mettelus

As always, the upgrades from iZotope are hit and miss, depending on where you last upgraded (this one goes back to MPS 4). JRRShop actually has this split out after purchase (when you get redemption codes) into "MPS 5.1" and "GR 6 Pro" separately, which is something to be mindful of. If you already have 5.1, you are just buying another copy of it.

I do not think you can in Melodyne itself, or at least I have never seen it. Melodyne uses ARA and reversing is a clip function. It would probably be simplest to copy the audio to a new track to reverse in CbB and then do any edits to that isolated copy/clip.

On 2/28/2023 at 5:59 PM, msmcleod said:

Also check your low frequencies - there could be a bunch of low level information in some tracks that are inaudible, but pushing the signal to peak.

I find putting a high pass filter on most of my tracks solves this... just move the frequency up until you just hear a difference, then back it off again slightly.  Doing it at the track level means you get rid of far more of the frequencies you don't need.

Not sure if you checked this or not, but the most POWER in audio is at the low end. This advice is definitely good practice to consider.... even if you reduce the low end to mix the rest and add it back before mastering.

Nicely confusing for sure. After years of iZotope's site showing every upgrade in my loyalty offers, then a few showing nothing at all, it is back to showing everything with no details (all either "upgrade" or "loyalty offer") without prices. I had to add them all to cart to read them, then delete them all. My last purchase was MPS 4 and GR 6 was still outstanding for me, so this one was was worth it, but YMMV depending where in the "upgrade train" you are.

BIAB has its own learning curve, and you can always upgrade it. It may be more prudent to get a simpler version and see if you take to the software before jumping into the deep end with it. It has no trial/demo version since 2009 IIRC.

3 hours ago, bitflipper said:

so if this is a one-off situation you could just use the trial.

^^ I forgot to mention this previously, but I believe iZotope RX, Adobe Audition, and Steinberg SpectraLayers all have functional trials, but RX has the most painless method to remove the software afterwards.

Side note: It is good practice to record an ambient lead in/out on tracks just in case noise reduction is needed. That way you will always have an ambient sample embedded into the track for post-production of the full frequency spectrum, especially if doing something like recording old songs from magnetic tape into a DAW.

If this is a one-off situation, another option is to post the file on Dropbox or similar and share that link to for folks here who have RX or Audition to do the noise reduction for you. You can share such via Private Message if preferred as well.

[You replied after typing this, but the proprietary software is worth noting just in case for future reference] Gotcha, some laptop manufacturers also have their own proprietary energy management (in addition or in lieu of Windows), which would be another thing to look for specific to your laptop brand. As it happens after a long period, the system is most likely powering off things it sees as idle. A good practice with post-production work is to 1) focus on that only, since other programs may wrestle for resources and 2) Save and closeout work if stepping away.

2 hours ago, Grem said:

And I want that drive to stay lean and clean

Something to also bear in mind with this... if you want to fill up a drive FAST... load audio and video files onto it (why samples and projects are typically on a second drive). Add in temporary/working directories (another thing to point to another drive if a program has the option in preferences), and you will start getting projects/temp files in the GB realm.

As you start chewing up disk space, there are several utilities out there that can show you what is taking up space and where (I use TreeSize Free). Depending how big your C drive is, you will get to a point where you will have to start managing the space on it. For CbB, doing a "Save As..." to another folder will only copy files in use by that project; and if you want to keep the rest just in case, an external drive is a good option if on a laptop, then you can keep only projects being worked on the laptop itself.

^^ There are also numerous products by iZotope, so a specific question for specific software will get user feedback to you pretty quickly here. Questions that are too broad will not get responses as often.

Also, iZotope themselves published free Mixing and Mastering guides on their site a long time ago. I think they are still there, but written to older versions (90% of the content is still applicable). It looks like they also converted some of those pdfs into web pages now (https://www.izotope.com/en/learn/how-to-mix-music.html#:~:text=1 Step 1%3A Calibrate your ears 2 Step,Incorporate automation 6 Step 6%3A Finish the mix). Don't overlook perusing their site for usage as well based on product/task you have questions with.

I highly suspect that you have sleep settings enabled on your computer. Windows is wonky about sleep settings enabled in any way (do not trust them). If you type "Power and Sleep Settings" into Windows search, having the screen go off is fine (to a setting of your choosing), but the sleep setting should be set to "Never." You can dig deeper into those settings, but never sleeping might solve your issue.

On 2/12/2023 at 8:24 PM, kitekrazy said:

Replaced some system fans so I remove everything and take the computer out on the patio to blow the dust off of it.

This makes me wonder if you disconnected/reconnected things and if one might not be seated properly. Not sure how much you did with this, but it is something to check.

Windows doesn't give a lot of control over assignments like it used to, but you can still remove things in the Device Manager and (without uninstalling drivers) Windows will reassign things on the next cold boot to remove conflicts. Device Manager might also show conflicts for you as well. Sometimes Windows will figure things out on its own after a few cold boots, but I wouldn't rely on that one.

23 hours ago, Lord Tim said:

The biggest 2 things that stick out to me are:

Mastering - this stuff is pumping like crazy, like the bass management hasn't been set up correctly first before it's hit the limiter. This can be traced back to the room issue for a start, but this can be mitigated by better mixing, and then if that hasn't solved it, then better mastering (although everything before that point is always the better choice to sort out first)

Mixing in general - the vocals are getting lost behind a lot of things, both with level and effects. You'll find that your mix might sound great alone but once it's mastered you're changing the balance of the instruments. Things like overheads, guitars, etc. will suddenly seem WAY more prominent in the mix, and things like vocals and anything with a lot of transients like snare and kick will just disappear. Turning those up can work, but it might also make the master pump.  Reverb in general is a little loud, and that'll be further exacerbated by mastering effects changing the balance. And I think the last thing is I'm not hearing a lot of clean ups in between phrases, and all of those little noises, hums, hisses, thuds, etc. all add up once they're all blended together.

^^^^ Before this gets lost in all on the other hub bub, step back and take a look at what Lord Tim said here and focus on this. I am 2 tracks in reading this thread and the individual tracks are not the issue for me either, it is how they are mixed. When things are introduced, they are often 3-6dB, then backed off if they repeat. The vocals are too hidden. On the third track, the drums/rhythm guitar dominate (giving the pumping effect with the FX settings used).

A suggestion would be to take the original tracks (make a new project by doing Save As to another folder), remove FX chains and focus first on balancing tracks and using automation to bring them into focus, then settle in the background. I did not hear a lot of frequency conflicts, but tailoring each track to only pass forward the necessary frequency content is good practice as well. On an individual track it won't cause issues, but when combining tracks you will hear it (why synths are something to be mindful of, since they can and often do cover the entire spectrum unless reined in). Moving instruments to the sides will also help with these conflicts (many things are too centered, and that is often best reserved for things in focus). Motion on the sound stage is a dynamic that is often overlooked (pans, fades, etc.), which is something to think about.

There is no reason why you cannot. It really comes down to preference, system limitations, and how you do backups. You can still pull data faster from multiple sources (even SSDs), but the speed of an SSD would make that minimal (also system dependent). My reason is I keep my C drive small for imaging purposes (the only drive I image), so I have a lot of directory junctions to other drives (even programs, since another SSD is faster than the C on my machine).

For most laptops, options are limited for number of drives, so focusing on one isn't a bad thing. Just bear in mind that SSDs typically do not give warning for failure, so be sure to backup data regularly (reading them does not damage them as much as writing to them does).

Helix Native used to be a freebie for owning Floor (or Rack), but when I just checked Line 6's site I got a 404 error clicking that box near the top ("Helix Native for Helix owners"). It is worth asking them about if you do not already have it.

Depending on how detailed you want to get with IR tweaking, there are free ones all over the place. A couple good sets are God's Cab (MESA, there are a few others on that page), and Acoustic IRs (especially if recording off a piezo pickup).

Good point! I have only seen lasers used in precision manufacturing for electronics, so never really thought of that. The StewMac video I saw was sort of depressing to see since the gaps between the inlays and the fretboard were big enough that Dale actually used a fretboard shaving to fill one of them.

The mica powder is recommended to use 5g per gallon or so of epoxy, and even the starter kit I got is 240g (24 colors). Pretty much any flat surface is easily doable since it self levels... not sure if a fretboard would be as easy, but the epoxy will overfill without running onto a dry surface, so can sand that down. So many videos of tables and countertops being done. I have an antique butcher block that saw a lot of use (nice big 1" deep cleaver crater on one side), plus the previous owner got stains on it. I always wanted to redo that so now thinking epoxy will not only fill it but make the top perfectly level (and is good for cutting surfaces too). This will be interesting to play with once the epoxy gets here.

You'll appreciate this. The very first crude search I did (forget the exact terms used now) returned two different Alembics with custom inlays on them.

That search quest left me baffled in a way, because there are videos from StewMac showing how to epoxy fill the GAPS around an inlay, but not doing the inlay with epoxy. Both the inlay and pockets in that video were done with a CNC machine (can't get more precise than that), yet it still had the edge gaps I do not like. Another big difference with epoxy is adding vibrant color via the mica powder rather than just variations of white.

The mica powder and carving tools came already, but the epoxy will take a couple of weeks. I can get test carvings done at least in the mean time at least. 

For the past year I have been pondering how best to do a custom inlay. To get a machined fit requires excessive time (and precision), so I pondered permanent vinyl for a bit (easiest), but want the inlay effect. It wasn't until a few days ago that it occured to me that an inlay doesn't need to be hard until it is complete, so started to look at liquid options. Lo and behold, mica powder (either opaque or semi-transparent) is used in a truckload of crafts with clear epoxy (some of which are downright gorgeous), but not many hits out there for guitar inlays. Inlays with gaps around them bother me, so a liquid solution would solve that since only the edge of the wood will matter. I just ordered some opaque mica powder, expoxy and fine carving tools to give this a go but was curious if anyone had seen this done before?

I have had a hankering for carving a guitar over the past several years, so this side project may explode in scope.

It is a massive decision point on what to do with the band after the loss of a member (whether to pack it up or continue). You already mentioned AC/DC, but for folks who lived through listening to Back In Black for the first time after Bon Scott's death... we were highly critical yet amazed. A portion of the credit for that album needs to go to Mutt Lange though (the album was done over just 7 weeks in the Bahamas!).

Or could take the model Melda uses where revenue is from new sales rather than soaking loyal customers. It is far easier to get an existing customer to shell out more money than to convince a new customer to buy a product (what started Adobe with their hostage tactics).

The internet and electronic delivery has inserted a complacency of software release with bugs without much thought because fixes are easily distributed. Some systems do not have that luxury, most recent example would be an idiot shutting down all flights in the US.

I would try and send them another email. When I had my 8 fiasco last year (and no response), that affected my 9 upgrade. Greg (from support) was the guy who responded about 9 and sent an email with all the codes (only work required was in the eLicenser). He had also sent an eLicenser helper executable link (I downloaded anyway, but didn't use... it pops up a "only use this if instructed to by support"). Greg sent me the two activation codes I needed, and the last part was simply reopening 9, refreshing the activation manager popup and activating it (again). It was night and day for me for support from them. I am assuming that your situation is to rebuild your eLicenser file so it will take the upgrade code (what I think that helper executable is for), so I would try a separate ticket with them and tell them your eLicenser is not showing products you own so you cannot upgrade and need the eLicenser fixed.

I used Macrium Reflect (free version) when I updated my C Drive. What I needed most was to resize the Recovery Partition (defaulted to 500MB and I was using 495MB of it; I upped that to 1GB during the clone). Your primary partition will also need to be resized to use up the remainder of the new drive. This video walks through every step for that (why it is a little long), including partition changes. The clone was pretty much connecting both drives, do your work, then shutdown and swap the original out.

8 hours ago, Brian Walton said:

Only way to get all future plugins at no additional future cost is the bundle though.  That is the theoretical advantage of going all in.  

The bundles also go up in cost over time as well, so the cost to on-board keeps going up with new additions. I think the MCompleteBundle is roughly $200 more on sale than when I got it (had 99 plugins at that time).

Also bear in mind that a number of multi-band plugins have free counterparts. I made an Excel spreadsheet years ago on that and didn't count the single-band ones since they are essentially dupes. Depending on personal usage, the instruments are the most expensive and one may or may not get full use from them.

Another thing to check is what plugins you are using. Delay compensation may not be accurate depending on what FX are active. When recording audio tracks into a fairly robust mix, it is often best to globally bypass FX (E hotkey) during tracking and only use FX during the mixing phase. Check and see if the E hotkey (Global FX bypass) helps your situation.