A question about Mastering.

What's the difference between having a Project that you add your Mastering plugins as the last plugins on the Main Out, and then Bouncing the Project to your Desktop as a WAV file

Versus

Bouncing the Project to the Desktop as a WAV file, importing the WAV file into LPX, and then Mastering the two track file?

For me it's mainly a psychological effect. It creates a distance between arranging, mixing and mastering.

The session looks different, less cluttered because it focuses only on mastering. Just one track, just a couple plugins.

Soundwise you can get the exact same results.

yep.

also, doing "mastering" on same equipment, room, and on material you wrote, arranged and mixed is pointless.

to that point, you pretty much did everything you thought it needs to be done.

for me, mastering is a 2nd pair of preferably more experienced ears with a good pair of speakers in a good room. (but experience is 1st)

Imo you *grow* into a mastering engineer (if you choose that path). at least good ones

What's the difference between having a Project that you add your Mastering plugins as the last plugins on the Main Out, and then Bouncing the Project to your Desktop as a WAV file

 

Versus

 

Bouncing the Project to the Desktop as a WAV file, importing the WAV file into LPX, and then Mastering the two track file?

If you're using any sample or synth libraries in your main session, different round-robin samples will be triggered every time you play through the session creating different transients making mastering more difficult. A bounced WAV will never change sonically.

I vote for bouncing the file and creating a separate mastering session.

I agree with Ploki, normally mastering is much more efficient when done by someone else in a different studio. But sometimes, budget or time prevents this and you have to do it yourself in your own studio.

It's easier to separate the thought process by bouncing a file and bringing it back in a new session IMO. On top of that it allows workflows that you couldn't have when mastering in the multi-track session, such as cutting up the track and placing different song sections on separate tracks for separate processing (for example more compression during choruses and less during verses).

agreed with both paulcristo and david.

Randomizing reverbs and round robins can be a *pita*.

you can export stems, "stem mastering" is quite popular lately. So you have separate drums, guitars, synths, vocals, whatever, and then you master from stems.

that way you get all the benefits of the master while retaining some of the flexibility (i.e. if vocals jump out on a certain section you dont need to go back and do another mix bounce).

sometimes even two stems vocals + everything else is enough.