How common is it to rely on sound-goodizers on master?

[soundmodel]

How common is it to rely on sound-goodizers on master?

E.g. https://www.beatskillz.com/shop/slam2/

I don't know, but I've noticed that these sort of plug-ins at least sometimes make getting a clearer master very easy. But they won't obviously polish bad mixes. But they seem like they can do a world difference vs manual EQ or comp on the master sometimes.

Something in me says that I shouldn't be using such to get a good sound though.

Although, as long I am not adding time-dependent stuff, then I should be okay, right?

But e.g. like the Slam2 page says:

SLAM2 is designed to hide the complex and great-sounding processing behind the scenes and present a simple and inspiring Interface that is very intuitive and has all controls needed to “Phatten” Channel, Drums, Vocals, Synths, or an entire mix with just a few controls. Behind this simple interface lies very very complex processing.

So maybe I am just right in being lazy if I use such tool.

The way this plug-in does add phat is half-magical though, and even if it was doable manually, I speculate that it'd be quite difficult.

[cdbaksu]

I use Softube's Drawmer S73 and don't know what I've been doing with my life before I got it.

[ChanceB]

I use ozone on the master if that counts. I also have Infected Mushrooms Pusher which is I guess one of these types of plugins annd it actually works pretty good on the master but I’d probably stick to using these types on a buss. I guess it doesn’t really matter if it sounds good

[soundmodel]

I use Softube's Drawmer S73 and don't know what I've been doing with my life before I got it.

Yes, this one is good too, but more traditional warmer.

[Ah_Dziz]

If they work for you there's nothing wrong with them at all. Ideally one learns what a "sound goodizer" is doing and then learns how to achieve these things earlier in the signal path of in alternative ways for the inevitable situation where your "sound goodizer" isn't doing what you want.

I use a light multi and compressor into a dynamic eq into a light full spectrum compressor I to a clipper when I'm working on a job where I'm constantly turning in tracks that will receive little to no further attention (tv scoring etc.). I always send the unprocessed master as well in case the mix engineer needs further flexibility. The only other time I put much of anything on my master while writing and arranging is for some specific instrumental styles where a heavily processed sound is a huge part of the composition.

[harddaysnight]

idk how common it is but if it works for you, who cares how often other people do it?

[andymcbain]

idk how common it is but if it works for you, who cares how often other people do it?

+1 , if you like what it's doing to your mixes, then use them.

[Ploki]

I do a lot of mastering for living

And while i keep a fairly clean chain usually no more than 5-6 processors, i sometimes slap OTT @ 15% or Satin. I even shipped a master with Volcano3 (allpass filter)

[osiris]

Why would you put Soundgoodizer when it's just a stripped version of Maximus?

[diroxe7660]

+1 for OTT style plugins at low depth settings

[soundmodel]

I honestly don't understand what people did before SLAM2. It's magical.

It can give e.g. the sound of a high-end analog master (you know the depth and the smoothness of basses and snappy, but non-piercing highs).

I don't know what they did before these types of plug-ins.

Any other plug-ins? Or ideas regarding how would one mix if one wanted to emulate what the plug-ins do?

I read that a lot of it has to do with push-pull type of EQ (you peak up the nice part, while reducing the bad part) with cleverly placed frequency-dependent tube-style distortions.

But it sounds nothing like just EQ + Scream 4, the SLAM2 just gives much more 3Dness. Maybe they just knew really well where to place their filters.

[Ancientbehemoth]

I do a lot of mastering for living

And while i keep a fairly clean chain usually no more than 5-6 processors, i sometimes slap OTT @ 15% or Satin. I even shipped a master with Volcano3 (allpass filter)

+1 for all pass filter(s). It is kind of a secret sauce. Can give analog style dimensionality and depth to a master. Who would have thought flipping the phase around arbitrary frequency can be magical.
It's a secret to everybody so don't say anything. Shhh

[camsr]

+1 for all pass filter(s). It is kind of a secret sauce. Can give analog style dimensionality and depth to a master. Who would have thought flipping the phase around arbitrary frequency can be magical.
It's a secret to everybody so don't say anything. Shhh

Maybe, or maybe a secret waste of time

[BONES]

I use Softube's Drawmer S73 and don't know what I've been doing with my life before I got it.

I feel the same way about FireCobra and STA Enhancer. They are pretty much the first things I add to any project, so all my production work runs through them from the start of a project. (The very first thing I add to a project is a brick-wall limiter.)

As for your weapon of choice, Beatskillz stuff was the first of these kinds of plugins I started using regularly, although in our 32 bit days we did tend to use You-Wa-Shok! in the master channel a bit. As he released newer iterations of them, I diligently upgraded my Beatskillz plugins but once I found FireCobra I completely lost interest in the Beatskillz stuff. Then I discovered STA Enhancer and found that it worked really well with FireCobra so that and Studio One's limiter have been my master effects chain for our last two albums and we never sounded half as good without them.

[swilow11]

I use ozone on the master if that counts. I also have Infected Mushrooms Pusher which is I guess one of these types of plugins annd it actually works pretty good on the master but I’d probably stick to using these types on a buss. I guess it doesn’t really matter if it sounds good

Pusher does make things almost always sound "better" but as is common with most multi band FX, does funky stuff to phase. That said, throwing it on a simple saw psytrance bass instantly creates the phase rotation smearing typical of modern psybass.