Comment about demos on site

[olif2004]

Hi there,

I think you are providing a very interesting service & one that I am comtemplating using.

I am therefore listening to some of the demos get a feel for your service.

However, it is difficult to tell how good the mastering is for two reasons:

1. The unmastered/mastered comparisons are at very different relative levels. ie, the mastered portions are much louder. Louder always sounds better, so we can't tell if the mastering has improved the sound or not. I think the relative levels should be matched so that the effect of the mastering is heard instead of just a superficial improvement from being louder.

2. It would be good if there were 10 second flips so one had a chance to really get inside the sound. 5 seconds is not long enough.

I'm sure neither of these issues is a deliberate attempt to mislead, it just seems like a totally fair comparison has not been provided and one is forced to wonder why!

[kcamp]

Olif,

I haved used Lorenz's service and I assure you that
he does not mislead people in any way.
He delivers exactly what he promises.

I think the volume level issue has more to do
with the original recording being at that level.
If XARC were to bring volume levels up to match
those of mastered versions, that wouldn't reflect
the true work that was done on the track.

What you are asking him to do is make a "pre-master,
master" or something like that....

I had him master one of my songs to "test the waters", and he delivered my finished master from start to finish in about 16 hours.

I paid through PayPal and the transaction was flawless

You can hear "Living It Up" at http://www.kevincampbell.net
I posted it on the first page, so it's easy to find.

I will be sending XARC my next CD project in a few weeks, and will let you know how the whole process
flows by posts in this forum.


Lorenz knows mastering in and out and has a definite
no nonsense business attitude. I can't imagine anyone
ever being unhappy with XARC ....

Kevin

[olif2004]

Hi Kevin,

Thanks for the post. The general feel of the website is indeed very professional, and I recognise a couple of my peers on the client list, (plus a lot of repeat business), so definitely get the impression that these guys know what they are doing.

Also, your personal recommedation and defence of Xarc is a good sign! (I will be checking your website in just a moment).

I still feel however, that to make a valid comparison between pre/post mastering in the demo section the relative levels should be equal. If that means taking the master down 5dB to meet the original, then so be it - louder always sounds better - even on unchanged material - and there is a very pronounced volume change between pre & post on those samples. I would love to remove that superficial effect so that a proper comparison of stereo width, EQ, compression could more easily be made.

btw, I put the bit in about being mislead as a bit of a tease, I don't really believe that's the intention.

I wonder what Xarc's opinion on this is? Am looking forward to finding out!

--

Oli
www.olifreke.com

[Lorenz @ XARC Mastering]

Dear Olif2004.

Thanks for taking the time to give feedback, this is always appreciated.

The problem is that most of the people want to hear the complete work I do (showing the original mix (which I also normalize to 0dB in the demos to make the volume difference less) and the master exactly how they were delivered) and others who want to compare at the same volume, which I in any case understand too and which is also covered in the demos section.

However, I am pretty sure I am not misleading anyone with these kind of demos because I think it is easily noticeable how big (apart from the volume changes) the EQ changes are in the demos I´ve selected. For example I would like to mention: http://www.xarcmastering.com/demos/XARC_Mastering-Brides_In_Bloom_-_Push_Comes_To_Shove-Unmastered-Mastered.mp3 and http://www.xarcmastering.com/demos/XARC_Mastering-Soul_Militia_-_Say_It-Unmastered-Mastered.mp3

In addition to these "switching demos", there is also one (containing 3 songs) that should meet your wishes exactly, and that is: http://www.xarcmastering.com/demos/XARC_Mastering-J-Mac!_-_Everything_(3_Tracks)-Before.mp3 and http://www.xarcmastering.com/demos/XARC_Mastering-J-Mac!_-_Everything_(3_Tracks)-After.mp3 which represents a complete CD single before and after the mastering in 2 separate files without any switching. So you have the freedom to listen to both at the exact same level when turning down the volume of your monitoring chain for the mastered version.

I hope you find my reply helpfull and please let me know should you have any other questions.

@kcamp
I thank you very much for your friendly words, this is much appreciated and I am glad to hear we can working together soon again.

Best Regards,
Lorenz Vauck

[olif2004]

Yeah, I totally understand where you're coming from - there's not much point mastering then turning it down 6dB! I still think it makes comparison more tricky on the switching ones, but I did download the J-Macs demo, and am suitably impressed.

I hope to be sending you some work soon!

Oli