Which Tool Is More Useful?

I am preparing to buy something new to improve the mixing and mastering of my music.

I am deciding between either iZotope Ozone 6, or I will invest in some speakers. The problem is this:

First of all, I know how important speakers are to mixing, however if I buy them now, I probably won't be able to afford ones worth buying and will have to invest again along the line.

Also, I own a pair of Audio Technica ATH-M50's, and I know headphones aren't great for mixing and mastering, but they're the best around.

I'm asking which product it would be best to buy in my situation? Are speakers REALLY so necessary, or if I bought Ozone and had my headphones, would I still be able to get a great mix and master? I'm not looking for absolute perfection obviously, just a step towards more professional levels.

Also - just in case - I use Ableton Live 9 Standard, and if you could suggest anything other than Ozone or Speakers, that would be interesting. I know I can master with the plug-ins from Ableton, but Ozone is so highly rated. Thanks in advance :)

Hey mate. Great question, glad you gave some detail, it makes it easier to offer help :)

So it looks like here are your options:

• Audio Technica ATH-M50 headphones <----> studio monitors
• iZotope Ozone 6 <----> Ableton plugins

Of those, in my opinion you can more easily get Ozone's functionality with Ableton's plugins than you can replicate good monitors with headphones.

It would be helpful to know what your budget is for studio monitors. Have you seen this guide? It came out recently, and looks at the best budget options for monitors: http://equipboard.com/posts/top-5-studio-monitors-for-home-studios

Can you speak to what exactly you think your mastering is currently missing? I think that would help in making more recommendations. The reason I think that's an important question is because iZotope Ozone 6 might educate you more on the mastering process... but I'm not sure that the software alone will magically improve mixing/mastering towards "more professional levels". Don't get me wrong, Ozone is a fantastic package and is widely used, and the appeal (I think) is that it feels like you have a very cohesive set of tools that work well together. Not to mention their graphical interface is one of the best (which can help with workflow).

The guys and gals at iZotope were also clever and made a comprehensive PDF which teaches you about mastering step by step, using Ozone of course as the tool. I read through it once and it was super helpful. Find the PDF here: https://www.izotope.com/en/support/support-resources/guides/ozone-6

See that's the problem; i'm not really too sure what it's missing :')

In terms of creativity and the music and melodies and sounds, i'm happy with what I do. I just don't know much about mastering.

I know it sounds kind of silly, but first of all I want to make the music a bit louder. After making more complex sessions i've noticed when comparing my music to artists I like, it's far quieter than theirs.

But also, I want to just understand it more in general, so i'll read that PDF.

My budget isn't great. At the moment i'm not exactly sure how much I have, but a price range from about £200-300 at a push is probably the best I can manage right now.

But if I understand you correctly, you are saying it is more worth buying studio monitors, because Ableton plugins are good enough to master with themselves?

Thanks :)

Oh also, I want to include mixing into this question too; I feel like technically i'm just not that aware.

I listen to my songs, and I feel like they sound alright and things are balanced and I like how it sounds, but I compare it to other tracks and it just isn't nearly as loud.

Is this a problem with my mixing, mastering or both do you reckon?

Apologies; I should have been clearer. When I said "they're the best around" I meant in terms of my budget as well as simply quality. I understand they aren't the absolute best, but for my budget I believe they are.

I don't claim at all to be an expert in any of this though.

I have tried FabFilter and I would certainly consider their plugins over Ozone.

Yes I know I'd also need an audio interface; the price just keeps racking up! But I understand that it would certainly be worth it in the long run.

So are you suggesting I simply ignore reviews or lists saying which monitors are better and just judge myself? The only problem I see with that is my lack of expertise; i'm not 100% sure what i'm looking for. But thank you for the input :)

UPDATE:

I have about £300-£400 as a budget, and I am going to a professional music shop when my exams are over. I'm going to stick with Ableton's plugins, and have been reading some PDFs on mixing and mastering.

Thanks for the input guys :)

Whoa, lots of stuff here to address!

bilge has a point, better to save up to buy some decent equipment. Having said that I don't think you have to go crazy. A Focusrite Scarlett 2i2 for example is a perfectly good, durable, quality interface that should serve you well for a long time. On the monitors front, even though these are billed as "budget" I don't think you can go wrong with any of them. The Yamahas are great. Just look at how many pro producers make amazing music with the Scarlett 2i2 and HS8s.

I think in terms of your learning, one of the key things you said is this: "I want to make the music a bit louder. After making more complex sessions i've noticed when comparing my music to artists I like, it's far quieter than theirs."

Producers look at this several ways**, but from what I've seen it's an issue with your mixing. To get a track to sound LOUD like the pros, it's usually a sign that your mixing has a ways to go - more specifically, EQing. There have been countless articles, tutorials, and videos on this, so I won't rehash them here. This awesome article called "Thinking out of the box" explains EQing in a way that makes it easy to grasp. Enjoy!

http://www.dnbscene.com/article/88-thinking-inside-the-box-a-complete-eq-tutorial

**Laidback Luke for example produces straight into his mastering chain, and whether this is good or not is a hotly debated topic. My personal opinion is that that's an advanced technique, and if you're gonna do it, you better know your tools well and how each one is shaping your original sound!

Thanks; I think for buying the monitors and interface I'm just going to take my budget into a professional shop and see what is available.

As for mixing and mastering; thanks for the guide I will have a look at that later. If anyone has any more reading material (I have the mixing and mastering PDFs from Izotope) or particularly good video tutorials then I would appreciate them. I will compile then and read them inbetween exams.

I think I would agree; after asking about my mastering I also realised that my mixing is well off too; I have a few things I'd like to ask simply whether these are generally mistakes or not (I know there is no right and wrong, but I'm your opinion would changing these be better?):

All of my individual track faders are lowered by 6db to create headroom at the end of production.

I mostly use additive EQ rather than subtractive.

I have a high cut on everything except sub and kick (I've read a LOT that this is the right thing to do.)

And this is something I'm most interested in: the style of music I create tends to use a lot of large reverbs and delays, creating quite a dreamy spacey feel. I don't want to lose that feel of my music, however does using long reverb and delay tails make it significantly harder to mix music? If so, any ideas on how I could help myself?

Thanks :)

Correct me if i'm wrong: you don't have to be a mastering engineer to need to master your music, do you? Electronic music does also need mastering, even if it's not as good as a professional engineer.

Having said that, I know I have problems with both mixing and mastering; I said that in my last point.

I also understand you are saying that fixing my mixing is more important than mastering and would make a greater difference, but rather than just saying i'm wrong - because I know I'm not an expert or even slightly knowledgable in this topic, and I am asking for help and advice - I would appreciate any resources on how I can actually improve.

I appreciate the benefits of critical advice but at the same time, I would appreciate knowing what could be done to improve.

thejameskellymusic, spacem8, and bilge, you inspired us to post this article!

http://equipboard.com/posts/mixing-tips

Haha I found this on Facebook first, read it and instantly knew it had come from this forum post. Thanks so much! :D

Ended up buying a pair of Yamaha HS7's today, and a Focusrite 2i2 USB Interface, so i'll be using those soon, and i've done plenty of reading on mixing and intend to learn more and practise myself once my studio is set up.

Thanks for the input from everyone :)

A decent pair of Studio Monitors is a MUST. No exceptions, no substitutions.

I own a pair of JBL LSR305's and love them. They are the bottom of the line for JBL's production line and still very well worth the cash. I have them going into my studio setup as well as my home theater. They pick up a wide range of frequencies you cant get with headphones and laptop speakers. There are times when noises from a movie or video sound like they happened in the real world. Doorbells for example through these make me check my door quite often.