Tips for artists · 4 min read

Mixing and mastering: what’s the difference?

Two different jobs that people mix up (pun intended).

People often ask for "mixing and mastering" as if it’s one thing. It’s two jobs, done at different stages, for different reasons.

Mixing

Mixing is about the balance inside the song. Your vocal, the beat, the doubles and the ad-libs all get set against each other. We adjust levels, tone, space and the way things move, so each part has room and the song feels like one piece.

Think of it as putting everything in the right places in a room.

Mastering

Mastering is the last polish on the finished mix. It looks at the song as a whole: the overall tone, the loudness, and how it translates on different speakers. If you’re releasing several songs together, it also makes sure they sit well next to each other. It’s also where the final files for the different platforms are prepared.

Think of it as the finishing touches before it goes out of the door.

Why they’re separate

If everything is fixed in one step, there’s less room to correct. A good mix leaves space for mastering to do its job. A bad mix can’t be rescued by mastering, however loud you make it.

Loudness isn’t quality

Streaming services adjust the volume of songs to a similar level, so a song that’s been squashed to be as loud as possible often just sounds tired. Don’t chase loudness. Chase a mix that sounds good quietly and loud.

What you get with us

Mastering is free with every mix, and we also offer Dolby Atmos mixing if you want it. If you recorded here, you get 50% off the mix. You can order from the mixing section of this site.

Do you need both?

If you’re releasing a song, yes, we’d always do both. If you only want a quick polish on something that’s already mixed well, mastering on its own is fine.

One more thing

Listen to the result on a few things: headphones, a phone speaker, a car. If it works on all of them, it’s done.