EQUIPMENT & SOFTWARE

Software

iZotope Ozone 9 Advanced Mastering, the same mastering software used by Grammy award winning producers like Joe Chiccarelli (Morrissey, U2, The Strokes) & Butch Vig (Nirvana, Smashing Pumpkins), iZotope Tonal Balance Control 2, Steinberg Cubase Professional

 

A-Designs Nail Tube Compressor

The NAIL is one of the most musical yet transparent compressors ever manufactured.   While it has the ability to add character to any sound, it can also control dynamics very subtly in the background, making it ideal for mastering.   While many automated mastering sites deal strictly "in-the-box", we at Qmastering find that breathing analog warmth into your digital master adds that perfect MAGIC that brings your audio to that professional level.

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Yamaha HS80M Active Studio Monitors

Although Yamaha’s ubiquitous NS10 monitor attained almost ‘industry-standard’ status, Yamaha’s HS80M active model has been designed with the intention of offering a flat and true reference.     For mastering purposes, we find the HS80Ms offer an extremely transparent listening experience revealing all the details and nuances necessary to attain a quality master.

 

Yamaha HS8S Powered Studio Subwoofer

The companion Subwoofer for the HS80M’s, This 8” bass-reflex powered subwoofer serves up accurate low frequencies down to 22Hz, so we can hear everything that’s on your recording.  For mastering purposes, it is extremely important to know what is happening in the low end, and oftentimes, mix engineers in both home and professional studios can lose track of the low end information if they can’t hear it properly.

 

Focusrite Scarlett 4i4 3rd Gen

After 30 years of perfecting their products, Focusrite’s 3rd Gen preamps are the best Scarlett has ever created.   The 24-bit/192kHz AD/DA converters ensure that your audio is being converted at the highest possible quality both on the input and output stages.   Focusrite’s acclaimed Air mode provides the coveted Air effect that models the company’s legendary ISA console transformer to give your recordings a brighter, more open sound.   The Focusrite Scarlett 4i4 is an ideal foundation for mastering and other audio applications.

 

Room Treatments

Room treatment is important to create the most accurate listening environment possible.   A mastering engineer needs to be sure that what they are hearing is what will translate into the outside world.    Our mastering suite is treated with Arrowzoom acoustic Panels, which improve acoustic quality by absorbing mid to high range frequencies and diminishing echoes and reverb up to 3/4db.   These panels correct medium to high frequencies (500-8000Hz).   We also use Arrowzoom Bass Traps in all corners of our Mastering Suite to help scatter and diffuse the soundwaves and absorb low range frequencies and diminish echoes and reverb, with a Noise Reduction Coefficient (NRC) of 1.35, treating frequencies (60 - 300Hz).   Last but not least we use a Quadratic Sound Diffuser panel on the rear wall.  This panel scatters sound two-dimensionally and adds a sense of space to sound by uniformly distributing sound energy.   It removes acoustic defects such as echo/fluttering sounds and is essential to any mastering environment where accuracy is paramount.   This QRD Diffuser has a Broadband diffuseness of 410Hz to 24571Hz.

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