Mastering with Cubase SX

[antilog]

Does anyone do their final stereo preparations in Cubase SX? I used to use Cubase for tracking and mixing, and Wavelab for finalizing the 2-tracks, but no longer have access to Wavelab. I am going to dive into figuring out a good work flow for mastering in Cubase SX3 (working with what I have), but I was just wondering if anyone does this regularly.

Thanks

[T-rex]

I have Nuendo and I do all the actual mastering work with that using mostly waves plugs. Now when I say mastering, I am just talking about my band's music or local artists who don't have the budget to send it off to a real mastering lab, which I always recommend. Anyway, I usually line up each fully mixed song on it's own stereo track, all starting at 0:00:00 time. I work with each song individually, using plug in's to get the songs sounding good. Then I mute and unmute track by track to make sure the levels sound even and everything has the same character. I also take care of cleaning up any intros or song endings, if necessary.

Lastly, I use Sony CD Architect to sequence the album and burn the final CDR. It's inexpensive and very intuitive. I would love to have wavelab but I had CD architect before Nuendo so I have stuck with it, and hey that's more cash for mic's!

Anyway, hope some of that helps.

[antilog]

Thanks! Great idea about putting each song on its own track, then muting/unmuting to check relative energy levels. I was running analyses in Wavelab (when I had access to it), compressing (leveling+limiting) to get the "numbers" close, listen to the songs on disc or in winamp, then tweak levels from there. Your idea in Cubase sounds much easier and natural.

I look forward to trying it out, as I have a project that is nearing that stage.

[T-rex]

Great Man! Glad that was helpful.

One last thing: I usually use the "x" mute tool as the cursor. I mute all tracks by clicking on the waves and then unmute them one at a time. It's much easier then clicking on each tracks individual Mute button. Plus you can't accidentally unmute all the tracks at once which can be a disaster if you are checking at a medium or loud volume! Ten tracks playing at once is no good for your monitors or your ears.

Good luck with it.