hey guys,
from time to time i step away from the progressive stuff and make stuff under a different name - working on this one, would love to know thoughts and feedback before i put it out there:

I agree with the guys on 'Kick' .....that plugin is all you ever need to make kicks for sure!

this type of music is all centered around drums and bass. So it will be a good place to start to have your kick most prominent and mix everything around that. - generally the rule of thumb with any dance music I guess.

Hz don't necessarily matter - just use your ears. I do have certain cutoff points I tend to automatically roll off too but this isn't a necessity. In my opinion only having the kick taking up 0-200Hz is too sparse - wont be much low end pressure.
This style of music is usually relatively easy to mix - due to the fact it doesn't have many parts. Less is more if you like.

So get a good drum mix and a good relationship between your kick and bass and you are practically there!

What type of ear does it take to be able to do your own mastering?

Can it be achieved if you practice enough and treat it like a mixing process?

I've  experimenting with this process for just about six years and  have done a variety of techniques from mastering to not having mastering at all.

I'll say that my ability to understand each tool and listen more carefully came with an upgrade to my speakers. That precision lead me to be more precise in my headphone listening ability.

Basically, my mix was what helped me get the results I was after, but i am still unsure about how to go about self mastering.

I am completely ok strapping on a compressor and a limiter and calling it a day, but i tend to spend a few weeks getting that compressor and limiter to sit right, while getting the loudness of the track to be not so over bearing.

I don't use any thing else outside of that because I don't think my music calls for it. But the end result seems to have a more pleasurable listening experience when ever i compare my tracks to other people. My comparisons are often way to loud lol.

to be honest in this day and age due to the loudness war and 'in the box' mastering you can very much get by with having a tight mix down and then just using mastering to boost your average volume up to a more commercial level. So in essence you are raising the volume of a well mixed track. nowadays that can give a competitive result or at least a result that can allow your track to be compared to other tracks, especially true in the realms of dance music. Lets be honest a lot of sub genres in dance music aren't Sonically great: No dynamic range, extremely loud, clipping, brick wall limiting and over compressed! Some genres it almost seems that people are doing that on purpose. 

If you are using someone to do mastering then yeh other things are applied, for example my mastering sessions usually have a mix (or all) of: Stereo imaging work, Compression, sometimes multiband compression, Mid/side EQ, Harmonic Exciters, Linear EQ, Automation and Limiting.
But a mastering session doesn't 'need' all of that.

Some mastering suites have fancy outboard gear but they do tend to charge extra for their use and (in my opinion) the noticeability is minimal. Someone couldnt really listen to a track and be like 'ahhhh yeh they used an external SSL and external EQ on that' .... or maybe some super audiophiles could but I doubt it. Digital plugins have come a long long way.

But if you really want to 'master' your own music you can very much get by with having a tight mixdown then applying some subtle compression and pushing a limiter for a higher average volume - practically just using your master as a volume boost. I mean essentially that's what the goal of a mastering limiter is.

mastering ISNT some super duper fix all magic so don't get too hung up on not knowing all that much about it. you are right about focusing on your mixes because that is 95% of your overall sound. Even the mastering wizards of the world cant fix a very badly mixed track so no sweat, you are on the right path.

hey man. I produce / mix / master all my own stuff and I have a service running for other people as well.

personally I like to do everything myself because 'its mine' if that makes sense and when I'm producing and mixing my music I already know what I am going to do to my master so I kinda produce to fit that. I think having someone else master your music is a good route as you get a second opinion and someone elses ear on the track, which is usually listening objectively. So mastering by someone else is cool and I suppose if your mixing skills are basic then that can be cool too.
only down side is a lot of people are just after your money so even if a track is really poorly mixed they will just master it anyway and serve you up a polished / louder but still poorly mixed track.......as long as they get paid. There are many people out there who will constructively comment on your mix and try to help you fix it or offer to do a mix / master for you (more money obviously). 

Each to their own though!! sometimes I let a label I release on do my master but more often than not I prefer my own.........simply because I am selfish and want my own music to be 100% my own haha.

a lot of 'pros' also bounce everything down to audio and then do a final mix from those audio parts. I once read that Deadmau5 does this. So he will mix in his project but then for the final version he will export everything to audio and do a final mix down.
I know a few high level producers who do this. Also makes sense because when you are mixing other peoples music you generally do Stem mixes anyway.

lots of great packs out there. The new Jerome isma-ae sample pack has some pretty good kicks in It.
really all depends what genre you are making I guess. Remember that sampling peoples kicks doesn't necessarily mean you are going to achieve the same output. I mean yes you can sample nice kicks but they are powerful because of the mixdown around the kick.

I remember some of the Thomas penton packs had nice kicks in,

more often than not now I use 'KICK' from sonic academy.

its awesome - the fact you can easily adjust the tonality and the length of your kicks is a winner to me. Makes it super easy to tune your kicks and also adjust the lengths for your basslines to fit which is massively important! you can also add in the 'click' to the top end to help it cut through the mix. Cant stress enough how good that plugin is.