I would like advice on finishing albums and demos for bands using the
masterlink. I mix from 24 track analog to the masterlink (usually
24/44.1) and most of my bands are poor, young, and would usually
prefer me to give them a reasonably finished product rather than
paying a mastering lab money that they don't have.

I am not personally a fan of the sound of the digital eq and
compression that the masterlink offers, and I don't have the
experience or expertise or desire to do too much with someone's
recording other than get the levels near industry standard. I usually
put a peak limiter on to knock out one or two db of renegade snare
hits, thus bringing up the overall level a few db, and I usually run
the "normalizer" function.

My question: Does the "normalizer" function in the masterlink dsp
section set the peaks near or at the peak of most or all commercial
recordings? I've noticed that sometimes in playback other cds will
redline my masterlink and even distort. Some won't. What gives? And if
any of you have any tricks or routines with the masterlink that help
you quickly and cheaply provide your clients with a reasonable
finished product, please share. Does my routine of peak limiting a few
db and normalizing seem like an ok one?

(By the way, I'm not asking for a lesson in mastering, and I usually
encourage bands with label money to do it right and get to a real
mastering lab. But that's only about 10% of my work.)

Thanks,
Matt Talbott
Great Western Record Recorders
Champaign, IL