Waves recently debuted Waves Online Mastering, an online mastering service that is designed to be as good or better than any online mastering service currently available. Waves Online Mastering is designed to be a tool for mastering engineers, not just a consumer tool and is designed to help mastering engineers deliver high quality master’s with very few compromises.
Waves Online Mastering integrates the company’s Waves Neural Networks technology with a new A.I.-based mastering engine, which has been developed alongside a team of top-tier mastering engineers. Waves Online Mastering has been in development for almost seven years. Since the beginning the goal in creating Waves Online Mastering was to create a semi-automatic plugin process designed to follow the steps a professional mastering engineer would use to create and deliver a finished master.
Mastering is complex and Wave’s mastering service has been designed to de-mystify the mastering process. From the beginning, Waves Online Mastering was to predict what the user wants for a finished product better than any online mastering service currently available. While A.I. predictive technology does play a part in how Waves Online Mastering works, it’s only one part of the equation.
The basic user interface of Waves Online Mastering is similar other services currently available in that it features an easy to use drag and drop interface that allows you to select a new track, search, upload, or re-order your tracks based on name, or the date created. Waves Online Mastering is designed to give the user full creative control over the mastering process.
Three processing algorithms are provided: precise, organic, or elevated processing, each one offering progressively more processing to your source Precise is the optimal suggestion for balanced master, well-defined tonal qualities and well-balanced levels. Organic applies less processing, resulting in a sound that is more natural and closer to the unmastered track (the original mix). Elevated applies more processing, essentially dialing the Precise option up to “11,” making the master brighter and more immersive. After you select your preferred algorithm, you can fine tune your selection. Tools to control tone, reference and style are provided to help fine-tune your source material and get it ready for the mastering process.
To access Waves Online Mastering you will need to first set up an account at Waves.com. There is no special account for the Online Mastering. In addition, to try the service (before you pay and master), you do not have to log in to an account. Each master is redeemed in Waves credits which is what you use to access the mastering algorithm server. Each song is processed as a credit. Pricing for the per-song credits is $5.99 for one credit, $24.99 for five credits or $299.99 for 150 Credits. Once you set up your Waves Online Mastering account, you can purchase credits and then you are ready to start mastering your music. When you’re happy with the preview, you then use your prepaid credits to hear up to four songs and compare the difference between the selected and previewed track. After, you’re ready to process your master. While Waves Mastering is not tied into any other Waves subscription service it is logical to assume that may happen in the future.
So, what makes Waves Online Mastering service different than other online mastering services currently on the market? The biggest difference between Waves Online Mastering and other online Mastering services is that Waves Online Mastering is aimed for mastering engineers’ ears meaning its designed to satisfy the super critical listening standards of a professional mastering engineer.
Waves Online Mastering started out to be a tool for online mastering engineers to allow them easily allow consumers to set correct loudness levels. It was only later in the development process that Waves decided to make the service a consumer-based platform. Waves Online Mastering is the result of decades of real-world experience. It is essentially a computerized version of what a real-world Mastering engineer would do to prepare and deliver fully mastered source material ready to be uploaded to commercial streaming services with all loudness checks correctly in place.
Waves Online Mastering is a versatile and easy to use tool designed to be aimed at both DIY users and professionals and is designed to deliver a product that is on par with the quality you would get with a top tier mastering engineer. The goal is that once your source material is mastered through Waves Online Mastering you can be assured that your finished master will be compatible what whatever streaming, broadcast or replication service you plan to use.
A free trial to check out Waves Online Mastering is available now.
Find out more at: apps.waves.com/mastering
