Recording - October 2013 - 48

iMusicAlbum
Audio Mastering Studio
Audio mastering on the iPad... really?
Review by Mike Metlay
There have been a lot of claims made about what you can do with an
iPad these days, and a horde of app developers seem bound and determined to show that iOS devices can do everything a computer can, and
sometimes do it better. There’s some credence to claims like that when
you’re discussing things like MIDI remote control (either wireless or via
USB/Camera Connection Kit), since the iPad’s multitouch surface allows a
developer to configure virtually any sort of control layout he or she can
imagine—way more flexibility than you get from a mouse or trackpad. But
when it comes to audio processing, the claims get a bit tougher to support.
The fact is, the iPad isn’t all that powerful a computer when compared to
even a mid-priced Windows or Mac OS X notebook, much less a full-sized
tower with multiple processors and lots of peripherals. But surprises abound in
this industry; the release of WaveMachine Labs’ Auria (reviewed September
2012) stunned folks who were convinced that a great-sounding multitrack
DAW, complete with plug-ins, was an impossibility under iOS. And now a
new developer called iMusicAlbum, headed up by programmer Igor Vasiliev,
is offering an app called Audio Mastering Studio (listed in some places simply as Audio Mastering), which makes a few audacious claims of its own.
In slightly fractured English, the product’s website and App Store page
assure us that this is “the first fully functional high-quality audio mastering
application for iPad.” It offers sound recording, a set of mastering-suite
effects, very simple edit functions, a variety of audio import/export formats, and interoperability with other apps via Audiobus (reviewed July
2013). Pretty strong stuff, especially since mastering may be the one area
of professional audio production whose tool set can be even more stratospheric in quality—and cost—than what you’d expect to find in a tracking
studio. So what do you get for your twelve bucks?
Getting around
Audio Mastering Studio is organized into four main screens: Files,
Waveform, Controls, and Settings. The app’s functions are distributed
across them in a fairly logical manner, and you’re never more than two taps
away from a given function. Every screen has, along the bottom, transport
controls and stereo meters (peak, with overload indicators and a moving
RMS value shown by yellow triangles as shown in the screenshots).
The Files screen lists the currently-available audio files, each one with
length, audio format information (bit depth, sample rate, MP3 quality,
etc.), and import date. Files can be deleted, renamed, singly or batch
processed (more on this below), and shared via SoundCloud or
AudioCopy/AudioPaste. There’s a built-in “Web access” function where
the iPad is given an IP address and port number on your local network
so you can pull files via a web browser on another machine. Files can
be exported as WAV, AIFF, MP3, MPEG4 audio, CAF, and FLAC, in 24bit or 16-bit resolution, 44.1 or 48 kHz sample rate, with downsampling
and dither available if desired. You can even have them open in another audio app.
On the Waveform screen, the file’s waveform is shown for the full length
of the track. You can scroll through the track with a fingertip to set playback points, and set two markers called In and Out. With those, you can
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RECORDING October 2013

set a fade-in to happen after the In point and a fadeout to happen before the Out point, each with one of
three curve shapes, or loop the audio between them.
On the Controls screen, you have access to the four
audio effects processing blocks in the app. In order, there
is a 10-band graphic Equalizer with bands from 35 Hz
to 18 kHz (±6 dB per band, each band can be soloed);
a Harmonic Saturator that can add 3rd, 3rd+5th, or

3rd+5th+7th harmonics for sparkle; a Stereo Imaging
processor that allows for widening or narrowing of the
stereo field at three frequency bands; and a Maximizer,
basically a lookahead limiter with simple settings for maximum level, response time, and makeup gain. When
you’ve set these parameters to your satisfaction, you can
save them as a Preset; the app comes with seven ready
to use, and seven empty slots for your presets.
The Settings screen lets you choose everything from
playback and recording settings to conversion parameters, file naming conventions, and more. It’s worth noting
that the app can record audio directly in 24-bit or 16-bit,
44.1 kHz WAV or AIFF format, complete with an auto-

Recording - October 2013

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