IMC : A Portable Mastering Solution [+ OTO BOUM comparison] 

I bought the BOUM last week and I think it adds a lot of flavor to the signal and you can get quite some mileage out of it in terms of making things louder. I make Techno (134-145bpm) and with the right settings for attack and release this thing makes a very nice set and forget mastering device for our live sets. And for the money it keeps up with IMC pretty well.

Nice..i use my EHX Platform now two years in my master chain and i am very very happy with the results! Cheers ✌️ Best regards from Vienna 🇦🇹

Great examples, you really showed it off well. Pretty impressed with the Boum as well though!

Mr. Stimming really did it!

No meters is kind of a real miss on this one. I know we should use our ears, but when our ears are tired, it would really help to see what the comp is doing.

It's very cool. If I was a touring musician that could write it off on my taxes, maybe I'd get it, but as a hobbyist, it's way too expensive.

Seems like a beautiful thing. Built and how it's sounding. But as a non professional I'll have to get away with the eq and multiband compressor on the mc707's master or maybe try out the wmd mscl on parallel or the new noise engineering 6hp dynamics module...

I tried Tanzbär 2 (through lots of fx) without Boum thinking it really wasn't necessary but the sound was out of control. Boum is my £500 Instant Mastering Chain.

Be great to see a heat comparison

Regarding the gain raising output "issue" on the Boum, Does the IMC have automatic gain compensation for the drive? On the IMC. Lovely device. Completely out of my reach financially but even if I could afford it I would greatly miss some kind of metering for the gain reduction. I guess they went for the smallest form factor but still. Meterring please

@18.35 How did you get the cool chord sound ? 👌

Sounds incredible!!! Really awesome…But for 1/6 of the price I’ll stick with Boum or simply run into software mastering chain. 😉

oto was the way I thought even the same ..thx... ...other solution devices maybe pedals multifx ideas to push the sound for summing mastering but for live acts..for the road guys .thx...

I've been using for my live set for a while after and before djs and many ppl have said my set sonically sounds better.

what do you think about this vs overstayer modular channel? they seem to occupy a similar space to me ... I'm kind of leaning toward modular channel just because it is much more feature rich on the tracking side of things. Any input appreciated, many thanks🙏

I've been using the MOD DuoX with some parametric EQ and the RMPro mastering plugin. Very basic stuff, but gets the job done for my amateur efforts ;) (nice thing is I can also bounce from the DAW over usb-audio)

I think the IMC is the perfet little box. Analog EQ, Compression, Saturation, Transformers.

I think you would get better results in terms of end of chain “Mastering” using Boum if you have a lower level from the source going into the box

Constructive criticism: on your digitakt, you’ve chosen, as your test music, a track which already has some kind of effect (from the sound design, I assume) that sounds like dynamics processing ‘pumping’ the drums. There’s a slightly hissy sound (maybe a hat sound?) that has a kind of slow attack or something, creating a kind of ‘throbbing’ effect. It actually sounds like some sort of backward cymbal? Because this *already* sounds a bit like a compressor ‘squashing’ the drums, it’s a very confusing sound to have chosen to demonstrate what this mastering device and (all its possible dynamics processing settings) are doing to the original source material and can do. Maybe it’s RU-vid’s own data compression algorithms that are interfering in the ‘dry’ material, dunno. Hope this is helpful feedback.Thanks for your generosity in making this video, all the same.

Great video! How did you connect this to get it thru the iPad? Thank U!

Cheers

I like this but you can use a UA Apollo, configure it then unplug the laptop it keeps the setting, headphone, monitor and main outs

Toraiz Sp 16 + Access Virus Ti 2 : I already have a Toraiz Sp 16 and an Access Virus Ti 2 Desktop. I just transfered my stems on my OT MK 2 and I will use Access Virus Ti 2 for Reverb and Toraiz Sp 16 for Compression and Drive. do you think I can have the same output level as’Martin ?

Wonder how this would compare to an Overstayer Modular Channel [which obviously isn't 'portable', but same price] 🤔

🚀

I use OT as my master out, instead i use iPad and iConnectivity audio/midi device so i can "master" OT signal with iPad apps, much more effective and cheaper than Elektron HEAT, but i wonder why you wouldn't get HEAT because it also has USB, and is much cheaper than IMC?

Well, I would rather use a computer as a budget option. Or maybe rent it for a couple of shows if that was possible.

Also consider a Hardware Waves MaxxBCL rack processor...

7:24 a few db is certainly a lot! it's twice as loud!

I think Elektron "Heat and FX" is the all in one Solution.

Roland mx1 has a master button (with presets) and decent results.. :-)

Price is totally crazy for what it offers. Especially taking into account they didn't create anything new, they are using old designs, put together inside a box. Only worth it if you're a big fan of the clown. I would buy it for $600-$800. Great video, thanks!

3000? Holy crap.

what about the analog heath Mk2? is it comparable?

Is it true that it costs around 2800 euro?

Yep - the boum is not really a great mastering device.I like it more as a buss driver and gluer. End of chain I agree it's not ideal, but as a glue comp it's amazing to me.

Has anyone heard of FMR Audio RNC1773 Really Nice Compressor? Thoughts?

I told you. ;)

Show me a nerd with an Amazon Basics compressor. That guy knows how to party. If he has $3,000 he’s spending it on coke, not a mastering box. There’s the Boum, the Analog Heat, endless overdrives/compressors out there, and a lot of saturator plugins you could use. There’s a million ways to increase perceived loudness, and the last thing I want is an all-in-one box to generically raise it. Does Stimming need this because he doesn’t want to use a mixer? The V10 has compression and EQ. Most of the Allen & Heath stuff has drive. I really don’t like the idea of a “make my shit sound better” box.

It’s a shame that you didn’t really push the Boum at all..

Nah... that IMC is waayy too trigger-happy. You would basically need another person constantly monitoring it with headphones and a level meter and constantly re-dialing everything in. That distortion is super dangerous! Especially when you improvise a lot during concerts. Just one slightly louder Bass sound and the entire Low-End starts to fall apart. On top of that, it doesn't even give you that much of an advantage in perceived loudness. By far not enough to compete with CDJ's in the red even a bit. Don't get me wrong: the IMC can be a really nice-sounding mastering unit - But only in a very controlled studio environment. This thing doesn't do any good in live situations. So I find it very peculiar, that it's marketed exactly as a live tool... I ended up using a dirt cheap, used TC finalizer 96k. That thing is very much a set-and-forget thing, so you can actually play your gig, instead of pampering that drive dial. The clipper on the TC finalizer catches peaks very reliably and in combination with the other mastering tools in its digital mastering chain, the finalizer can take quite a bit of going in hot without introducing audible distortion in the low end or the whole mix falling apart. The Finalizer gets me around a good 7-8 dB extra perceived loudness. And as a bonus, it's not 3000 dollars - not even close... Who actually uses this IMC as intended by the manufacturer?!? sorry for the rant :)