KVR Readers' Choice Awards 2021: Top 5 nominations for 'Favorite Mastering Virtual Effect Processor'

By KVR Audio on September 14th, 2021

The nominations for the 2021 KVR Readers' Choice Awards are in, as voted for by the KVR community. Voting is now open so make yourself heard here.

We present to you the top 5 nominations for 'Favorite Mastering Virtual Effect Processor'.

Elevate is the most advanced mastering plug-in ever created. This unique multi-band limiter, human-ear EQ and powerful audio maximizer will increase the loudness of your mix while maintaining or improving its dynamic perception. It uses intelligent, adaptive technology that responds in real time to your music; creating not only the loudest, but the best sounding master.

Developed by Newfangled Audio, Elevate maintains subtle dynamics and improves the tonal balance of your mix. The adaptive limiter analyzes 26 frequency bands and alters the gain, speed and transients for each band in real time. The result is a transparent, natural sound, no matter how hard you push it.

Elevate utilizes 26 critical filter bands modeled from the human ear. Each of the bands are spaced to give maximum control over how the sound hits your eardrum. Draw curves, solo bands and manipulate the transient attack for each individual band to bring out particular instruments such as kick or snare drums.

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Gullfoss is an intelligent automatic equalizer that uses Soundtheory's unique computational auditory perception technology to identify and resolve problems in the frequency balance of your signal. Adjusting its settings in realtime according to the audible features of the input signal, Gullfoss allows quick and precise fixes for issues that would otherwise be unsolvable or would require a lot of time and experience to resolve.

Gullfoss is an easy-to-use tool for everyone from the amateur musician to the professional mastering engineer. Its clean user interface offers a set of basic parameters that can be adjusted to improve the clarity, detail, spatiality and balance of a mix or recording in a matter of seconds. Gullfoss is even capable of fixing balancing issues between different sound elements without access to the individual tracks. The internal auditory model allows Gullfoss to make objective decisions about the perceived sound. As a result mixes processed with Gullfoss will generally translate more consistently between different listening situations.

Gullfoss, enabled by new patent-pending equalizer technology, processes audio with unrivaled sound quality. The equalizer is capable of changing its frequency response, at the highest precision, more than 100 times per second and without introducing audible artefacts or degrading signal quality. Together with the highly advanced computational auditory perception model that has been developed by Soundtheory, Gullfoss is the first and only product of its kind.

TDR Limiter 6 GE is a modern dynamics compression and limiting toolkit featuring six specialized modules that can be arranged in variable order. Together, they cover a remarkable range of applications from delicate loudness control, to brutal "brick-walling" and creative mix bus crunching.

Each module offers dedicated control over different types of events, from macro to micro, and allows you to determine the signal path. Combined wisely they can greatly increase the perceived loudness of a mix while preserving superior musical fidelity, punch, and excitement.

With its appealing visual aesthetic, the advanced true peak and EBU R128 compliant loudness metering section gives a detailed insight into the signal's dynamics. The equal loudness bypass will also make sure the operators' aural perception isn't tricked from any loudness differences.

A collection of sensible starting points allows for quick, yet precise loudness maximization. If needed, a wide range of options offer endless creative possibilities for getting that optimal setting. Going further, Limiter 6 also enables the operator to build his personal take loudness maximization, bus processing and much more.

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Building on a 17 year legacy in audio mastering, Ozone 9 brings balance to your music with never-before seen processing for low end, real-time instrument separation, and lightning-fast workflows powered by machine learning. Find the perfect vibe with an expanded Master Assistant that knows exactly what you're going for, whether it's warm analog character or transparent loudness for streaming. Talk to more iZotope plug-ins in your session with Tonal Balance Control and blur the lines between mixing and mastering. Work faster with improved plug-in performance, smoother metering, and resizable windows. No more wondering if your music is ready for primetime—with Ozone 9, the future of mastering is in your hands.

Master Rebalance gives you the final say in a mix, letting you correct and change the levels of instruments without needing the original tracks. Give your vocals a small boost to add presence without affecting the midrange, or eliminate muddy low end by slightly lowering the bass guitar. Correct weak-sounding drums with one small boost that can save you from hours of EQ surgery. A well-balanced mix makes any mastering engineer's job easier—with Master Rebalance, you can nudge your sound in the right direction.

Low End Focus is your first line of defense against a muddy or blurry low end in a mix. Using new processing designed to enhance bass sounds, this feature brings clarity to your low end and gives you a well-defined foundation for your track. Tame unruly or clashing kick drums and boomy bass guitars without changing the overall impact of your music, or get that extra bit of bass "magic" to put your track over the finish line. Go in-depth with surgical controls that let you shape your tone and timbre, and bring out the best in your low end with minimal artifacts using this industry-first bass shaping tool. It's the fastest way to a punchy, hard-hitting final master.

Tonal Balance Control puts decades of mastering expertise in your hands, letting you adjust your tracks to targets based on thousands of professional masters. In Ozone 9, we've updated Tonal Balance Control with faster performance, smooth metering, and more ways to communicate with other iZotope plug-ins across your session. Now you can call up any instance of Neutron, Nectar, or Relay to make per-track adjustments to EQ and gain, letting you instantly address balance issues as you see them without opening multiple plug-ins. Use Tonal Balance Control to work with confidence and accurately fine tune your mix in any listening environment or genre.

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With eight highly advanced algorithms, true peak limiting, linear-phase oversampling, professional dithering and noise shaping and surround support (up to Dolby Atmos 7.1.2) and intelligent channel linking, FabFilter Pro-L 2 is the complete solution for every mixing and mastering job.

FabFilter Pro-L 2 features precise true peak level meters and extensive loudness meteringwith support for the EBU R128, ITU-R BS.1770-4 and ATSC A/85 standards. Combined with its unique real-time level display, you have all the information you need to achieve the best possible results.

https://www.YouTube.com/watch?v=oMJeWXtJODc

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