Formats: Mac VST, PC VST, Wavelab, DirectX
Reviewed: PC versions
Steinberg's Mastering Edition is a bundle of six plug‑ins, described as "The Complete Mastering Solution". Three of them (FreeFilter, Loudness Maximiser, and Spectralizer) are old favourites which are still available as stand‑alone products, while the Compressor, Phase Scope and SpectroGraph are completely new.
FreeFilter (which I originally reviewed in PC Notes July '98) is a linear‑phase third‑octave equaliser and real‑time spectrum analyser. It has a useful selection of tools that let you grab and alter sections of the EQ spectrum, but its most exciting feature lets you analyse the spectrum of one track and then apply this to your own recordings. You click on its Source button and then play back the track whose EQ you want to 'learn'. You then click on the Destination button and play back the track you are working on so that FreeFilter can learn its frequency response as well. Finally, you click on the Match button, and an EQ curve is generated that will match the frequency response of the destination track to that of the source. In effect, this allows you to make the sound of your own tracks match that of any commercial release. The Morph control lets you control the influence of generated EQ curve, from the 100 percent perfect match position down to no alteration at 0 percent and up to double at 200 percent for extreme effects.
FreeFilter can be very effective when both tracks are of a similar genre and instrumentation, but otherwise the Match EQ may require huge amounts of boost that can cause distortion — in many cases I found that using Morph settings between 40 percent and 60 percent gave a more effective flavour of the source track. This is a useful tool that will teach you a lot about other people's mixes, and could prove useful when studio clients demand 'the same sound' as the latest platinum‑selling CD. However, it won't turn a dud into a masterpiece.
Loudness Maximiser has been available separately for some time, and increases the perceived loudness of an already normalised track without making it sound compressed. It does this by a combination of compression and limiting. First you set the Desired Gain slider to raise the loudness by the desired amount. As you do this the Possible Gain meter reading reduces — setting this at about 0 to 1dB gives you the highest possible loudness. The Boost button gives you an extra 2dB kick, and the Soft/Hard setting changes the response of the limiter section. Lower settings should be used here for classical music, while dance music can take much higher values. More Density shifts the balance between compressor and limiter, while the Desired Gain Done meter displays what percentage of your original setting has been achieved. Many people love this plug‑in, although I personally find Waves' L1 Ultramaximiser easier to set up and use. However, Loudness Maximiser is undeniably more versatile, and effective if used carefully.
Spectralizer adds synthesized high‑end harmonics, to improve clarity, transparency, and to give top‑end sparkle to dull‑sounding recordings. First the signal is fed through a high‑pass filter with variable Frequency control between 1kHz and 7kHz, and then second and third harmonics are generated from the filtered signal and mixed with the original unfiltered sound. There are controls for Kick to add more harmonics to attacks and transients, and Density to alter the envelope of the harmonics. A Solo button lets you hear the added harmonics by themselves, which helps when setting up.
With a typical Frequency setting of 5kHz the second harmonics start at 10kHz and the third at 15kHz, so some of the controls have extremely subtle effects, but unlike EQ they don't increase background noise levels. I've used Spectralizer on some of my own recordings and even a tiny sprinkling of this fairy dust in the right place can be enough to add a sheen or a little 'air'. However, it's easy for your ears to get used to loads of top, so you should regularly use the Bypass button to check that you're not overdoing things.
Compressor is a new multi‑band dynamics plug‑in with graphics reminiscent of Steinberg's QuadraFuzz. Its display has two main areas: the Frequency Band Editor lets you create and graphically edit between one and five separate bands, whose relative levels can be altered by dragging them up and down with the mouse, and their crossover frequency to the next band changed by dragging them sideways. When you select a particular band by clicking on it with the mouse, the corresponding compression curve is highlighted in the Characteristics window to the right. Clicking anywhere on the highlighted I/O line adds a new breakpoint, and these can then be dragged in any direction to create the desired amplitude response, such as compression, limiting, or expansion — a graphical blob moves up and down the highlighted compression curve in the Characteristics window to show the current I/O levels. If you want soft‑knee rather than hard‑knee compression, you simply add more breakpoints to create curves, and individual Solo buttons for each of the bands help in setting up the curves to your satisfaction.
Two modes of compression are available — Classic has fixed attack and release times, while Complex automatically optimises these parameters according to the programme material. The final Output level can be adjusted by ±12dB, and the Soft Clip function turns overloads into rounded peaks, mimicing the sound of tube circuitry, to ensure that the output never exceeds 0dB. When used in Cubase VST you can even automate the controls for special effects.
This design is wonderful for tweaking the level of specific instruments such as bass drum, snare drum, or guitars, without unduly altering the rest of the mix. A bank of presets is included as a start point, and these include suitable settings for FM Radio (!), and various individual isources. You can also use it as a five‑band paragraphic EQ. Like all powerful tools it needs carefully setting up while monitoring the track for best results, but the solo function really helps you find the problem areas, and the graphic approach makes it very easy to use.
Phase Scope incorporates a two‑dimensional vectorscope display (called a goniometer by Steinberg) along with a horizontal correlation meter beneath. Together these can be very useful for examining the stereo image, and once you have worked with them for a while it becomes fairly easy to interpret both displays and gain a surprising amount of information. You can see panned mono sounds, spot phase problems in multi‑microphone arrays (some examples of this are given in the manual), and check whether a stereo track is mono‑compatible (useful for TV and radio broadcasts). A mono button also lets you audition the summed mono signal for yourself.
SpectroGraph is rather different, with a real‑time sonogram display showing up to three seconds of audio. You can display either the Left or Right stereo channel, or Both, and the frequency band can be either Full (0 to 20kHz) or Low (0 to 1kHz). Audio scrolls from right to left in the main graphic area, with low frequency content across the bottom and high across the top, while the spectrum of colours plotted indicates relative levels from low (blue) to high (red). A more traditional mini spectrum analyser appears to the right of the main display.
So much information is displayed that it can be confusing at first, but once you learn how to use the Level Masking fader to assign colours to specific parts of the dynamic range, it becomes a great tool to help isolate specific audio problems. For instance, continuous types of interference such as DC, hums or whistles appear as continuous horizontal lines — it's not always possible to see such information with a spectrum analyser, especially when it occurs at low levels, but it's comparatively easy using the Low bandwidth setting of SpectroGraph. A tool like this can also spot defects in optical soundtracks or old archive recordings, and I also found it ideal to analyse the effects of Spectraliser.
Overall the Mastering Edition bundle is comprehensive and versatile, and is also considerably cheaper than buying the three individually available plug‑ins. Moreover, the most important feature for mastering is sound quality, and here there are no disappointments. Martin Walker