Top 10 Reasons to Use a Real Mastering Studio

By Jerry Tubb on Sunday Mar, 7th 2010
  1. Experienced Engineers - with many years of expertise, mastering records on a daily basis, bringing a broad range of technical skill and musical knowledge to their work. Audio Quality is their top priority. Thousands of real mastering credits of artists whose names you may actually recognize!
  2. Specialized Mastering Rooms - large acoustically tuned rooms for accurate optimal listening conditions. Creature comfortable furniture and free WiFi.
  3. Full Range Monitors - that are honest, accurate, and reveal great detail throughout the frequency spectrum. Clients often comment "Wow! I've never heard my mixes with such clarity".
  4. An Impartial Third Party - They say you can only hear a mix for the first time "once". Independent mastering engineers can offer an objective unbiased assessment of mixes, which can help in making the best decisions for improvement of a project.
  5. Mastering Ears - specializing in attention to detail,  an awareness of the big picture, with technical and musical sensitivities. A knowledge of a broad range of musical styles and current trends. Offers a mix-check consulting, impartial advice on how to improve your mix for optimal results, in advance of the mastering session.
  6. Mastering Gear - High-quality signal path with mastering equalizers, compressors, converters, gain stages, and a wide variety of playback transports for optimum results. The best analog tape machines available, and a wide variety of digital formats.
  7. Best Mastering Software - State of the art DAW software, optimized playback, processing, editing, and delivery of masters. Includes a range of mastering quality plug-ins when desired. Delivery of a wide variety of formats from high resolution 24/96, compact disc 16/44.1, to mp3.
  8. Quality Control - QC procedures in place, including diagnostic software for checking physical discs for errors. Real-time proofing of masters is available.
  9. Fast FTP Server - Offers clients the speed and convenience of uploading mixes, downloading references, and delivering DDP masters electronically, without the need for physical media. A valuable service for remote clients and unattended sessions.
  10. Service - A staff focused on service, open to clients requests, offering advice when needed. Catering to veteran artists, bands on the rise, and first-timers. Documentation of session procedures and repeatable gear settings. Referrals to best replication, duplication, and distribution sources.