Youlean Sound Meter 2 (Pro) and Reference 2

[sonja]

I'm trying out the Youlean Soundmeter and I'm supposed to use the "Master Track" to analyze loudness. In Reason is this a mix track you make by creating an audio track, choosing Rec Source in the Master Section, and recording tracks into the one mix track, or is this something else? And if this does make the Master Track, would I master it (I pretty much use plugins for this) and THEN use Youlean? And do I put Youlean right under the Master Section (Audio Out from Youlean is connected to mixdown: from insert FXL and R).

I'm also trying out Reference 2 to compare my mixes to a reference track. For that I drop a WAV of the mix, correct? And I would use any mastering plugins, etc. on that WAV file is that right?

Thanks!

[crimsonwarlock]

The best place to put measurements of the whole track, is between the mixer out and your audio outputs. That way, you are sure you measure the exact signal that is rendered as the final track. You can put any mastering plugins in that same place, before Youlean.

Many people master on their mixdown signal, but I prefer to render the mixdown to a WAV-file and I have a separate mastering template/project where I load that WAV-file. It keeps you from adjusting the mix while mastering and forces you to do a good mix before the mastering stage.

[PhillipOrdonez]

Not familiar with those specific apps, but shouldn't you be able to load the reference track on the plugin itself? You don't want to process the reference with your project effects.

[sonja]

The best place to put measurements of the whole track, is between the mixer out and your audio outputs. That way, you are sure you measure the exact signal that is rendered as the final track. You can put any mastering plugins in that same place, before Youlean.

Thank you for the guidance re: using the WAV file., I'll do that. When you say to put measurements (the Youlean I presume) between the mixer and audio outputs, do you mean to put the Youlean Sound Meter under the Master section in the rack or put all the tracks in a mix track and put that through the Youlean as a send effect from main mixer? Thanks

[crimsonwarlock]

When you say to put measurements (the Youlean I presume) between the mixer and audio outputs, do you mean to put the Youlean Sound Meter under the Master section in the rack or put all the tracks in a mix track and put that through the Youlean as a send effect from main mixer? Thanks

I used Measure RE instead of Youlean, but this is how you connect it:

2023-03-11 14_52_59-Window.png

[sonja]

If I want to put in an L2 Maximizer (Waves) would I put it before the Youlean? When I put the L2 between the Youlean and the Master Section, Reason configures it for the audio out on the Youlean to go to L2 audio in instead of Audio I/O like you have it. Is that right? Also, when I have all the audio tracks, effects, mastering plugin- where do I put the L2, Youlean and if I want to use the Reference 2 in the DAW also (I think you said you typically you the WAV of the mix with the reference 2, but if I wanted to put the reference 2 in the DAW prior to exporting as a WAV, where would I put it?) The thing is- if you can leave it in the DAW, this allows for tweaking more readily doesn't it?

I assume the Youlean would go at the end of everything because you are looking at all of the mix in it's entirety, so it seems like it would go after anything in the master section because all the tracks ultimately go into the master section- is that right?

If there is already a maximizer in one of Reason's mastering plugins, is using the L2 overkill (redundant)? Or can (should) I go into the mastering plugin in Reason and bypass any maximizer I see if I want to use the L2?

Thank you for your help on this!

[crimsonwarlock]

I assume the Youlean would go at the end of everything because you are looking at all of the mix in it's entirety, so it seems like it would go after anything in the master section because all the tracks ultimately go into the master section- is that right?

Yep, that is correct. You always want your measurement at the end of your chain.

If there is already a maximizer in one of Reason's mastering plugins, is using the L2 overkill (redundant)? Or can (should) I go into the mastering plugin in Reason and bypass any maximizer I see if I want to use the L2?

You might prefer to use another maximizer over the stock FX. I use Kuassa's Kratos 2 Maximizer myself. I have no experience with Wave's L2 Maximizer, so I can't say it provides any advantage over Reason's stock maximizer. Just try them out and see which you like more

[sonja]

So the Youlean ins should always go into the Master outs no matter what else you have in the rack (tracks, effects, etc.)? And the Youlean out should always go to the Audio I/O? If Reason configures it differently, I should change it, correct?

And when I see the term "Master Track" in Reason does that mean to combine all tracks into one channel?

[crimsonwarlock]

So the Youlean ins should always go into the Master outs no matter what else you have in the rack (tracks, effects, etc.)? And the Youlean out should always go to the Audio I/O? If Reason configures it differently, I should change it, correct?

Correct. There are other ways to do this as well, but this is the simplest way to do it. You can set it up once and save it as your template, so you don't have to do this for each new project.

And when I see the term "Master Track" in Reason does that mean to combine all tracks into one channel?

If you mean the master channel, this is the channel at the right of the SSL mixer, with the larger fader. All your other tracks automatically route to this, unless you link (cable) things differently. You can master with a mastering FX chain after this master channel. But as we discussed before, it can be better (for several reasons) to master with a project that only has your rendered stereo track loaded.

For mastering, you simply render out your mix to a stereo WAV-file. Subsequently, you create a new project where you load only this stereo track.