I don’t go to a lot of forums so I thought I’d see what y’all think. This is also off my phone so I apologize for weird sentences. I use a OT and RYTM in my rig but have run through most of elektons gear over the years, hence why I’m here. I’m about to send tracks to press. This will be my 7th vinyl release (self releases I should say). I have done 3 without mastering and 3 with. I feel like I get it right the first time and really haven’t been impressed with finished product after paying to have them mastered. The last one was mastered on analog gear and I really thought my original was eq’d Correctly the first time. So I’m contemplating skipping this process. I produce strictly hardware and sequence my machines via midi but run the finished product through fabfilter where I am able to spot spikes and fix problems. Im very afraid of paying somebody to compress the dynamics out of my mix. I’m kind of thinking at this point if I eq this properly then it should really be all about the acetate cut. Any thoughts from people with actual knowledge? I might add I throw money down a hole every time I make a record so if I can save $300 by not mastering is def appealing
I definitely feel you.
I often question the results I get from mastering, but I always find the masters are louder yet with retained clarity and dynamics.
However, as I almost always prefer some aspects of my own masters, I then consider transferability. Does your master/EQ only sound great on your speakers? Mastering should also help guarantee better transferability to different systems. If not… then maybe find a different mastering engineer. Explore others?
Labels also often pay for mastering.
Just my 2 cents. I think it’s always worth it to consult an expert.
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