Preparing Your Files
Mastering works best when it begins with a considered and intentional mix. Please review the following before sending your material.
Headroom & Dynamics
In my experience, it’s generally best to avoid aggressive brickwall limiting on your final export. Compression or limiting used as part of the artistic process is completely fine, but leaving some room for mastering helps the process operate properly.
As a general guideline, peaks around –3 dBFS are ideal. Loudness is not the goal at this stage. That said, I’m not too concerned about mixes arriving a little hot. I work in 32- and 64-bit float, which gives me plenty of headroom to reassess loudness if needed, so I’m happy to work with your mix as you like it.
Export Settings
Please export your mix at the original sample rate and bit depth of your session. Do not convert or upsample prior to delivery.
Stereo interleaved WAV files are preferred unless discussed otherwise.
Quality Control
Before sending your files, carefully check:
• No unintended distortion or clipping
• No clicks, pops, dropouts, or glitches
• No unwanted background noise
• Clean edits and fades
Check your mix in mono to ensure that essential elements do not disappear due to phase issues.
While I always do my best to address issues that are already baked into a pre-master, mastering is most effective when refining a solid mix rather than repairing avoidable problems.
Please keep a backup of your final approved pre-master before delivery.
Context & References
If you have a reference track that reflects the direction you’re aiming for — in tone, density, dynamics, or overall atmosphere — include it.
This is not about matching another record, but about understanding intention and context.
A short note describing how you feel about the mix, or what you’re unsure about, is always helpful.
Mix Resubmissions and master revisions
Revisions are part of the process and handled with care. Unlimited revisions (within reason) are included in the mastering fee. If changes to your mix are made after mastering has already begun, the new file will be treated as a resubmission. Please ensure your mix is final before sending.
Delivery Formats
Standard digital masters are delivered as:
48 kHz | 24-bit | WAV
or
44.1 kHz | 16-bit | WAV
If you require alternate formats, including AIFF, MP3, or other specifications, this can be arranged upon request.
For CD manufacturing, please provide:
• ISRC codes
• CD-Text information
• EAN / UPC (if available)
CD masters are delivered as DDP files ready for replication.
For vinyl or cassette mastering, please indicate this at the outset. In addition, provide the intended side-time split (track distribution per side — A, B, C, D, etc.) before the session begins. Side allocation and duration directly influence technical and level decisions during mastering. format-specific considerations may influence mastering decisions. **For all projects please include final metadata including track titles, album title, artist name and genre.