The job of Magneto 1.5 and its place in the mastering chain

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Bonzo
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Joined: Tue Oct 31, 2006 9:09 pm

The job of Magneto 1.5 and its place in the mastering chain

Post by Bonzo »

Hello...

What does Magneto 1.5 exactly do? I've never found enough information about it, but all i've heard is that it adds warmth to a recording and it is very "good"...and what is it's position in the mastering chain? After final limiting, after the mix's compression...?

Thank you very much

Bonzo
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Re: The job of Magneto 1.5 and its place in the mastering ch

Post by har-bal »

Bonzo wrote:Hello...

What does Magneto 1.5 exactly do? I've never found enough information about it, but all i've heard is that it adds warmth to a recording and it is very "good"...and what is it's position in the mastering chain? After final limiting, after the mix's compression...?

Thank you very much

Bonzo


Bonzo

The chanin would be as follows.

EQ
Magneto
Final Limiting

Magneto is a compressor of sorts that is suppose to emulate the natural compression/saturation you get from 2 inch tape. It works quite well. Make sure you use is sparingly.

Cheers

Earle
Bonzo
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Joined: Tue Oct 31, 2006 9:09 pm

Post by Bonzo »

Could I use magneto along with C4?

Like...

Harbal...C4...Magneto...Limiter...
Mister
Posts: 24
Joined: Wed Jun 08, 2005 10:48 pm
Location: misters.masters@sympatico.ca

Post by Mister »

Bonzo

I'd like to add a comment about Magneto as I often use it on my clients' masters.

If your levels going into Magneto don't exceed 0 dBFS then your output will never be over 0 dBFS. So you wouldn't need a limiter unless you needed to add an extra dB or two of gain. However if you needed that extra gain (and this is not to ignore or negate what Earle said before about using it sparingly because that is correct) you could just nudge the drive some more until you have the level you need. I'm assuming your "tape speed" setting is at 15 IPS. I've found that by leaving the drive level where it is at 15 IPS and switching to 30 IPS, I can then usually turn the output gain up 1.5 dB to get that extra level, although you should check carefully what it's doing to your bass (as well as you final levels)!

Your chain would work fine, but my experience since using Har-Bal is that when the EQ is just right, even on just an average mix, you never need to use a multi-band compressor, and you rarely need extra enhancers, or push the levels as much. I'm speaking from the viewpoint of working on "other people's" mixes (not my own), so my intent is to preserve the original integrity of the client's mixes while doing as much as possible to enhance and clarify it for maximum punch. With Har-Bal I use less processing, which translates into a less degraded sound, and a better end product.

Hope that helps!

Mister
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