Mastering

In this Video, Editor In Chief Sam Inglis explains why mastering engineers are necessary, what they can do for us, and whether we can really replace them with plug-ins!

In this final episode of the SOS Mastering Essentials series, Ian Shepherd reveals the best specification and file formats for submitting your masters — both online, and for CD and vinyl.

The processor that revolutionised home mastering is at last available in software form.

Compression in mastering is different — both the goals and the methods. Mastering engineer Ian Shepherd describes three different mastering compression techniques — how and when to use them, and why the goal is to be invisible.

How loud is loud enough, and how loud is too loud?

EQ will make or break your master. It's the single most important factor in mastering, once you've decided the loudness...

In this six-part video tutorial series, produced in association with Steinberg, well-known mastering engineer Ian...

Without a firm grasp of these three ‘core concepts’ of mastering, you’ll always struggle to get great results. In Part 2 of his series for SOS, mastering engineer Ian Shepherd describes his “Three Ms of Mastering”, and why he thinks they’re so important.

MAAT's mastering equaliser models the characteristics of 12 analogue EQ designs, but leaves out their real-world drawbacks!

We look at the sweetening tools on offer for mastering in Studio One.

Studio One's Project window offers a fully fledged mastering environment.

If the loudness sits below -14LUFS, can I rely on the streaming services to apply their normalisation process to bring up the level when the song is streamed?

IK Multimedia take home-studio mastering to the MAX — and beyond!

The move away from traditional studio production has opened up new opportunities for mastering engineers like Piper Payne — but it’s also brought new challenges.

For audio mastering, Fred Anton Corvest’s new Maxima app might be ideal for users simply looking to get the final audio levels right with a bit of compression or limiting...

The latest versions of iZotope’s Ozone and Neutron are not only more intelligent than their predecessors, they can also communicate with one another.

Drawing our mini-series to a close, we take you on a detailed tour of the mix and mastering stages of the Damnation’s Hammer album Unseen Planets, Deadly Spheres.

Getting the tonality of your mix right is one of the most challenging aspects of home mastering. Thankfully, ‘profiling EQ’ plug-ins can help.

Streaming is now the most important way in which music is consumed. So how can you make sure your music sounds as good as possible?