Audio Media

America’s top mastering engineers have extremely defined opinions on the best equipment for delivering master-quality audio.

Interested in what DAWs, converters, EQs, compressors, speakers and amps were making the grade in 2002, Audio Media checked in with some select mastering engineers. While everyone polled agreed that the music and their listening abilities were key components in the process, there was an equal consensus that their audio tools are crucial to getting great results.

"A big part of a good mastering engineer is your choice of equipment," says Bernie Grundman. "You’ve got to have the kind of equipment that you feel will give you what you want when you’re looking for something. Equipment has always been a big thing with me, to such a degree that we build our own."

"If you don’t have the upper-echelon gear, people don’t want to even talk to you about the big projects," notes Mark Christensen, founder of the new NYC facility Engine Room. "Having good ears and knowing what you want to accomplish are the main things, but there’s obviously a big difference between mastering on a Pro Tools rig and doing it in a fully-outfitted facility."

As the final stop in the audio production process before duplication, a mastering suite is the ultimate high-stakes listening environment, meaning that EQs, compressors and other units specifically built for mastering are held up to a higher standard. "I call them the audiophiles of the pro industry," says EveAnna Manley of Manley Laboratories. "Mastering engineers keep us on our toes. If we can please them with our professionalism, precision and sonic performance, then everyone else will be happy."

According to Michal Jurewicz of Mytek Digital, there are two key qualities that will differentiate a piece of gear purpose-built for mastering, as opposed to tracking or mixing. "Sound quality and precision," he states. "This comes down to audiophile circuit design or, for example, detented potentiometers that a mastering EQ would have. This dictates design requirements – mastering gear is much more expensive and has more "professional" functionality."

The Deal With DAWs

Systems from SADiE and Sonic Solutions predominate in the digital audio workstation area. Christensen had several reasons, besides just sound quality, in selecting the SADiE 24/96 DAW for Engine Room. "Most of the pros I spoke with said that SADIE’s tech support was stellar, which I found to be true," he says. "I also like that it’s a proprietary system; they utilize Windows, but all Windows does is drive the graphics. A lot of the purist guys -like Bob Katz and Bob Ludwig – have talked about how accurate SADiE is, and from what I could determine, it really was the most pure in terms of number crunching."

At Classic Sound Mastering, Joe Lambert uses both the new SonicStudio HD (now a product of Sonic Studio LLC) and the more established Sonic Solutions USP system. "I’m really happy with the HD, although most of what I do is done in the analog

From Signal to Aural

The selection of monitors and amps are especially crucial in making each mastering environment work. "For any engineer, it’s really about the confidence you have in what you’re hearing and knowing how it’s going to sound wherever you go," points out Lambert, who monitors via Duntech Sovereign 2001 speakers powered by Cello Performance amps. "When I’m listening in that room, if the low end sounds light, I know it is light and that it’s not a weakness or shortcoming in the speaker."

Constantly-updated Tannoy speakers transmit the audio information to Bernie Grundman’s ears. "They’re vintage Tannoy speakers that we recone and refurbish," he says. "We build our own crossovers and cabinets for our speakers, as well. We want them to be neutral; we don’t want to hype the clients with a lot of sizzle and buzz. Everything is powered with Crown BC300 amps, which are hard to find. We haven’t found anything better – they’re very simple and that’s probably why they sound so good."

Mark Christensen felt he took a gamble by putting Genelec 1031A self-powered speakers in his suite, but he’s happy to report it paid off. "That was a leap of faith," he says. "We used them because John Storyk designed the room around them. I had trepidation about using them as mastering monitors, but when I turned them on I was instantly convinced. In the context of this space, they do their job magnificently. I actually can’t tell you what they sound like, because in this room they disappear completely."

With the explosion of new incoming formats to deal with, as well as the gradual onset and accommodation of 5.1 surround, the learning curve of today’s mastering engineers keeps on rising. No matter how complex their jobs and their gear requirements become, however, they’ll continue to be united by a few simple goals.

Serving the Music

"We’re here to serve the music," states Bernie Grundman, "and we should always have our attention focused on the monitors and what the music sounds like. Are we really doing something to improve it, or aren’t we?"

"The challenges are always the same," Steve Marcussen adds. "People want something that sounds good, is aggressive, but not over the top. They define it differently, but people want to look at it as maximizing what’s coming out of those speakers. Every tape has it’s own tale and no two are alike. The rewards come when you get something well preserved down the line. You can get your stamp on something creative – not in the artsy sense, but in the know-how sense."

INFORMATION

Engine Room Mastering: www.engineroomaudio.com

Bernie Grundman Mastering: www.berniegrundmanmastering.com

Classic Sound: www.classicsound.com

Future Disc Systems: www.futurediscsystems.com

Marcussen Mastering: www.marcussenmastering.com

Domain," says Lambert. "The new Sonic is very helpful because it’s so much faster. Sonic has always had a very good edit fade window, which is something I think has always set it apart and it can do complex editing very fast."

Future Disc Systems’ Steve Hall also employs a combination of Sonic Solutions HD and 54. "54 has been the landmark of the mastering industry for some time," he says. They work and they work every day

and we’ve never had a problem with that. The HD was used because it was the road into DVD audio at the time and unfortunately Sonic Solutions had dropped that like a hot potato."

At Bernie Grundman Mastering, the Cube-Tec AudioCube is the DAW of choice, running five of the multi-channel, 24/96 systems at the facility. "It’s a lot more expensive, but it runs a 48k floating point, so it’s a little higher resolution system," he explains. "I look for a DAW that doesn’t have the artifacts of a lot of digital equipment in general, which is a lot of graininess and a lack of detail and depth. Nothing matches the original source perfectly, but we look for whatever gets us closest."

Likewise for Steve Marcussen of Marcussen Mastering: his choice of Sonic Solutions is about the sound, as well as the overall comfort level. "It’s the workhorse we’ve grown to love so much for storage and editing," Marcussen says. "It was a practical decision, but it does sound good."

A Confluence of Converters

When choosing A/D and D/A converters, the engineers polled picked sound as the sole criterion. "The Pacific Microsonics Model 2 is about the best thing I can find out there," Hall says. "There’s no height involved on either end of the spectrum input or output – they’re just neutral sounding. It makes excellent upsamples when I have to go from 48 to 96k. It’s an incredible enhancement when I have to go from 16 bit to 24 bit."

Steve Marcussen’s ears led him to the Prism Sound Dream ADA-8 converters. "We did a lot of blindfold testing and it was the converter that could conclusively be picked 80% of the time," he reports. "They seem to be extremely solid, with great image, attack and low level information."

Lambert also makes heavy use of the Prism Sound Dream in his suite. "I’ve always thought the low end extension on it was amazing and it can bring in many different sample rates," he states. "If I’m coming out of digital, what I usually do is convert that to analog and go through the analog console. We have different converters – a separate Prism, an Apogee, Mytek and they all sound great."

At Engine Room, Christensen uses a combination, including the Apogee PSX-100 with special edition chip, Crane Song HEDD, as well as the converters inside his WAVES L2 Ultramaximizer 48/96. "There’s nothing that sounds like Apogee – they just sound amazing," he says. "I’m using Apogee as a final conversion before the Genelecs and they’re very present, very rock and roll. The Crane Songs tend to be a little less strident. I don’t want to say warm, but they’re warm."

Grundman employs dB Technologies boxes, with a few modifications. "First we picked what we felt was best sounding on the market, then we rep!aced the power supplies," says Grundman. "The dB’s sound more natural, with less of that mechanical edge. We want something that sounds musical."

Tweaking the Frequencies

When it comes time for EQ, every engineer was passionate about what he put his hands on. "I dig the Manley Massive Passive," Christensen says. "I think it’s unbelievable. It’s semi-Pultec design gives you some bizarre shelving curves and weird shapes that you don’t get with other EQs."

"For analog work I use the George Massenburg labs 9500 mastering EQ, as well as a Sontec 430, which is hurting because it’s about 20 years old," says Steve Hall. "When the Sontecs are working right, nothing sounds better, you can’t turn a knob without making some improvement. Digitally, I’m using the Weiss EQ1-MK1, which, with its sonic transparency and flexibility, is the most amazing EQ I’ve heard."

Lambert has Sontec, Manley Massive Passive, Avalon AD-2077 and Z-Systems z-Q6 EQs at his disposal. "If I’m looking for presence, the Sontec and Avalon are great," he says. "To me, the Sontec is very precise and the Avalon feels more like a color."

The Main Squeeze

To get an artist’s work truly radio-ready, a mastering engineer’s relationship with their compressor can often be the magic bullet. "We use Prism and the Manley VariableMu," Classic Sound’s Lambert says. "The Prism is very subtle sounding. You can do some fairly aggression compression and it has a very natural – not so much of a sound – but you hear what it’s doing. The Manley has a very specific feel to me. Hitting the input is like hitting the input of a half-inch machine. You can really tell the difference on how hard you hit the transformers on the input. It does a great job of gluing a song together."

At Engine Room, Christensen mainly puts on the squeeze via his Tube-Tech SMC 2A multi-band compressor. "It’s one of those pieces where, even if all functions are turned off, the Class A tube circuitry makes it a great-sounding piece," he says. "In my opinion it’s the best multi-band compressor out there. I also have the Manley LA-2A type Electro Optical-leveling amplifier if I really need to squash the crap out of something – if people want to hear it pumping, it’s good for that."

"Digitally, I’m using the Weiss DS1MK2," says Steve Hall. "It’s quite remarkable: It’s a compressor, expander and limiter. I can do a good amount of my EQ-ing and textural coloration with that box by changing attack and release times, as well as ratios. It’s my number one weapon of choice."

In his search for the perfect compressor, Grundman chose to manufacture his own. "We’re not looking for an effect in mastering," he points out, "we’re working on a complex signal. It’s hard to get an effect in mastering without destroying something else, so we’re looking for something transparent that will give us the kind of levels that the competition demands."