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The monitor
system is truly the heart of a great mastering house. The discrete
Class-A NEMO DMC-8 is the starting point of this high resolution system
which lets us level-match any source for accuracy that translates to
the real world.. In tis picture the discrete Class-A Nautilus Commander
is directly above the NEMO.
Follow our custom high-end cables down to the Rotel RB 991 power amp
and you'll find a fascinating set-up that looks quite different, but
sounds amazing. We use Mapleshade
heavy-hat weights, iso pads, cone points and maple platforms to
isolate it from quality-robbing vibration - along with a $1,500 Virtual Dynamics power
cord to deliver extended response and detail.
Canadian audiophile monitors are made by Mirage - resting on
concrete/granite/neoprene & glass vibration isolators. The monitors
are a bipolar home theatre design that amazed me when I heard them the
first time. Audiophile monitoring is becoming more commonplace in
mastering studios - John's been using this philosophy
for about 25 years - dating all the way back to his recording studio
days. Check out our Studio Monitoring discussion
page for more insights about monitoring.
Sonic Studio Digital Mastering System
Known the world over (often as Sonic Solutions), Sonic
is a powerful, reliable tool that sounds superb. After using analog
processing and loading your music into Sonic, we can use the 7-band
automated eq for razor-close touch-up eq, and edit in any way
imaginable.
Declicking is a clean and effective tool for removing digital or
musical blemishes, and with sophisticated filtering, even momentary
thumps can be removed with ease. A great advantage to the automated eq
is that you can jump from the first song to the last song, to the
middle song, etc., all instantly. This makes it easy to get incredible
consistency on your cd, or contrast if you like. Time Twist and Pitch
Change is also available.
Separation
Mastering source computer
Powerful functions and clean sound - we use Digital
Performer with 3 UAD-1 cards in a Mac G5 interfaced with a JLCooper
MCS3000 controller - fast macro functions and 8 faders with
hardware-controlled sends give us speedy control of this cutting-edge
mastering process. Unsurpassed UAD plug ins provide smooth,
high-resolution enhancements to the separated musical elements of your
project.
Prism AD-2, DA-2, ADA-8 24-bit converters (Sony, Marcussen,
Masterfonics,
etc.), Apogee 24-bit converters
(found at MCA, Doug Sax, etc.) and
more including: ZSystems Digital Patcher (used by MCA and many more),
Tascam 24-Bit DA-45HR DAT machine, Panasonic 3800, dbx Quantum (at home in the rack of
Stephen Marcussen and others), Alesis Masterlink, Lexicon Reverb,
z-3src 24/96 sample rate converter, Sony CD burner, Tascam Mini Disc,
Mac G4 for WAV and AIFF files, and more. I currently master to CDR and
1630.
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Analog Processing
Prism Audio MLA-2 Compressor, MEA-2 Mastering Eq, Inward Connections
Tube Limiter, Waves L2 and more.
Found in world class mastering suites (including Sony/LA, Marcussen
Mastering), our Prism
compressor is designed by England's Leif Mases, who makes custom
SSL modules and works on superstar projects. This unit gives invisible
compression, and the sound is clean, wide, and transparent. The Prism mastering eq
is in the gear line-ups of Stephen Marcussen, Ted Jensen and others
who's work is known the world over. My Waves L2 digital limiter is at
home in Marcussen's and Bob Ludwig's facility, and many others. These
units are customized with higher precision discrete modifications. Add
the custom high-end tube TSL-1 by Inward Connections (used by Tom-Lord
Alge and other world-class mixers), Waves L2 digital limiter, Ampex 102
1/2", 1/4", and MCI 1/2" and 1/4" analog machines, Nakamichi cassette
deck, and you know we keep good company here.
Key advantage: When we
process music, we continuously listen back to all the songs in the
client's album to reference how consistent the entire project will
sound from beginning to end. While there are many ways to get great
results, this method can be more detailed than methods used elsewhere.
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"Thank you again for the
great job you did on our CD. We've been getting lots of reviews like
this one: 'It sounds like a
kickin' album with mainstream and alternative radio written all over
it."
- Maureen Keller (Indie-Music.com) - June Records artists,
"Mistletoe", Florida
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See the two-page article in
the May 2006 issue of EQ Magazine
on Separation
Mastering, by John Vestman and Don Sundstrom. The
acclaimed
mastering format is getting highest praise from Vestman Mastering
clients, engineers and listeners.
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