File Preparation
For Mastering
Recommendations on the best way to prepare your mix for mastering.
Please let me know if you have any questions. I’m here to help.
- Disable / bypass the limiter if you have one on your master / stereo bus. You may leave other master bus processing effects if they are necessary for the sound of your mix. I recommend disabling any plugins that are there purely for increasing loudness.
- Make sure the audio is not clipping. 2-3db of headroom is fine. Export at 32bit if possible to be safe.
- Render / Bounce / Export your stereo mix as a .WAV (or .AIF) file from your DAW.
- Render at the same sample rate it was mixed at. Do not change sample rate.
- Export at 24bit or greater. 32bit float is preferred if available in your DAW.
- Make sure you leave a second or two of space before/after the song and that your reverb tails / cymbals / etc are not accidentally cut off at the end.
- Number all songs in the correct order. Double check the spelling of all song titles.
Use this format:
01 – Song One.wav
02 – Song Two.wav
03 – Song Three.wav - Optional: If you have very particular spacing between songs already planned out, you may include a version with all songs in the same file with the exact spacing that you want (good for gapless transitions). I can use that to match the transitions exactly.
