Using harbal and t-racks

[Anil Singh]

After mixdown, I use harbal to eq.
1. The eqing with harbal sounds great.
2. I use t-racks to compress and limit.

Results, not as impressive as using harbal alone. Is there something that I am doing wrong? I use the 2inch preset in t-racks but I get some bad results. I am doing nothing different but using harbal and t-racks. The results are, when playing the song on the mackie 824, it sound good but when playing it on any other speaker it sound muffled, no ombionse(sorry for the spelling) no sharpness, no clearity, and no punch nothing. Help help.

[fishybob]

Hi

I found that my tracks didn't sound quite as fresh on other systems after compression too. I just ran the track back through Har-bal (ya gotta love it!) and BINGO! Back to pro!

[Anil Singh]

fishybob, Don't you think that it would kill the sonic boom after you've t-racks it then redo in Harbal. I found that once you've completed the eqing in harbal you should not have to touch the eqing after using a limiter and a compressor. This is just a guess. If someone know other wise please advise. Should I use wavelab,soundforge or anyone of the editing software and plugins to compress and limit? or should I use tracks?

Thanks in advance

"Knowledge is power" AMS

[har-bal]

After mixdown, I use harbal to eq.
1. The eqing with harbal sounds great.
2. I use t-racks to compress and limit.

Results, not as impressive as using harbal alone. Is there something that I am doing wrong? I use the 2inch preset in t-racks but I get some bad results. I am doing nothing different but using harbal and t-racks. The results are, when playing the song on the mackie 824, it sound good but when playing it on any other speaker it sound muffled, no ombionse(sorry for the spelling) no sharpness, no clearity, and no punch nothing. Help help.

Anil

The preset you should use in T-Racks is Opto + half inch under the heading (Suite) if you are using the standalone version.

If you are using the plugin of T-Racks we had the T-Racks company create a similar preset. You can download it from www.hdqtrz.com/T-Racks

Any plug-in users may add this to their T-Racks presets by simply unzipping and placing into the T-Racks presets folder.

C: > Program Files > IK > T-Racks Plug-In > T-Racks Presets > T-Racks Suite

Cheers

Earle

[Anil Singh]

Earle,
Do you think that it's best to use harbal and tracks the way that fishybob is using it " just ran the track back through Har-bal (ya gotta love it!) and BINGO! Back to pro".

Thanks
Anil Singh
"Knowledge is power"

[har-bal]

Earle,
Do you think that it's best to use harbal and tracks the way that fishybob is using it " just ran the track back through Har-bal (ya gotta love it!) and BINGO! Back to pro".

Thanks
Anil Singh
"Knowledge is power"

Anil

If what he is doing works and it sounds good then by all means do it.

There are no rules in this game, just fundamental rules. There is nothing wrong with being creative.
Lets look at it another way.

Suppose a customer brought you a cd to redo that was mastered eksewhere and they weren't satisfied with the results.

If the loudness is fine you may just need to run it through Har-Bal and then a limiter with the threshold set at 0.0 and the outceiling at -0.1. to prevent any clipping.

Earle

[har-bal]

Earle,
Do you think that it's best to use harbal and tracks the way that fishybob is using it " just ran the track back through Har-bal (ya gotta love it!) and BINGO! Back to pro".

Thanks
Anil Singh
"Knowledge is power"

Anil

If what he is doing works and it sounds good then by all means do it.

There are no rules in this game, just fundamental rules. There is nothing wrong with being creative.
Lets look at it another way.

Suppose a customer brought you a cd to redo that was mastered eksewhere and they weren't satisfied with the results.

If the loudness is fine you may just need to run it through Har-Bal and then a limiter with the threshold set at 0.0 and the outceiling at -0.1. to prevent any clipping.

Earle

[zumbido]

This is the perfect combination for me - Har-Bal & T-RackS.

Using Earle's suggestion of preset 'Opto + half inch' in T-Racks. I ONLY alter the 'Input Gain' in the multiband-limiter section. This is where you can make a HOT CD - just listen and don't overdrive. In this 'Opto + half inch' preset the level NEVER exceeds -0.2 dB.

I think it's important to start with a good level before applying T-RackS. To check, open your Har-Balized file in T-RackS. Select 'Bypass' and observe that your level is -6 to -4 dB (as recommended by T-RackS).

I think you can raise the level in Har-Bal - but watch for distortion or overload (i. e., meter at the bottom in Har-Bal).

But what I prefer to do is achieve enough level during mixing. That way I only use Har-Bal to EQ.

Just experiment.

What T-RackS does for me is simply raise the volume. I do not notice any major (or minor) EQ change between a Har-Balized file and that same file affected with T-RackS, other than being a LOT MORE louder (if I choose so).

As you can see, I like to do as little as possible with T-RackS. I can't wait for Har-Bal 2.0's IntuitQ - more time to drink another cup o' coffee.