How do i create master in Cubase sx

[FinnJ]

how do you make a ,master or DAT copy in cubase sx, im getting one of my songs put on a compilation record but they asked for the above , but i`ve never had to make a master or dat before in cubase? how do you go about it?
thanks
john

[Soup Kitchen Studios]

Mastering is the final step in the process of recording a song. It usually involves compression, limiting, and eqing to the stereo mix.

I don't use Cubase, but what you need to do is bounce your multitrack recording to a stereo WAV or AIFF file. Professional mastering is a very difficult & expensive process, but you can do a decent job with some software plugins or all in one units like the TC finalizer.

DAT is the medium in which they're asking you to deliever the song. This will require a DAT machine that records the stereo outs of your soundcard onto a DAT tape. If you don't have a DAT deck, I would ask the record company if it is okay for you to deliever your master on CD-R. If you would like help with mastering, email me and I might be able to give you a hand.

[30yroldpig]

What Dave said. Just so you know though, DAT is Digital Audio Tape.

If there is no bounce option in Cubase, route all your outputs to a stereo (internal) bus and hit record.

Cheers
Pat

[rfb]

There used to be an "export audio" button on the master mixer, in VST, which folowed all your mix automation, mixed down your VSTis, etc, not in real time - handy because it (can be) quicker than running off a mix once you've got everything right, and you can run all the fx and VSTis you want without overloading your machine; it just takes as long as it takes.

I'd be amazed if this weren't still available somewhere in SX, but I'm using VST still so can't say for sure.

- rfb

[Ant711UK]

The export audio function in VST is just a quick 'bounce' to a stereo track including all effects. You still need to run that final mix through some sort of mastering unit to get a pro result in my opinion. I'm waiting for a TC electronics finalizer to appear on ebay for my mastering requirements. A cheap option is the Behringer Ultramizer if you can find one (i think they've stopped producing them now). It depends on how fussy you are at the end of the day.

[Soup Kitchen Studios]

Multiband compressor plugins from companys like Waves and T Racks can be just as effective as their hardware based counterparts. None of these plugins or the hardware that you mentioned are considered "pro" mastering gear. That equipment can run 3k-4k for a single peice of gear.

[30yroldpig]

Originally Posted by Dave Swift

Multiband compressor plugins from companys like Waves and T Racks can be just as effective as their hardware based counterparts. None of these plugins or the hardware that you mentioned are considered "pro" mastering gear. That equipment can run 3k-4k for a single peice of gear.

True but these plug-ins depend on system performance. If you have a weak system, you can easly choke it.

[Soup Kitchen Studios]

Not really. You don't have to run these plugins in real time when you're mastering. So it might take a long time to process if you haven't bought a computer in the last three years (in which case you should anyway..) but it will still work.

[FinnJ]

For the album im submitting to a wav file on a disk will do, thanks for all the help