Harshness using the suggested mastering chain

tat-tong · Post by **tat-tong** » Thu Feb 10, 2005 5:37 pm

I've been using the suggested mastering chain on this website (HarBal -> Q10 -> LinMB -> L2) and I notice that after the LinMB stage stuff starts sounding rather harsh. Great clarity and punch, but somehow harsh and sterile compared to other recordings i've heard. I used filter files designed by Earle so I assume that's not the problem. Any ideas on how I can get a more musical result?

HarBal · Post by **HarBal** » Thu Feb 10, 2005 6:55 pm

Hi Tat-Tong,

I have one suggestion. Why not drop LinMB from the chain altogether. I generally have a disliking for multiband compressors because of the artifacts they often leave behind. You can get good results with multiband compressors but it is very easy to make a mess of things too.

Cheers,

Paavo.