Stereo Mastering Gear

V700

Stereo Mastering Gear - some Examples

Stereo Mastering is one of the most important applications for the V700 Audio Module system. Versatile and unique stereo devices offer highest possible sound performance. Here are some examples in brief that demonstrate the versatility and the range of the V700 audio module system for very high quality stereo mastering.

Examples for Audio Front End equipment are here.

V700 Home

Modules Home

Stereo Mastering

Front End Gear

Mounting Frames

Module Housings

Technical Data

History

Pre Amplifiers

Equalizer

Dynamics

MS Units

Distribution Amps

Faders

Pan Pot's

Studio Amp's

Control Room Gear

Metering

Talkback & Oscillators

U796

Stereo Mastering Dynamic Processor

The combination of an extremely fast brick-wall limiter with a versatile compressor that offers a lot of sophisticated features to modify every parameter of the compression in addition to very special features allow inaudible compression rates of far more than 10 dB and a very high loudness gain. Clean and natural sounding transients and a sound character that can be determined by YOUR taste make this unit the best choice for dynamic treatment of any kind of stereo signal. The special control set includes Envelope for low distortion compression of low frequency signals, LT-Int, a second regulation circuitry that adds a leveling component to the regulation, wide range soft knee control, 6 different AC/DC characteristics from very fast peak to soft RMS and Fill to smooth the output signal using hard compression. In addition to the stereo compressor and the limiter, the stereo mastering dynamic processor includes a fully parametric Expander.

W731
M/S Direction Mixer with M/S Equalizer

Apart from the LR to MS conversion, this module offers the regulation of the stereo base width from 0 to 300 %, an elliptic equalizer to maintain the mono compatibility, especially with widened base and a 3 band EQ that is installed in the MS section of the module.

This unique features offers outstanding possibilities for the influence of the spatial image of the signal, as the mono components of the the signal and the spatial components can be controlled by the EQ separately. The improvement in the spatial image of the mix can not be achieved by any other process. The low band of the EQ treats only the mono components of the signal while mid and high band change the spatial image of the stereo program. Actually it is possible to widen or narrow specific frequency bands while the low EQ maintains a stable centered bass fundament. The W731 Direction Mixer is one of the most important stereo mastering devices of the V700 audio module series.

W796
Fully parametric
4-Band Mastering EQ

A center frequency range from 20 Hz to 25 kHz, the gain range of +/- 15 dB, the wide range of the Q control from more than 3 octaves to a third together with excellent tonal qualities make this Vienna Bridge based mastering stereo EQ best suited for subtle repairs as well as global corrections. All bands are designed using adt-audio's Vienna Bridge EQ circuit that offers natural sounding signal treatment in a unique way. The boost / cut ranges of the EQ bands can be determined by the customer. The stereo mastering EQ includes a gain control and a stereo balance control.

W794
Stereo Niveau Filter

While the W796 with its 4 fully parametric bands is best suited for precise corrections and formant enhancement, the Niveau Filter is a mastering tool for global corrections of the high mid low balance of the entire mix. One of the two controls of the niveau filter tilts the frequency response with a well balanced characteric around a center frequency of 800 Hz that remains unchanged. The second control increases or decreases both the high and low range simultaneously. These two controls are well adjusted to maintain the balance of the entire audio band and offer the opportunity to colorize the mix in an appropriate way. In addition there is a sweeped, shelving hi eq with a steepness of 9 dB / oct. that let's you adapt the very high frequencies to the modifications made with the niveau controls. The additonal elliptic EQ maintains the mono compatibility at the low end of the audio band and produces a well centered bass fundatment without affecting the spatial image of the stereo mix.

U781
Dynamic Equalizer

The U781 is a special kind of compressor that does not change the level of the audio signal but controls an equalizer band. The unit offers full control of all parameters of the filter and the side chain and offers several different ways to control the equalizer boost or cut depending on the level of the filtered or unfiltered signal. The dynamic equalizer can be used to highlight formants in a particular frequency range and for soft, global changes of the overall frequency response with wide q-factor settings as well. A typical application is to boost and cut mid range frequencies with vocals, to compensate the different colors of the voice when the loudness of the singer changes.

U794
Harmonic Distortion Generator

Even though the U794 is a dangerous tool since it produces distortion, this unit offers many interesting ways to add interesting colors to a mix where effects like this are appropriate and of advantage. The unit has two global controls for overall 2nd harmonic distortion and 3rd harmonic distortion. While 2nd harmonics distortion adds that kind of distortion that is produced by tube and transistor amplifiers, the 3rd harmonic distortion simulates a transformer of low quality. In addition, there are two stages that use analog multipliers to produce pure 2nd and 3rd harmonics. These stages are combined with high-pass and low-pass filters with wide sweep ranges at the input of the stages that can limit the frequency band where harmonics are produced. A Drive control determines the operation level of the multiplier section. The distortion can be added with a phase shift of 0° or 180°.

V700 Stereo Mastering
the Roots

Almost all the mastering devices of the V700 system are based on construction principles and designs that were developed to integrate mastering features into the master sections of our large format consoles at a time when 'mastering' was just the process of cutting the master disc. The corrections that were made to the mix during this mastering process had not so much to do with an improvement of the quality but with the corrections of problems of the conventional disc cutting process. The elliptic equalizer was one the most important tools in this age, since phase reversed low frequency signals in both stereo channels could blow up the cutting head.

At that time, the mix itself was the final phase of the production were the 100 % original was made and all the rest had only the purpose to maintain the original mix in the best possible way.

Over the years, also caused by other technologies, mastering has become some sort of second mix. The good part of this process is that someone else is involved in the production and will add his own perspective which results in an improvement of the production in many cases. The bad side of mastering is that the mix does not have the ultimate importance anymore. Little errors, mistakes and unresolved problems can (and must) be repaired later. So there is a tendency to work not precisely anymore and to let things pass thru for the guy who does the mastering. In such cases mastering becomes a repair session and the original idea of an improvement of the result takes a back seat. Almost all our mastering customers can tell many stories of jobs were they had to correct a whole bunch of problems before they were able to begin the real work. The saying 'Mastering begins with the Recording' seems to be not really present anymore.

Our first console with extensive mastering features was the Magnum V1, designed in 1986. In the following years mastering gear has become an important part of the master sections of the 5MT system. Many of the large format consoles of the 5MT series have master sections that include stereo mastering compressors, M/S direction mixers, elliptic EQ's, mastering EQ's, dynamic equalizers, niveau filters, phase shifters and harmonics generators. Also with mid price consoles, the most important stages; stereo compressor, base width control and elliptic equalizer, are integrated in the mix master chain. The module MST-S of the master section S is an example for such a master module.

The V700 mastering gear is based on the experience with tools for stereo mastering of more than 20 years. All units have been redesigned and optimized many times. The implementations of these stages as V700 modules adds higher headroom and dynamic range, since all these units use our double balanced principle that uses not only transformer balanced inputs and outputs but a fully balanced internal circuitry. Actually, we use a stereo chain for a mono signal, which improves the dynamic range and maintains + 30 dBu headroom throughout the entire unit.

Anyway, adt-audio's V700 mastering gear can help you a lot to do both parts of the mastering job - the repair work and the improvement - easier, faster and with best possible results.