Brainworx® bx_masterdesk
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Easily deliver polished, professional masters.
Developed by Brainworx, and based on a complete chain of field-proven, high-end, professional analog mastering processors, the bx_masterdesk plug-in provides a fully featured mastering environment in a single plug-in that’s as easy to use as it is powerful.
Whether you’re in the rehearsal room quickly polishing a reference track, or a professional engineer delivering masters to record labels, the bx_masterdesk plug-in offers a complete, intuitive mastering processing chain.Master your mixes quickly and easily with professional-sounding results
Easily sculpt masters with the powerful Bass, Mid, Treble, and Presence EQ
Select from four compressor modes and effortlessly dial in the proper compression characteristics
Use Brainwork’s acclaimed M/S processing to tweak the stereo image with the Mono Maker and Stereo Enhance features
Take a Listen
Simple, Yet Powerful
Mastering requires a balanced, highly tuned processing chain, which can be both complex and expensive. The bx_masterdesk plug-in takes much of the guesswork out of the mastering process by combining several parameters into single controls with carefully chosen individual audio processors, each pre-tuned for easy and effective results.
Four Compressors
The bx_masterdesk’s compressor section makes it easy to add energy to your masters without any pumping or unwanted artifacts. Inspired by classic designs, but transformed for the needs of modern DAW production, the compressor section features four different operating modes, each with its own attack and release rate for quick parallel compression textures.
Easy EQ
The EQ section of the bx_masterdesk plug-in lets you dial in broad stroke tonal adjustments using an intuitive control set that resembles a guitar amp's tone stack. Simply turn the Bass, Mid, Treble, and Presence knobs to quickly and subtly tweak the EQ curve of your master.
Final Touches
For final seasoning, the bx_masterdesk plug-in sports two resonant filters, perfect for cleaning up low-end rumble and taming harsh transients. The bx_masterdesk’s precision metering will ensure your levels are always correct, while Brainworx’s renowned M/S processing lets you artfully shape the width of your masters.
Customer Reviews
A. Adedwuon
October 5, 2023
Very Useful Mastering Tool
I have had this tool in the box for a while and initially it didn't quite do it for me. Doing all software mixing and mastering, this sounded cold and didn't give me the feel of a real...
Read MoreE. Koch
June 13, 2023
i cannot say enough, ( had to chime in again )
i have both this and the classic....Brainworx knocked it out of the park with these two units, i have both because i use them for tracking with my Apollo, so the classic is nice when i...
Read MoreK. Neill
May 30, 2023
fantastic plug in
To me this is one of her best plug ins out there. it's intuitive and gives you everything you need to put some nice touches on your mix. i can't imagine what i could do with this plug if...
Read More.
May 13, 2023
One of my go to plugins.
I would describe the BX Masterdesk as smooth, intuitively easy-to-use, and immediately producing noticeable, desired results. We can each get to finish line using so many tools and...
Read More -
Key Features
A simple to use, all-in-one mastering chain
Four types of compressor circuits
Simple, powerful EQ "tonestack" style EQ
Brainwork’s acclaimed M/S processing, Mono Maker, and Stereo Enhance features
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Customer Reviews
Brainworx bx_masterdesk
A. Adedwuon
Very Useful Mastering Tool
I have had this tool in the box for a while and initially it didn't quite do it for me. Doing all software mixing and mastering, this sounded cold and didn't give me the feel of a real analogue tone, depth, and roundness I was looking for. I went for real analogue Buss compressors and EQs (SSL GComp, HA Successor, and Tegeler Creme) and those by themselves still didn't get me to where I wanted to go. I decided to revisit the Masterdesk by placing it after the analogue chain in real time and boom, the magic came alive. It needed to be fed some mojo for it to now do what it can do, and what it can do is fantastic with this hybrid setup. When you use the real analogue for mainly the feel and depth (minimal to no compression) and then allow the Masterdesk to , almost transparently, do the compression, and final EQ tone, you get your money's worth from it. Why 4 stars and not 5 you may ask. Well, while I find it useful now, it still has it's downside:
1. The Turbo Limiter is thin sounding and I can't use as my final limiter. I place a preferred maximizer/limiter after this for final brick wall .
2. With the compressor link mode engaged, the stereo field shrinks, which is not acceptable to me. I use it in unlinked mode which makes the sound more open with the draw back of transient perceived shift in the stereo field.
3. A HPF would have been good to have for high frequency roll off
4. The resonance filters I think are impacting the overall sound in a not so good way. I don't use them.
5. The stereo Enhance is not that useful for me when compared to what my hardware stereo image shaper is doing.
Despite the downsides, I still find the rest of the tool useful as I am now much closer to getting that perfect master sound I have been working on with my current Hybrid setup. The Masterdesk and a limiter, for now, are the only software I need at the end of my analogue chain. Very useful mastering tool!R. Studio
For fast work
Easy to use and great for fast mastering.
B. Tari
Master! Master! (Metallica)
Genious!
E. Koch
i cannot say enough, ( had to chime in again )
i have both this and the classic....Brainworx knocked it out of the park with these two units, i have both because i use them for tracking with my Apollo, so the classic is nice when i need more chain resources ... they are as clean as warm gets, and as warm as clean gets, and that's the gold when you're tracking ... THANK YOU BRAINWORX AND UAD
K. Neill
fantastic plug in
To me this is one of her best plug ins out there. it's intuitive and gives you everything you need to put some nice touches on your mix. i can't imagine what i could do with this plug if i had a set of mastering ears.
.
One of my go to plugins.
I would describe the BX Masterdesk as smooth, intuitively easy-to-use, and immediately producing noticeable, desired results.
We can each get to finish line using so many tools and combinations these days.
For me, the Masterdesk is one of the plugins I depend on most regularly and get immediately enjoyment using. As other users have noted, no matter how good you think your mix already is, adding this to the mix bus will make your mix sound even better in a matter of seconds.
My favorite parts are bumping the treble and presence ever so slightly and playing with the width feature. Really a fantastic, fairly analog sounding plugin.m. Edwards
However good you think your mix is, this makes it better!
This is a magic piece of kit for the final shaping of your sound. Takes a while to master endless options but the pre-sets can give great base to fine tune from. Masterfull!
B. Bremer
Finally
Swiss Army Knife of mastering. You want LOUD? This has it. Subtle mix compression? No problem. Overall tonal tuning? Limiting? Ham and cheese on rye? All here in one truly remarkable Plugin.
A. stærkær
awesome tool
Easy to use. Never been more easy to dial in tonal balance of a mix. I don't really use all of its applications, but it's possible to get a quality master with this and a limiter. Having so many functions inside 1 plugin is cool
C. Lee
Great for final master!
The Compressor features are wonderful as well!
E. Fenenbock
Mix Bus Magic
This plugin works extremely well as the last plugin on the mix bus.
A. Gerdlind
Mastering plugin
Fast and intuitive to use. Brilliant product that give you a better sounding production in seconds. A highly recommended plug-in if you want to try mastering yourself.
V. Kozarin
It’s absolutely great
Good sound ,easy to work with, a few good presets of the starting point to make a quality master and I love it. Great plug-in, thank you universal audio, DeeJ’VADIM
A. Kostasenko
Fast mastering
Interesting sound on in end of mix. I prefer to use it now comparing with iZotope ozone 9
M. Verblakt
Very good!
Mastering on the fly! Really simple to use and it sounds really analog
M. Samuel
The best plug-in ever!
This is the best plug-in ever made hands down. Easy to use, with almost perfect results with minimal tweets.
R. Rattay
Brainworx bx_masterdesk
A fantastic plugin for mastering.
It gives the whole air and glues it together..
EXCELLENT******EXCELLENT******EXCELLENT******EXCELLENT******EXCELLENT
It just bring your MIX where it needs to be. TRY IT FOR YOURSELF. You'll be amazed to find the sound you were looking in just an instant. Thanks UAD, I get to have my mix done quicker. Time is money!!!!!
K. Socasau
Mastering Tool at his best
Really simple to use and it sounds really analog. It helps making a great master track on the fly, sounds really natural and warm, adds a lot of harmonic content but it's never spiky. Once again, in the box it sounds like a real unit.
J. Pepper
Great Dance Track Masting
So simple to use! I love this as my go to Mastering Buss plugin. It gives great balanced results every time. Recommended. DJ Jon.
