How to prepare your track for mastering
Send a stereo WAV at the project's own resolution, with 3 to 6 dB of headroom and no limiter on the master bus. Add the versions you'll need, instrumental or a cappella, and your ISRC codes if you already have them.
Headroom and the master bus
Leave the mix peaking around -6 dBFS, and take the output limiter off. That headroom gives the engineer room to work on the dynamics. A mix delivered already squashed arrives with its transients destroyed, and nothing brings them back.
If you mixed while listening through a limiter, that's fair enough. Keep it as a listening reference, but export the version without. Send both, and say which one is the reference.
Delivery format
WAV or AIFF, 24-bit minimum, at the project's sample rate. No MP3, no conversion beforehand, no dithering at your end: that happens right at the end of the chain.
Name the file with artist, title and version: Artist_Title_MixV3.wav. On an EP, clear numbering avoids running-order mistakes at delivery.
Versions to plan for
Think ahead about what you'll need: an instrumental for sync and for live, an a cappella for remixes, a radio edit if the track is long. Making them while you're mixing costs a few minutes. Asking for them six months later costs a whole session.
And say where it's going: streaming, vinyl or CD. Vinyl has constraints of its own around phase and sibilance, and it's prepared differently. More on our mastering page.
Common questions
Do I need to send the separate parts?
Not for a standard master — a stereo file is enough. They only become useful if the mix needs a revision, and we'll tell you before we process anything.
How long does mastering take?
A few days for a single depending on how busy the studio is, longer for an EP or an album, where the running order needs some distance. The quote sets a realistic schedule.
Tell us about your project.
We take on a limited number of projects each season. We read everything that comes in.