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I know people tend to shy away from the 'all-in-one' mastering "solutions", and rightfully so; I guess they're kind of like the 'miracle elixers' that cure all ailments. Nothing but snake-oil. But I'm curious of your thoughts on the newest version of T-racks. (T-Racks3) I'm not considering to use it, but I've been reading some buzz on it and wonder how you guys are feeling about it. And also thought the forum needed a little kick-start.
Are their any good points to using it? Would a professional sound engineer ever be caught using it?
Guess I've always been under the impression that previous versions were mainly used by non/semi-pro's.
Glenn
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Glenn,
I haven't heard the newest one, has it been out for a while? I seem to remember 3 being out for a bit now. I'm not sure too many people would use it in a 'pro' situation or not. It's definitely marketed to the more semi pro/amateur sector though. From what I experience it was fairly colored sounding, which can work but for general mastering not always the most flexible choice. I will give it a look though and see what I think.
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http://www.ikmultimedia.com/t-racks/features/
I think it was released the middle of last month. At the very least, they've upped the interface a bit. Good looking there.
G
![[Image: 01.jpg]](http://www.ikmultimedia.com/t-racks/picts/moreinfo/01.jpg)
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I found it to be very good for master out, Im not very experienced so I tried a few presets for master and so far so good! , did you download the demo jesse?
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Oh ok that is definitely a new version for me then. I will take a listen to the demo. Regarding presets for mastering these really can't apply. Mastering is all about analyzing each song on it's own and making very specific adjustments based on those observations. I can imagine a mastering preset making a track louder brighter and bassier but all those effects need to be tailor made per track, especially concerning eq adjustments (compression you can get away with a bit more with using presets).
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Medway Wrote:Oh ok that is definitely a new version for me then. I will take a listen to the demo. Regarding presets for mastering these really can't apply. Mastering is all about analyzing each song on it's own and making very specific adjustments based on those observations. I can imagine a mastering preset making a track louder brighter and bassier but all those effects need to be tailor made per track, especially concerning eq adjustments (compression you can get away with a bit more with using presets).
well, I tried presets and of course I had to tweak the eq and compressor and limiter. I tried the presets, tweaked and got very pleasant results. I have all sonnox plug ins and I usually use the Dynamics and limiter at the master out, but Im getting hot level "in a good way" , when I put the T-racks master presets in the chain.
if you try the demo Jesse let me know what you think.
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Yes will surely try it and let you know.
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Ok installed it and had a quick look around. Wasn't expecting the Pultec to be in there so that will be interesting as I'm still debating on getting a real Pultec sometime in the future.. I did notice that the plugin clips internally even with the last output chain block turned off. I cranked the gain on the Pultect and noticed the internal meter clipping, along with the audio, even though I had my fader down in the DAW. This is unusual as normally a plug won't clip like that, perhaps this is on purpose, will have to check the manual to see.
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Medway Wrote:Ok installed it and had a quick look around. Wasn't expecting the Pultec to be in there so that will be interesting as I'm still debating on getting a real Pultec sometime in the future.. I did notice that the plugin clips internally even with the last output chain block turned off. I cranked the gain on the Pultect and noticed the internal meter clipping, along with the audio, even though I had my fader down in the DAW. This is unusual as normally a plug won't clip like that, perhaps this is on purpose, will have to check the manual to see.
clipping issue aside, what were the results and impression you got of it?
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Figured out the clipping issue, there is a setting to tell it to clip at 0db or keep it at floating point.
I've only just had a quick listen and tried it briefly on a mastering session today. The pultec seemed to do the job on the low end but I'd need to compare it to some other emu's that do similar to see if it's offering anything special there. The brickwall limiter seems interesting as you can really slam it and it doesn't get crunchy, flattened but soft.
For an all out mastering solution I have the feeling it will probably be too coloured for the bulk of my work. But I can see maybe some of the modules will be useful in certain situations.
On the bad side I did read a lot of people having issues with it performance wise. I did notice SX pausing when I went back and forth between some soloed tracks which seemed to be caused by it.
Overall though I know that in order to make valid judgements on a plugin I've really got to put it through it's paces along with some critical listening tests. I have a feeling though it will be like most plugins of this nature, useful in some cases where you need a specific sound.
When I get some more time with it I will let you know further thoughts.
