This is my first review and I am compelled to say that Masterdesk is excellent! Placed it on the mix bus and my mix sounds excellent!! This is an excellent plugin... Thanks Brainworks
I NEVER write reviews EVER-- but...
★★★★★
by Joe B.
So, yeah, I honestly haven't ever reviewed a product like this. Endless voices on the internet can be found saying any given plugin is at once the best AND garbage. Signal to noise ratio is too high on the internet! Still, for the $50 sale of the Masterdesk, I read a few reviews & kept reading the word "skeptical" followed by a glowing review. It made ME skeptical these were a bunch of fake positive reviews. Glad my better judgement prevailed! ~24hrs. later and I'm sold. Honestly, it didn't even take that long! Thing sounds unbelievable-- for this price or 10x as much, easily. I was just won over by the Weiss Softube suite, but I a/b'd it against the ds1-mk3 and it's way cheaper to get a rad sound out of this guy. Has "color" for sure, but doesn't saturate things. Very clean color! And just the right amount. So, the reason I felt compelled to review-- "critiques" of the unit on here are WAY off. First, someone mentioned needing a brickwall limiter after this?! I can't make it clip boosting 12db, but okay. Some people seem to think it's subtle-- yeah, subtle like the way night is 'subtly different' than day. Here's the thing-- **The controls are limited to a RANGE that makes them useful** Some people seem to want more. Like, they want the option to ruin their mix. If you need to boost/cut *more* than what is available here- I'm sorry to be the bearer of bad news, but it's *your mix*! Not the plugin. To that point-- even if you *never* used it other than to throw on a mix when you're done to see what pops out, it's worth the price. Makes mistake's crystal-clear. Just for fun I tried to see how *bad* I could make it sound, and it's not easy. With the most aggressive compressor setting, limiter turbo on, boosting 12db & cranking the EQ's up OR down... Still sounds pretty good! It's wild. The one thing I found could muddy up my sound was adding +/-3 or more on the "foundation" control. It's more useful than other's claim, but the last one I'm reaching for. Certainly no reason to dock it any stars-- like, just don't turn up the knob as much if you don't want. People complaining the In/Out aren't linkable? Here's the world's smallest violin for ya. It's 2 short knob turns or keystrokes. If you're going that fast-- slow down and close your eyes. That'll do more for your mix than any plugin if your mind is racing around. It's art. Give it a sec. Okay, going to go D/L a bunch of trials of BX gear now. I'm terrified how much this is gonna cost. Someone DM me if they if they have a yearly sale!! (if you can DM on here lol). Off my soapbox! PEACE!
Mighty Boost
★★★★★
by Pitti Weidenhof
This plugin is putting power to a mix while the handling is kept simple. I love this combination. It provides ideas. Masterdesk is a no brainer.
bx_masterdesk
★★★★★
by Galaxy Bridge
I haven't found a plugin that does what this does. Now my songs finally sound like music. Thanks again Brainworx!
bx master desk
★★★★★
by fretbone
The bx master desk is so easy to use, you may be fooled into thinking it's not up to par with more complicated mastering tools. I mastered the same mix with different plugins (some from other manufacturers) , created a playlist, and did blind listening tests. The bx masterdesk was as good or better than the others to my ears, it's really hard to make it not sound good. I'm 100 % confident in the results and it's fun to use. Great job Brainworx !!
Masterdesk
★★★★★
by Alex Hepting
Great not only for mastering. Shows up the relation between foundation and volume could be changed to achieve the DR target very quickly for example to meet modern standards also indicates more work on the mix. Resonance filter is more of a toy, but useful to have a quck check if there is some muddy frequency going on in a consolidated wave file, having less control over the stem tracks as example. The eq is very musical, not so harsh and forgiving.
masterdesk
★★★★☆
by diossyakos
Very streamlined, sounds great, I thought I don't need a tool like that with all my tried and tested plugins dedicated to all those functions (SHMC,etc) but it sounds nice even when pushed, shows DR values, THD sounds great, so I think I can get rid of a brickwall limiter on my master bus, and get some feedback on the DR at the same time. The only thing I miss is dithering, which would be essential in a "chain" like this.
Excellent!
★★★★★
by Jinthra65
I decided to try and compare with mastering via Ozone and some other masterings in-the-box solutions. I couldn't believe it, so warm and depth, yet transparent, true analog Mastering! Many thanks to bx!
MasterDesk - Amazing !
★★★★★
by 123studio.tech
Better results than with plugins from other brands, easy to use, easy to understand, consumes few CPU and Asio resources. The mastering sounds wider, deeper, softer, more pleasant to the ear, in a few minutes. My first purchase at Brainworx, I am very satisfied.
Stunning for a plug-in
★★★★★
by ChrisW
Having tried eMastered, the suite of Ozone 8 plug-ins, and the Waves Abby Road mastering plug-in I can say that hands down with no reservations, this Brainworx plug is the master. It's warm, it adds depth and width, and the pre-sets are actually effective. I'm just stunned. Honestly didn't think it could be as effective at creating a master as it is. To be fair, I don't think it can equal an experienced human with analogue gear, but for what I paid for it, it doesn't have to. Just incredible quality for an amazing price if you get it on sale.