Archspire Mix Balancing: Dave Otero’s Magic AB & Referencing Workflow

So, you’ve been slaving away. Those drums are punching, the guitars are searing, the bass is thundering, and the vocals are ripping. Individually, each element sounds pretty killer. But then you bring all the faders up, and… well, it’s not quite the cohesive beast you imagined. Suddenly, things are fighting for space, clarity is lost, and that initial excitement starts to fade. Sound familiar? This is a classic mixing hurdle, and even pros like Dave Otero (Flatline Audio) face it when wrangling the sonic intensity of bands like Archspire.

When Dave sat down for his Nail The Mix session featuring Archspire, he hit that exact point: individual elements were shaping up, but they weren't "playing well with one another." His solution? A meticulous approach to A/B referencing, supercharged by the Magic AB plugin from Sample Magic. Let's dive into how he uses this crucial technique to ensure his mixes not only stand up to scrutiny but also push the band's sound forward.

Why Your Mix Needs a Reality Check: The Power of A/B Referencing

Let’s be honest, our ears are incredibly adaptable – and that’s not always a good thing in the studio. Spend hours tweaking a kick drum, and you’ll eventually lose all perspective on whether it actually sounds good or if you’ve just gotten used to it. This is where A/B referencing becomes your best friend. By quickly switching between your current mix and well-mixed commercial tracks, you get an instant reality check.

Dave Otero emphasizes that this isn't about mindlessly copying another mix. It's about:

• Gaining Perspective: Breaking free from ear fatigue and hearing your mix with fresh ears.
• Ensuring Competitiveness: Making sure your track can sonically hang with other releases in the genre.
• Identifying Weaknesses: Pinpointing areas where your mix might be lacking in low-end, clarity, width, or impact compared to polished productions.
• Driving Improvement: Especially when working with a band that has previous releases, referencing helps you deliver a product that demonstrably elevates their sound.

Supercharge Your Referencing: Dave Otero's Magic AB Workflow

While the old-school method of exporting your mix and dropping it into a new playlist alongside references still works, it's clunky and time-consuming. Dave Otero streamlines this process using Magic AB. This nifty plugin allows you to load up multiple reference tracks directly within your DAW session and instantly A/B between them and your live mix.

Setting Up Magic AB for Seamless Comparison

Dave’s setup is straightforward but effective: he places Magic AB as a post-fader insert on his main mix bus. This is key because it means the plugin is hearing your mix after any master bus processing you might have active at that stage, giving you an accurate representation of what you're sending out.

He loads up to nine reference tracks into Magic AB. While he loves Magic AB, he also notes the existence of a newer, more feature-rich (and pricier) alternative from Plugin Alliance with a similar name (likely referring to Metric AB), for those looking for even more advanced referencing capabilities. But for quick, effective A/B-ing, Magic AB gets the job done brilliantly, allowing for immediate comparisons right in your session.

Building Your Reference Arsenal: Dave Otero's Go-To Choices

Choosing the right reference tracks is just as important as the A/B process itself. Dave has a well-defined strategy for selecting his sonic benchmarks when working on the Archspire material:

The "Better Than Before" Rule: Previous Band Material

For any band with a back catalog, this is non-negotiable for Dave. He loaded up a track from Archspire's previous album. His personal rule? "I will not allow myself to be done with the mix until it sounds better in my opinion." This ensures he’s delivering a superior product and pushing the band forward – a core tenet of being a professional producer.

Learning from the Masters: Mixes You Admire

Dave, like many of us, has producers whose work he deeply respects. He often includes mixes by Yens Bogren in his reference list.

• Enslaved – RIITIIR: He calls this album (and specifically the mix) "goddamn amazing." Despite being stylistically different from Archspire, the sheer quality—the "air around the drums," the depth, and the progressive yet rooted black metal sound—makes it an aspirational benchmark.
• Extol: Another Yens Bogren mix that Dave admires.
  These choices aren't about genre-matching precisely, but about aiming for a certain level of sonic excellence. In fact, observing Yens' drum sounds on these records (and Yens' own Nail The Mix session) even prompted Dave to explore more parallel drum compression techniques, a powerful tool for adding punch and character you can learn more about in our metal compression secrets guide.

Your Own Triumphs: Leveraging Past Successes

Dave also brings in his own previous mixes that he's proud of and that were well-received. For the Archspire session, he included a Cattle Decapitation song he mixed. He knew the band liked that album, which was one reason they chose to work with him. This acts as a personal quality control and a reminder of his own sonic strengths.

Context is King: Current Listening & Genre Neighbors

Finally, he’ll load up tracks he's currently listening to or tracks from bands in a similar sonic ballpark. In the video, he pulls up an Allegaeon track. While he notes it's a different style of mix (bass-heavier, thicker drums), it’s important because listeners might play Archspire right after an Allegaeon song. Your mix needs to feel like it belongs in that world and doesn't sound jarringly out of place.

The Unskippable Step: Level Matching

This is absolutely CRUCIAL. Your reference tracks are almost certainly mastered, meaning they'll be significantly louder than your unmastered mix-in-progress. Louder often feels better, even if it isn't. Dave is careful to visually level match his mix with the references using the output meters in Magic AB. This ensures a fair comparison based on tone and balance, not just sheer volume, and saves your ears (and speakers!) from painful surprises.

"Is My Mix… Papery?" Interpreting What You Hear

Once his references were loaded and level-matched, Dave took the plunge and started comparing his Archspire mix. This is where the rubber meets the road. Even with his experience, he admitted to being "a little nervous" – a feeling many of us can relate to!

His initial observations after A/B-ing were telling:

• Bottom-End Deficiencies: He immediately heard "a lot of stuff in the bottom end that needs to fill out." This could mean anything from needing more sub frequencies, adjusting the kick-bass relationship, or adding warmth in the low-mids.
• "Papery" Guitars: This is a fantastic descriptor. He felt the guitars sounded "a little papery" and "scratchy," lacking the desired width and richness. "Papery" often points to issues in the mid-range – perhaps a build-up of unflattering frequencies or a lack of body. This is where precise EQ strategies for modern metal become vital to carve out space and add weight.

These quick insights, gained within seconds of A/B-ing, provide a clear roadmap for his next mixing moves. Without referencing, he might have chased these issues for much longer or even missed them entirely.

The Goal: Not Just Copying, But Conquering

It’s worth reiterating: the aim of A/B referencing isn't to make your Archspire mix sound identical to an Enslaved record. It's about using established, high-quality productions to:

• Calibrate your ears.
• Identify specific problem areas in your own mix.
• Ensure your track has competitive impact and clarity.
• Build confidence that you’re moving in the right direction.

Interestingly, after comparing his work-in-progress to his original final mix of the Archspire track (which he cheekily loaded into the "previous version" slot in Magic AB), Dave was pleasantly surprised. "We're not that far off," he noted, realizing that even after just a few hours of work in the Nail The Mix session, he was approaching the quality of his completed master. That’s the power of a solid workflow and good referencing!

Bring Dave Otero's Archspire Insights Into Your Mixes

Dave Otero's systematic approach to A/B referencing using Magic AB is a masterclass in maintaining objectivity and making informed decisions. By carefully selecting diverse reference tracks and meticulously level-matching, he can quickly diagnose and address issues in his mix, ensuring the final product for Archspire is as powerful and clear as possible.

Want to see exactly how Dave Otero tackled the full Archspire mix, from raw tracks to final polish? With Nail The Mix, you get to be a fly on the wall as top-tier producers like Dave mix iconic metal tracks from scratch. You get the raw multitracks to practice on yourself and hours of in-depth tutorials explaining every decision, every plugin, every technique. If you're ready to move beyond presets and truly unlock your sound in modern metal mixing, then check out the full Archspire "Bleed The Future" session with Dave Otero and gain access to a treasure trove of knowledge from the best in the business. Get ready to elevate your mixes!