DELIVERING THE BEST PREMASTERS
THINGS TO DO PRIOR TO DELIVERING TO US
ACCEPTED FORMATS
WAV / AIFF Audio Files (16 or 24 Bit / 44.1or 48 Khz Sample Rate)
Digital Audio Tape (DAT)
Compact Disc
Cassette
COMPRESSION & LIMITING
We love compression and limiting but when you provide us with your premaster if it has compression and limiting included on your mixbus then please provide us with a version without any compression or limiting too. Alternatively, please consider applying compression and limiting to your individual group busses instead. This will assist in preserving the dynamics on your premaster.
LOUDNESS
We aim to get your master as loud as possible while preserving transients and dynamics. Feel free to let us know what your level preference in when you supply your premaster. Some genres require their masters to be pushed and overcooked while others like to retain the integrity and characteristics of their original premaster and go for a more balanced natural sound. Remember that mastering the final process for your premaster and the better your premaster sounds the better we will be able to make your master sound.
FADES & SILENCE
If possible, Include a few seconds of silence at the beginning and end of your track. If you prefer, you can fade out the end, or we can handle the fades for you just inform us of your preference and provide us with instructions on the desired fade length if needed.
Be aware of excess low frequencies and rumble in your mixes. A spectrum analyser is your friend, and can help to point out any problem causing frequencies that are not audible to the human ear. A great free Spectrum Analyser to consider is Voxengo Span. This also has a Correlation Meter so it can also help you solve any phase related issues in your mixes.
LOW-END NOTES
MANAGING SIBILANCE
Please be aware of sibilant frequencies on vocals with T’s and S’s . Untreated these may cause issues between your vocals and hi hats but can be tamed within your mix session with some basic De-Esser plugins such as Techivation T-De-Esser. If you would prefer a more advanced plugin we recommend Soothe, Fabfilter Pro-MB or Weiss De-Esser.