MAINFRAME MIXMASTERS audiophile analog mastering’s Blog

Strictly Analog Mastering - CD VINYL MP3 ONLINE

7 days ago

[english] MAINFRAME MIXMASTERS is an audiophile analog MASTERING facility in Frankfurt/Main-City, Germany, established in 2003 by the producer and engineer Frank Marheineke a.k.a MAINFRAME. We offer professional soundprocessing of your recordings for CD, VINYL, MP3/iTUNES or DVD, as well as complete creation, editing + coding of industry standard CD-AUDIO PRE-MASTERS, quality controlled and ready for replication! Please check our easy + tight calculated FLATRATES e.g. only 50€ per track ! Be prepared for an incredible sonic boost of your music at a world class level. Big sound, rich in detail, dimension + punch for MAXIMUM MOJO. e-mail pricelist

[deutsch] MAINFRAME MIXMASTERS ist ein audiphil analoges MASTERING Studio im Herzen Frankfurts am Main, gegründet 2003 und geführt von Musikproduzent und Toningenieur Frank Marheineke, alias MAINFRAME, und bietet professionelles Mastering, Audio-Restauration und Musikmischung für Labels und Kreative. Neben der analogen Soundnachbearbeitung der Aufnahmen für CD, VINYL, DVD oder MP3/iTUNES fertigen wir komplett editierte und kodierte AUDIO PREMASTER auf qualitäts-kontrollierten CDR-Medien - gemäss Industrie-Standard und bereit zur Pressung! Um Produktionskosten einfach und übersichtlich zu halten haben wir FLATRATES für alle Dienstleistungen eingeführt, z.b. nur 50€ pro Titel! MAINFRAME MIXMASTERS bietet akustische Bearbeitung auf höchstem Niveau und sorgfältige Audio-Master Herstellung für ein maximales Klangerleben! e-mail Preisliste

PHOENIX tube master compressor

Feb 23, 2009

THE PHOENIX TUBE MASTERING COMPRESSOR

The british THERMIONIC CULTURE PHOENIX MASTER COMPRESSOR with SIDECHAIN filters resides in my studio ! I am considering this machine as being the funkiest and best sounding vari-mu style (think Fairchild) compressor ever build. With it's extended attack and release times and a 3 way sidechain filter this beast not only offers all one can wish for functionaluity-wise, but also it's incredible transparent and crisp sound makes it a perfect addition to my mastering chain for all styles of music. The input gain stage can be driven to get that harmonically rich saturated sound and the threshold can be set to give just that glue and goo to the sound that is needed.

STUDIO 3D ANAGLYPH

Even only as a tube amplifier with no further compression it makes sense at times when the signal has already perfect dynamics - just ride the gain and enjoy the hot glowing tubes doing their part. The compression itself works so natural and transparent that most of the time no further limiting is needed to get the hottest signal ever, and that is just fine as people realise that limiting is actually killing sound. The unit is connected all the way with VOVOX cabling, even the power line - and the sound gets even smoother and more open. Many thanx to THERMIONIC CULTURE and to VOVOX for letting me have such a nice combo ! link

Testing OYAIDE power cables

Jan 31, 2009

As a nice side-effect to the Muskmesse in Frankfurt i got to know Mr. Kenji Takechi from OYAIDE ELEC, Inc., a high grade audio cable manufacturer from Japan. He kindly sent me their new power cable for testing in my rack. Here's my humble results [replacing my standard power cables]:

# Oyaide power cable on the Summit Audio EQP200-B : the sound is very dynamic, less stressed and less condensed/squeezed. my impression is it sounds relaxed and noble, the mids are very transparent, the highs smooth and clean, the space/dimensionality and depth is increased.
# Oyaide power cable on the Millennia NSEQ-2 / discrete mode : the sound is solid and stable, even though it feels a bit more compressed. the lower mids are lighter while the upper mids appear stronger resulting in a somewhat finished and assertive sound. the highs are airy and the overall bandwith seems increased.
# Oyaide power cable on the rme Fireface800 interface : the sound is fast, attacks articulated, direct. the upper mids are accentuated and the overall impression is tight with an increased bandwidth frequencywise, even though the dimensionality has not changed.
# Oyaide power cable on the Thermionic Culture Phoenix replacing the vovox power cable : this one is the toughest to detect any significant differences. but there's something that is better described as a subjective feel. i find that spectrum, dynamic and depth are very similar while the oyaide sounds a tad cleaner and the vovox a tad more direct. this could be caused by how much distortion there is left in the power distribution or simply by design. i can't decide wich one i like better, but one as an engineer is at least left with an option.

OYAIDE_POWERCABLE

although all differences i experience are in a certain felt range of ca. 5%, this small changes can make a reasonable difference. after one more day of comaprison and thinking i'd really like to have all my regular power cables replaced by the oyaide ones as there certainly is an experiencable advantage or gain in sound. although the cable seems to have a very different effect on each unit (wich does'nt surprise me) you can say there is a quality in sound that is evident on all units - i for one will call it the oyaide sound - clean, transparent, solid and noble ! OYAIDE

We talk club music... and some more

Dec 31, 2008

WE NEED MO' BASS

Let me just make a statement: when it comes to mastering it is the first and most important step for the artist or label finding the right engineer for the job. Most mastering suites offer a wide range of musica styles, not to say even all! - but in reality they are mostly specialists in a small array of styles, often representing the most common ones in their environment they are settled. As product manager and label owner myself i was often selecting the mastering house on the music style i thought they can do best - and that was quiet a good choice to do! Having developed my studio to a state-of-the-art audiophile analog mastering facility i think it's fair to tell you what i can do best. For most of the time i am doing club music, drum&bass, house, nu-jazz, dub, freestyle, pop, hiphop, but i often find myself doing jobs for the more general styles of jazz, folk and acoustic music. Compared to the big american studios in the biz my references seem just to be the opposite. Maybe one could break it down to me being an european guy, but i have the feeling that the differences in sound aesthetics that were so obvious in the last 15 years become more and more obsolete. My personal goal is to put the bass back in music and still have a crisp topend - you can't do that well with digital gear all over the place, in the end digital limiting kills it all - hence my favour for the best analog gear available. I believe there is a sound aesthetic that would generally be perceived as suitable and perfect for many styles wich would account for a global coherence in sound!

MAINFRAME gets VOVOX Purum certification

Nov 19, 2008

VOVOX PURUM

MAINFRAME MIXMASTERS got officially announced as member of the VOVOX PURUM scroll, a label provided to those studios attaining the highest standard of sound transmission using exclusively VOVOX sound conductors. It was very unexpected to me to receive this honor, but proud to present it within this photograph. VOVOX is a specialized brand in producing sound conductors / cables at a new, almost esoteric level of approach and claim. so, i must say, they have succeded. This is not your ordinary cable, but an ultra transparent transmitter of signals in between the signal chain, and not only that but providing the same technology to the adapt of digital and power cables. After weeks of extensively testing these entities i came to believe that these are far superior to any other brand i was using before. And no, i'm not getting paid for this, it cost me an awfull lot f money... but very worth it! link

230V pure green electricity - we are powered

Nov 12, 2008

"Ich bin gerad aufgewacht, hab meine Augen aufgemacht , Für einen ersten Schritt ist es nie zu spät , ich habe angefangen, ich hab jetzt Ökostrom, Ich will mein Leben, weil es sonst ein andrer lebt, Es ist nie zu spät ..." the encouraging text of MIA's song ÖKOSTROM is one of many possible expressions of small things we can do to change life for a better. MAINFRAME MIXMASTERS is now powered by a greenpeace recommended provider/producer of green electricity - meaning NO NUCLEAR POWER, insignificant CO2 EMISSIONS and based on 100%RENEWABLE ENERGY RESOURCES. don't fall for the RECS certificate swindle - please join this movement and get real... what else can you do ? atomausstieg-selber-machen wiki

One more word about voltages: the german power supply is run at 230V / 50hz wich gives it quiet a benefit over low voltage cities such as Japan (100V/50-60hz) or USA (120V/60hz), most other countries toggle somewhere in between. Can you hear it ? Yes ! Nice to be living in europe ;) wiki

Millennia NSEQ-2 Class-A equalizer

Sep 24, 2008

MILLENNIA_NSEQ-2

Time for a change, time for new millennia ! The supreme class-a discrete/vacuum tube program equalizer MILLENNIA NSEQ-2 has arrived at my studio to complement the SUMMIT PASSIVE EQP-200B. The so called "twin topology" unit got tubes, but where it really shines is its discrete operational mode. build like a tank to survive every coming new age mastering war, ehm... trend, there's a reason this one has found home in many world-class mastering studios, and that's ( - artificial pause - ) it's SOUND ! Yep, cat's out of the bag ;)) This is a straight "no color" unit, unbelievable transparent and clean but than delivering the biggest bottom, the smoothest angel like hi-end and super solid mids. I needed to change the internal jumper settings of the LAVRY DA10's output to unbalanced (pin2 hot) to match the input section of the NSEQ-2 wich was running pretty hot soundwise - but then... this unit IS running hot - like an atomic pile! Millennia Media

LAVRY DA10 - hands-on D/A shootout

Sep 11, 2008

D/A shootout

Well, it's been an intense week shooting out the winners of another D/A-converter pre-selection shootout by Mr. Guido Apke. on my table are the newly build DANGEROUS MUSIC DAC-ST converter by Chris Muth, the USB version of my beloved BENCHMARK DAC1 and the latest from DAN LAVRY, the LAVRYBLACK DA10. To my surprise the candidates do come with their own distinct character in sound, even when they all claim to be perfectly neutral by measurement. the DANGEROUS DAC-ST imparts a fantastic clear, dynamic sound while somewhat attenuateing the upper mid-range and cleaning-up the lower mids; this is really excellent for all sorts of brass and metal build instruments with a big WOW! factor, on the downside it can also bring up some sibilance and edginess in vocals. I love the BENCHMARK DAC1 for it's punch and felt neutrality on the almost every style of music. The LAVRY is excellent in sounding deep, wide and warm, the upper midrange sounds very smooth and clean due to less electronic induced distortion. The unit's just a BIG pleasure to listen thru - packed with a feature set you won't miss (switchable mono/stereo, polarity, 1db stepped level) the LAVRYBLACK DA10 definately stays in my studio for fully featured D/A conversion duties ! lavry engineering

Refined Audiometrics EQ + Algorithmix K-Stereo

May 18, 2008

PLPAREQ

K-STEREO

Some new digital tools arrived recently at my place and after some extensive testing with all high-class software contenders i'm happy to announce 2 new tools in the arsenal: the PLPAREQ linear phase digital mastering eq by REFINED AUDIOMETRICS and the new ALGORITHMIX K-STEREO, invented by mastering guru BOB KATZ. The EQ is yet in an undecided battle with the ALGORITHMIX RED EQ, but since i was part of the beta testing of the plpareq some time ago i've some sympathy for this one. Anyway, the quality of both is stunning, leaving everything i know far behind - something that is actually hard to admit as it also kicks some of my former favourites out of the chain. I'm pretty sure that it's way more than the emperors new clothes... that class of eq changed my approach to mastering music quiet a bit ! The K-STEREO itself is not a stereo expander but an ambience refresher, one could say - can be very subtle to conceive but it opens up the dimension and depth of the track that you'll probably only miss when taking it out. It's really cool to regain some of the spaciousness lost when converting from 24/32bit to the 16bit resolution of CD. refined audiometrics algorithmix

Benchmark ADC1 + DAC1 converters

May 9, 2008

meet the Benchmarks

When it comes to conversion between the analog and digital domain opinions about the best converters available can't be different and controversial enough. Some prefer transparent and clear, being a bit on the cold side, others love colored and warm or euphoric, hence being not exactly neutral to the source. Attributes like flat frequency response, detail, punch and dimensionality are qualities to be considered for sure, but where's the one that has it all ? What is true to almost all converters of a certain class and price-tag is that they deliver an definite quality boost outrunning all stock ware, while still having some character on their own. What i have found to be punchy, clear and honest while not being sterile at at all is the BENCHMARK DAC1 (as monitor controller) and the BENCHMARK ADC1 (as main A/D converter) - world class conversion in a half rack space, build like a tank. Connected completely with VOVOX digital and analog cables they massively deliver and don't loose ! Benchmark Media