New Music Gear Monday: Mastering The Mix Bassroom Plugin

One of the things that every mixer struggles with is getting the low end right. Yes, even the A-list guys take their time working with the bottom. That’s because if you get it wrong, the mix will sound wimpy or bloated. Get it right and everyone smiles. Bassroom, the new plugin from Mastering The Mix, aims to make the task a lot easier thanks to a unique display and EQ and a host of genre-specific preset comparisons.

Bassroom divides the low end frequency spectrum into 5 bands that each have their own box on the display: 0-20Hz, 20-40Hz, 40-80Hz, 80-160Hz, and 160-320Hz. The display is integral here because it shows the level of each band by the size of the box. Add just a little EQ and the box is small and indicates it’s further away from the listener. A larger box indicates that it’s louder and closer. The gain adjustment readout is displayed in dB at the top of the box. 

There’s also a Q Bandwidth control that’s located at the sides of each band and determines the range of frequencies affected. Drag the Q bandwidth control towards the center of the box for a thinner Q affecting a narrower range of frequencies. Drag the Q bandwidth control  towards to sides of the box for a wider Q affecting a broader range of frequencies. There is no Q bandwidth control on the 0-20Hz band.

The real key here is that the plugin contains EQ curves derived from samples of just about every genre of music that you can think of. This allows you to compare your low end to that of the preset and adjust it to match. You can also create your own target values from a track you like and use that as a preset as well.

Bassroom represents a real departure in EQs and their display and can help tailor the low end quickly and easily, especially if you’re using small bookshelf speakers that don’t have an extended low frequency response.

The Mastering The Mix Bassroom plugin is available for both Mac and PC operating systems in all the popular plugin formats. The cost is $62USD and there’s a 15 day trial period where no credit card is required.

For more information, go to the Mastering The Mix website, or watch the brief video below.

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