The final step in the post production process is Mastering. Adding the final polish to a song and bringing it up to an adequate volume level, without sucking the dynamics and life out of the song, is an art form.
For full analog mastering I use the Solid State Logic Sigma as my console and capture the analog signal back in with the Dangerous Convert-AD+. The Dangerous Music convertor allows me to really extract a higher volume out of the analog realm. For analog compression I have Chameleon Labs 7721 and Warm Audio VCA Bus Compressor. For digital mastering I use the legendary Weiss DS-1 MK3 or Fabfilter L2 for limiting.