[shabbray2.0]

Yes, I do.
more or less good, hahaha.
but I save the mastering tools just for making it louder and EQ it finally, for brightness and/or ged rid of too much low frequency rumble, like rolling of the low end a tad.
the perception of a mastered recording to the raw mixdown is far superior even at this little "mastering" I do . got a lot to do with the perceived loudness I think. but a limiter also gels all the parts better together, at least in my ears. too much headroom lets everything sound too far away. and I am not talking bout squashing the track right under the ceiling. a few Dbs off the highest peaks is normally what I do, everything else steals the life and breaths of things. tried at my last tune and yes, its a bit louder as the previous one, but it lacks dynamics, impact and perceived air. will redo it.
so all in all my mastering is EQ and Limiting the final mix.
I agree to all those engineers who say that a good mix only needs this. (multiband) compression reverb etc. are just signs that you did something wrong while mixing. so go back to the mix if possible and do it better. if thats not possible they are of course lifesaver tools.

Every record benefits from it I think. if its just alone to bring all tunes on an album to the same perceived volume...this can save the listeners earsdrums and gives it a cohesive feel. everything else would sound awkward.
but overall I think less is more in mastering. mixing is free. mastering should just make a mix technically good.

the best reads I had about mastering & mixing were written by bob katz. he isnt attached to a specific genre and I think that makes it so good. he seem to tread every audio as it is: precious, na matter if its a lo-fi recording or some wankass U2 guitar part.
his tips and tricks are so well explained that its possible to imagine how a tune would benefit from it while reading, without the need of having it done before. (ok this sentence is totally fucked up by my german gramatic, sorry).
btw, I think I found his "bible" as a .pdf on the web back in the days, maybe I find it on my external HD and up it, if theres the need to do it.