audio mastering

musicking

New member
I am currently finishing up a project and am considering having it mastered. It is the first material that I have done that I have considered good enough to go to the extra expense.

The question is this: What will having it mastered do that I can't do to it myself, and what exactly is mastering?
 
A good mastering job will make it sound good on your hi-fi.
"I can do that myself!" I hear you say. Fair enough.
It will also make it sound good on your mum's boombox.
"I could check my mix on her boombox and make it sound good on that too". Fair enough.
But it will also make it sound good on your car's cd-player, as well as your neighbour's hi-fi, your discman, your friend's minidisc player and the local pub's sound system....
Now you could either try checking your home 'mastering' job in all these places ;) or send it off to a pro who will have the ears to make your mix sound good on all sound systems.
 
Hey musicking, don't be discouraged though. If your up for it, do all that stuff. How do you think those mastering pros learned what sounds good, where it sounds good, and how to get it that way? I myself, will gladly pay a pro when it comes time to master for a cd release, but I am learning alot just goofing around with different hardware and software stuff, trying to tweak my mixes. I will probably always pay the pro, but if you got the will and the ears, someday I may pay you!
 
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