Premastering & magneto

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Member Since: Feb 11, 2003

I rememebr a while ago (quite awhile ago!) that many people used the Magneto plugin as part of their premastering process (particularly dB) and loved its effect.

With many cheaper premastering plugs like Ozone available now, does anyone use Magneto anymore? It seems to be a type of compression anyway.

If you do use it still, in what part of the process is it most useful? i.e. prior to multiband compression and maximising? after all processing? Does Ozone (and other premastering bundles) give you the same, if not better effect/results?

I'm considering getting it as there are plenty of rave reviews, but no demo that I can find.

Your opinions will, as always, be very useful!

Thanks
Andrew

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Administrator
Since: Apr 03, 2002


Sep 09, 2004 03:15 am

I still use magneto myself as well as Har-Bal and Waves L1 Ultramaximizer, and rarely use Ozone.

Lost for words with all to say.
Contributor
Since: Sep 12, 2003


Sep 09, 2004 06:05 am

Some will disagree with me but I don't really use Ozone anymore either. At first, I thought it was wonderful but really it was just fixing what I was doing wrong in my mixing. Later, I plan to learn some more about premastering. But the "true" way is to use Har-bal (which, I will purchase in the future) and something like Waves or Magneto which can get very pricey after getting everything you need. Professionals don't use the simple one plug in to do their premastering. But then again, I'm not a professional, that's why I'm getting one to do my premastering once I get the recording and mixing done! Just my thoughts.

Czar of Midi
Administrator
Since: Apr 04, 2002


Sep 09, 2004 10:12 pm

Andrew, I still use Magneto on occasion as well but have switched to PSP Vintage Warmer for the most part. It is a much deeper app, it is like Magneto on steriods. It is a true analog style multi-band compressor limiter. You can make much finer adjustments and after learning to use it I am much happier with the resluts I get from it. Well worth the money for sure. PSP www.pspaudioware.com/ have several other pluggins you might take a look at. They are priced a bit lower then some of the bigger names but theperformance is superb. I am adding their Nitro filter plug as well as their MasterQ which I found worked almost as precise as Steinbergs FreeFilter did when it was the plug to have.

One thing I should mention though is I use these pluggins mostly for sound design. I would download the demos which they have for all their products and give em a shot. Escellant stuff for the money.

Administrator
Since: Apr 03, 2002


Sep 10, 2004 06:03 am

Yeah, the PSP Warmer is super cool, but that is something I pretty much only use on individual tracks while multitracking, for mastering I still use good ol' Magneto.

Hello!
Member
Since: Jan 12, 2004


Sep 10, 2004 06:26 am

I have Magneto too - very rarely use it but I really must give it a try.

I tend to use Forge's built in tools...they are very easy to use and provide excellent results.

Coco.

Lost for words with all to say.
Contributor
Since: Sep 12, 2003


Sep 10, 2004 08:20 am

Same here coco.

Hard to really tell someone what is the best to use because it really comes down to what you seem comfortable using and what you think sounds the best working with.

Member
Since: Feb 18, 2004


Sep 10, 2004 01:15 pm

I tried Vintage Warmer, great plug, on mix, on snare, on guitars, everywhere. Also I searched for something similar to Har-Bal and found Voxengo Soniformer, still have no idea how to use it, now reading manual :)

Administrator
Since: Apr 03, 2002


Sep 10, 2004 02:39 pm

The big drawback of Voxengo Soniformer as compared to Har-Bal is knowing what actually difference you are making. Har-Bal uses a loudness compensation technique to make up for the loudness changes so you can verify that the changes in the sound are truly spectral and not just volume. And Voxengo Soniformer uses compression, not true EQing...

Member
Since: Feb 18, 2004


Sep 10, 2004 03:26 pm

Ja, it is a cheap plug, and trying it I am not so experienced to say if it spoils or helps

Czar of Midi
Administrator
Since: Apr 04, 2002


Sep 10, 2004 10:37 pm

I agree with ya Edvo. I use it alot on drums as it is very tunable to bring out the best. I have used it on bass as well as guitar and vocals with very good results. But it does have a learning curve to it for sure. It is not an easy plug to learn overnight.

Member
Since: Feb 11, 2003


Sep 13, 2004 07:10 pm

So dB, you don't do any multiband compression in the premastering stage, just Magneto, HarBal then maximising ..... I'll have to give this process a go. I've found the multiband compression seems to make a real difference to my recordings - but as someone said, that maybe because my initial mixes weren't crash hot!

Thanks
Andrew

Administrator
Since: Apr 03, 2002


Sep 13, 2004 07:14 pm

I am not a big fan of compression. Only where necessary. Overcompression is one of the biggest mistakes people make in my opinion. But yes, sometimes it is necessary.

And for the record, I don't use Magneto, Har-Bal and maximizing in premastering, I use it in mastering.

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