Three Essential Media-production Tools
The tight tolerances of current broadcast systems, the technical requirements of streaming services, and the demands of today's audiences all present real challenges to anyone attempting to meet modern media-production standards. Fortunately, Nugen Audio has developed powerful tools to help streamline these tasks, and this Modern Mastering Bundle puts their top three — MasterCheck Pro loudness metering, Visualizer audio analysis, and ISL 2st True Peak limiter — within easy reach of any professional media-production engineer. And since all three titles are fully compatible with AAX Native, VST, and AU plug-in hosts on both Mac OS and Windows PC computers, you can take full advantage of this bundle from any major platform.
Related Videos: Modern Mastering Bundle
Nugen Modern Mastering Bundle Includes:
- MasterCheck Pro precision loudness metering plug-in
- Visualizer reference-level audio analysis plug-in suite
- ISL 2st True Peak Limiter brickwall mastering limiter plug-in
MasterCheck Pro
Master for today's digital music services
As yesterday's volume wars give way to today's loudness standards, the need for beefier dynamics processors has been largely supplanted by the need for detailed loudness meters. Nugen's MasterCheck Pro gives you the accurate loudness metering you need to prep your mixes and masters for a broad range of contemporary digital music services such as Apple, Spotify, DAB Radio, and more. It also lets you hear what your music will sound like when subjected to their standards. What's more, MasterCheck Pro lets you easily compare multiple processing chains to see what effect they'll have on your mix after compression, so you won't be surprised when your 24-bit master is reproduced as a streaming AAC file.
Measurements that go far beyond volume
Just as the era of the CD and tape are over, so is the standard of mixing to -3dB. On the plus side, this new age of mixing is finally putting to bed the practice of squashing the life out of every mix with brutal dynamics processing, but on the minus side, the serious mix engineer has to master a whole new scheme of loudness metering. Yesterday's -3dB is today's -16LKFS. Lucky for you, Nugen's MasterCheck Pro plug-in makes life easy. Strictly from a metering standpoint, every important metric for loudness, whether it's program loudness, PLR (Peak to Loudness Ratio), short-term loudness, or true peak, can be found in MasterCheck Pro.
Mix for today's streaming codecs
MasterCheck Pro is far more than just a metering plug-in. While its metering is impressive in its own right, it's the ability to apply and monitor through the loudness schemes of various compression codecs to hear how your mix will sound that makes it a must-have mixing and mastering tool. Loudness presets for iTunes Radio, mobile streaming, and international standards such as EBU R128 and the ATSC A/85 Calm Act let you instantly check how your material will sound on most popular platforms, so there will be no ugly surprises down the road. And thanks to functions such as Offset to Match and color banded target zones for precise metering, checking your mix and tweaking it to meet your expectations is remarkably easy.
Easy A/B processing comparison
As we mentioned before, the coolest aspect of MasterCheck Pro is its Offset to Match function, which applies the reference loudness standard you've called up to your material. But what really blew away the engineers here at Sweetwater is the way you can combine this function with MasterCheck Pro's Send plug-in. Insert the Send plug-in at the beginning of your processing chain, and you can effortlessly A/B your unaffected signal with your processing through the loudness standard of your choice, providing you an instant comparison along with a loudness comparison meter. What's more, you can use this same external input function to check your mix against reference material.
Nugen MasterCheck Pro Plug-in Features:
- A fully loaded loudness metering and comparison plug-in designed for modern streaming and compression standards
- Service Presets include Spotify, Apple Music, YouTube, Pandora, BBC iPlayer, Tidal, TV Europe, TV USA, TV Japan, AES, and DAB+ Radio
- Offset to match function lets you hear what your audience will hear, so you can produce with confidence
- Standards include ATSC A/85 (CALM ACT), EBU R128, EBU R128 S1, ARIB TR-B32, OP-59, AGCOM 219/9/CSP, Portaria 354, and DPP
- Measurements include program loudness, PLR (peak to loudness ratio), short-term loudness, and ITU-compliant inter-sample peak
- Industry Standard Metering includes Program Loudness, Short Term Loudness, PLR (Peak to Loudness Ratio) dynamic range, and ITU-compliant inter-sample peak
- Color-banded target splits let you zero in on specific zones within the bar meters
- Included Send plug-in and external reference function let you A/B processing chains for quick comparison
- Check your mix against reference material to more easily achieve your loudness goal
Visualizer
Take a closer look at your mix
Sometimes, when you really need to climb inside of a mix, listening alone is not enough. That's when Sweetwater Sales Engineers recommend a graphical analysis plug-in like Nugen's Visualizer. The thing that sets Visualizer apart from other sound analysis plug-ins is its ability to put multiple graphical representations of your audio all in a single window, while still providing you with the controls you need to dial each individual display. And even when you layer multiple displays together, Visualizer remains totally legible, making it easy to see exactly what's happening in every facet of your audio.
Nugen Visualizer Plug-in Features:
- Comprehensive audio analysis tool for your DAW
- Multiple level meters include Peak, RMS, K12, K14, K20, and more
- Dive into your sound with 9 different analysis tools, including: FFT spectrum analysis, stereo spectrum analysis, spectrogram, stereo spectrogram, vector scope, stereoscope, stereo bias meter, correlation meter, and the stats and parameters module
- Detailed user configuration lets you lay out your display any way you like
- Resizable Interface and intelligent window optimization keep your display organized at all times
- Optimized control selection includes frequency zoom and scroll, dB zoom and scroll, peak hold control, color selection, FFT window selection, and RMS window adjustment
- A/B snapshots allow you to compare changes
ISL 2st True Peak Limiter
A brickwall limiter you can count on
If you're looking for an affordable way to get truly transparent, standards-compliant brickwall limiting for DIY mastering or broadcast, then you need to check out the Nugen Audio ISL 2st True Peak Limiter plug-in. Based on the true-peak specifications laid out in the ITU-R B.S. 1770 and related standards, ISL is ideal for taking your content up to the perfect level and protecting it from downstream distortion introduced by lossy MP3 and AAC codecs. With its adjustable look-ahead and clear metering, ISL makes dialing in your limiting extremely easy and precise. And, if you're like many Sweetwater recording customers and plan to release your record straight to iTunes or some other internet music distribution service, then you'll really appreciate that Nugen Audio included Apple's "Mastered for iTunes" true-peak limiting capability in ISL.
Nugen Audio ISL 2st True Peak Limiter Plug-in Features:
- A transparent look-ahead limiter designed to make true-peak compliance easy
- Based on regulation true-peak algorithms of ITU-R B.S. 1770 and related standards
- Includes Apple's "Mastered for iTunes" capability
- Protects against MP3, AAC, and other lossy compression methods
- Clear metering and multiple diagnostic listen modes make dialing in your limiting easy
- Get the perfect setup with adjustable look-ahead time and channel linking
