Just out of interest, I’d be interested to see what you have (typically) as your mix bus, and then (if you do your mastering) what you put on the master channel, and if you use the same or different tools there.
On the Mix Buss, I’m trialling a chain that resembles the God Particle (with mixed results it has to be said), which I’ve restructured to suit Ableton’s different strengths and weaknesses.
This has Channel EQ for some minor corrections, MB Compressor set with similar values to God Particle. This then runs through a saturator split into 3 bands, and finally the “Gentle Limiter” preset on the end.
My other (simpler) chain for this goes like this >> Glue Compressor with clip on to catch any stray peaks, Channel EQ, EQ8 for low end rumble control, Satin/TAIP for a bit of harmonic thickness, Presswerk in Limiter mode, or the Gentle Limiter preset mentioned above.
Mastering is out of my comfort zone, so I don’t mess too much here. I might have some corrective EQ for balance (no more than 1-2db), either a Pultec emulation or the Pulsar w495, followed by Ozone. If I spot that my mix is terrible (usually flagged by Ozone trying to EQ the hell out of the mix) I go back to the mix buss and adjust there. If that doesn’t work, I’ll go back to individual channels or re-do the whole mix.
I’m interested in simplifying this process, and I have been checking out Master Plan and God Particle. Main reason being they effectively reduce the pre-mix plugin chain to just 2 plugins. God Particle is meant for the mix buss, with a chain very similar to the one I described above. Master Plan is a limiter that also runs some common sense processing on your masters, not unlike the new Master Assistant in Logic. They’re simple, quick to work with and sound good from my trials. I’m questioning whethere there is a need for multiple tools when one will get the job done (possibly.)
Oh, also, I heard a comment here somewhere that using non-stock plugins here can be good. Not that stock plugins aren’t good (although the famously brittle Ableton Limiter says “hold my beer plz”) but that you can get some very nice moves by using your top tier plugins at this point. Whether that be Toneboosters, TDR, u-he or Fabfilter, these can bring mixes up a notch.
So Naughts, I’m here to be educated! Where are you at with your chains and what’s on them? Do you prefer stock toold for certain tastks and do you use different plugins on the mix & master busses?