has 8 presets & you can tweak the controls yourself & save your own preset. You can master as much as you like in the trial period.
At first i forgot & i used one of my wav files that was loud already at -0.5db. I got a bad result after mastering this way & the audio sounded crushed & of course it would be, as there was no headroom for the mastering to happen in my wav file.
Chris S
onOf course, always, the transient peak is no more than -6 dB
Horace Marshall
onjust starting up