By the end of last year, Bob documented the original install of the M5P Evidence speakers and we summed it all up. You can find the article here - just in case you missed it back then.
Well, now we caught up with Bob after he has had the chance to use them for a while in his own listening environment. Obviously, we were curious to learn more about how they work out for him, but we also learned quite a bit about life as a mastering engineer, specific mastering techniques and got some great tips for aspiring engineers in the world of professional audio.
But first, let’s sum up on Bob’s background, being one of the most respected mastering engineers out there. “I've been a professional recording and mixing engineer since 1971,” says Bob. “I began to master my own direct-to-2-track recordings during that period. And in 1990 I founded Digital Domain, my mastering house.”
As a mastering engineer, Bob has three Grammy Award-winning albums released by Ben Kingsley, Paquito D'Rivera and Olga Tañon under his belt, but other artists that come to mind on Bob’s long list of high-profile clients also include names such as McCoy Tyner, Lindsey Webster, Livingston Taylor, Ruben Blades, Bombay Dub Orchestra, Marley's Ghost, Ian Gillan, Clark Terry, Gram Parsons, Mongo Santamaria, Bella Hardy, etc.
Further, he has built up a reputation as one of the leading authorities within this particular field, having authored two books on the subject – the most widely know title being ‘Mastering Audio: The Art and the Science’.
Today, Bob manages to take in about 16 mastering project every month and estimates that he can do an album in about a day, working on single tracks for about an hour on average. But let’s dive into some of the more technical details and approaches he takes when mastering.