Ongenet
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Mastering

Quick steps

  1. Select the pinned Master track (timeline row 0 or the Mixer master strip).
  2. Open the bottom Effects tab — use the chain picker for a factory recipe, or drag from FX Chains in the Library.
  3. Set the delivery target (Spotify, YouTube, Apple Music, Club, Podcast, or Custom) — shared with the title-bar meter and Export dialog.
  4. Watch LUFS and true peak on the title-bar meter; choose Pre Limiter, Post Chain, or Post Fader tap.
  5. Use Compare (clipper/limiter bypass with loudness makeup), A/B snapshots, and WAV reference slots (A/B) with optional Match EQ.
  6. Export with Analyse loudness and optional Normalize to platform LUFS.

Details

Ongenet masters like a DAW: insert effects on the pinned Master track, not a separate mastering page. The engine only hard-clamps overs at ±1.0 after the Master FX chain; delivery loudness and ISP headroom come from your limiter and clipper choices.

Master track Effects tab workflow

  1. Select the Master track.
  2. Open the Effects tab at the bottom of the window.
  3. Pick a recipe from the chain picker, drag an FX Chains preset from the Library, or build manually.
  4. Set Delivery target on the toolbar — the same platform, integrated LUFS, and true-peak ceiling drive the title-bar meter peach target line, Compare makeup, reference matching, and Export dialog defaults.
  5. Choose a meter tap (Pre Limiter, Post Chain, or Post Fader) to decide what the title-bar LUFS / dBTP readout reflects.
  6. Use mastering toolbar actions: Bypass chain, Compare, A/B, and Reference (hold to audition).
  7. Tune individual inserts in the chain list; Peak Limiter presets and GR meter are on the limiter card.

Suggested manual order when not using a preset: corrective EQ → Mid/Side EQ → glue compressor → stereo width → clipper → Peak Limiter → Spectrum analyser. (Full Master omits Multiband OTT on Master — put OTT on a bus, or use Full Master+ / Techno Master.)

Chain recipes

MasteringChains.Create(name) and the FX Chains library share eight core recipes plus Audiophile Master and Reference Master (ten named recipes total):

Chain Signal path
Full Master Corrective EQ → mid/side → glue → width → clipper → Peak Limiter (Streaming) → Spectrum
Full Master+ Full Master with Multiband OTT before width
Streaming Master EQ → glue → Peak Limiter (Streaming) — no clipper
Pre-Master DC blocker → EQ → mid/side → glue only (no limiter)
Club Loud Multiband → width → soft Over → clipper → Peak Limiter (Master)
Podcast / Speech HPF → de-esser → glue → Peak Limiter (Safety)
Master Glue Glue compressor → width → Peak Limiter (Loud)
Techno Master HPF → multiband → width → Exciter → Peak Limiter (Master)
Audiophile Master Full Master with Linear-Phase EQ replacing the minimum-phase corrective EQ (higher latency; Create("audiophile") / Create("linear"))
Reference Master Corrective EQ → Match EQ → glue → Peak Limiter (Streaming) → Spectrum (Create("reference") / Create("match"); capture reference in UI first)

Peak Limiter presets (Streaming −1.0 dBTP, Master −0.3 dBTP with spectral mode, Loud, Transparent, Safety) and Multiband OTT macros have tooltip descriptions in the UI. Prefer 2×/4× Oversample on clipper and limiter for inter-sample peak control.

Meter tap, delivery targets, Compare, A/B, reference, Match EQ

  • Meter tap — title-bar stereo L/R bars, short-term/integrated LUFS, LRA, and dBTP can read Pre Limiter (before the first Peak Limiter), Post Chain (after all inserts, pre-fader), or Post Fader. True peak uses 4× FIR BS.1770-style reconstruction. A peach line marks the active delivery true-peak target. Use Reset loudness to clear integrated measurements.
  • Delivery targets — Spotify (−14 LUFS / −1.0 dBTP), YouTube (−14 / −1.0), Apple Music (−16 / −1.0), Club (−9 / −0.3), Podcast (−16 / −1.5), or Custom LUFS/TP. The Master Effects tab and Export dialog share one app-wide target.
  • Compare — bypasses the clipper and limiter(s) (ClipperEffect, PeakLimiterEffect, LimiterEffect) — or the full Master chain in full-bypass mode — and applies loudness makeup via a metering Tool so you hear un-limited audio at matched level. Inserts a Tool automatically if needed. Analysers after the limiter (Spectrum, etc.) stay enabled.
  • A/B — two complete ordered-chain snapshots; swap without losing either version.
  • Reference — load a WAV; integrated LUFS is matched to the delivery target for level-matched audition while you hold the button. Overlay spectrum shows live (sapphire) vs reference (peach).
  • Match EQ — Capture reference to Match EQ seeds a Match EQ insert from the reference spectrum; blend and smoothness tame the correction.

The Spectrum analyser panel adds peak bars, correlation, and a Scope goniometer; Tool supplies peak/LUFS/correlation meters (no goniometer). Load a second WAV with Browse B for a dual reference slot.

Export loudness analyse / normalize

From Export (title bar or transport):

  • Analyse loudness — after bounce, writes integrated LUFS, LRA, momentary/short-term peaks, and true peak to .loudness.txt / .loudness.json sidecars; WAV embeds RIFF INFO; FLAC/MP3/OGG get ReplayGain/R128 tags.
  • Normalize to platform LUFS — two-pass normalize to the selected delivery target (custom LUFS supported). When boost is needed, the exporter re-limits at the delivery ceiling instead of only attenuating.
  • Pre-master bounce — bypass Master inserts for an un-mastered WAV.
  • Comparison pair — also writes {name}-comparison-unmastered.wav and {name}-comparison-mastered.wav beside the deliverable.
  • Match album loudness — stem sets can share one offset while preserving relative track loudness; scripts call MatchAlbumLoudness.

Default archival bounce is 24-bit WAV; enable TPDF or noise-shaped dither for 16-bit CD. Sample rate SRC uses windowed-sinc resampling (e.g. 44.1 kHz for CD).

Peak Limiter vs Limiter (Dynamics)

Peak Limiter (Mastering) Limiter (Dynamics)
Role Delivery brickwall on Master Bus/drum safety limiter
Features Presets, GR meter, spectral mode, oversampling Simple threshold/ceiling
Typical placement Last processing on Master (before analysers) Drum bus, instrument groups

Use Peak Limiter on Master for streaming/club delivery. Keep the simpler Limiter on buses that need headroom below the master ceiling (Ascension puts a bus limiter on Drums above the master Peak Limiter ceiling).

Built-in project genre chains

Factory songs call the same recipes as the chain picker:

Project Master chain Notes
Ascension Full Master Multiband OTT on Leads bus, not on Master
First Light, House Starter Full Master
Undertow, Trap Beat Club Loud Plus Spectrum / waveform analysers
Dust & Vinyl, Field Modular, Static Bloom Streaming Master Field Modular / Static Bloom add reverb before the limiter
Web Demo Streaming Master without Spectrum EQ → glue → Peak Limiter only (WASM/Android DSP budget)
Techno Starter Techno Master

Startup: desktop opens Ascension; WASM/Android open Web Demo (lightweight Streaming Master without Spectrum). First Light is library-only.

Portable project scripts store mastering FX as inline parameter values so chains round-trip through Export project / ApplyMasteringChain.

Portable export vs chain recipes: ApplyMasteringChain(masterId, name) replaces the entire Master insert list with a factory recipe in one undo step — use this in generated project scripts and batch automation. AddEffect(masterId, typeId) appends a single insert and is better for custom one-off tweaks; exported scripts prefer inline parameter literals on *WithId tracks rather than re-deriving recipes by hand.

Scripting limitations

Desktop Roslyn scripting exposes mastering helpers on IScriptingApi. Web Demo and Android register NullScriptingApi — the Scripting tab shows a status hint; mastering/export mutations throw (meter-tap / delivery-target gets return stubs).

Available from scripts Not available from scripts
ApplyMasteringChain, Get/SetDeliveryTarget, Get/SetMasterMeterTap Compare / A/B / reference audition UI
ExportAudio (normalize, dither, SRC, comparison pair, bypass master FX) Match EQ reference capture (use UI first, then export)
MatchAlbumLoudness on existing WAV files Bypass chain / Restore toolbar actions

Album alignment uses MatchAlbumLoudness, not the internal ExportService.ComputeAlbumOffsets helper.

Web Demo and Android

WASM and Android builds use a reduced mastering path to stay within mobile/browser DSP budgets:

  • Web Demo ships Streaming Master without Spectrum (EQ → glue → Peak Limiter only).
  • Analyser-only inserts (Spectrum, Loudness Meter, oscilloscope, 3D scope) are skipped during offline export everywhere; live analyser panels are further reduced on WASM/Android.
  • Scripting, offline ExportAudio, and album loudness APIs are desktop-only.

Oversampling is real DSP: 2×/4× modes FIR-upsample, process nonlinear DSP at the higher rate, then FIR-downsample. Only 1× is sample-peak based.