Stereo mastering

How to prepare your tracks for stereo mastering

Take a final listen to the track and check if everything is mixed properly. Below a few tips.

• If your track contains vocals check them on “ssss” sounds and use a De-esser if possible to avoid loud s-peaks.
  The s-sounds should be in balance with the rest of the high frequencies of the mix.
• Check the level of the high and low frequencies of your sound effects. These frequencies should not be too loud compared to the rest of the high and low frequencies of your mix.
• Listen carefully to the balance between the bass drum and bass line.
• Bypass all compression and limiting on the master output.
• Turn off dithering and noise shaping.
• Check your output level after removing the compression and limiting and make sure that it doesn’t clip.
• Make sure your peak levels are anywhere between -12 and -0,1dB.
• Render you track as aiff or wav. The minimum bit depth 16 bit The minimum sample-rate 44.1khz.

The Result of the mastering

Of course the result of the mastering greatly depends on our mastering skills and experience. We have more than 20 years of experience in stereo mastering various types of music. During these years we have had many satisfied customers. Check the credentials on this page. Also check our discography for a selection of the work we did in the past.

However the result of the stereo mastering will also depend on your personal wishes and the quality of your mix:

1. Your personal wishes
   • Tell us what kind of sound you are looking for or what you feel is missing in the sound of your track. When uploading your tracks you can place comments using our web interface. After uploading and during the mastering you can also send us a message using the private online forum. The mastering engineer is reading these messages during the mastering. If we have questions or comments we will place them on this forum too.
   • Upload a reference track along with the track you want us to master using the web interface. The reference track can be a version of the track mastered by you. Or a track you would like us to use as an example for your sound.
2. The quality of your mix
   • Use high quality sounds / samples / synths / recordings.
     The better your mix sounds before mastering, the better the result will be after the mastering.
   • Listen to your mix on a variety of sound systems.
   • Make sure you properly prepare your song for mastering.