What is ‘Mastering’?

You can think of mastering as the critical optimization and quality control stage before your album, CD or single is ready for distribution. An experienced and skilled mastering engineer can manipulate a song’s dynamic range, frequency response and stereo separation so it will sound its best on any playback system.

 

Do I really need my music mastered?

The truth is that the vast majority of recordings -even those recorded in high-end studios - benefit from the objective ears of an experienced mastering engineer. It is even more important to have your tracks tweaked by a mastering professional if you recorded and mixed your project in a budget studio or at home. It can literally mean the difference between:  “Man, this sounds like it was recorded in some guy’s house” and “Wow, I can’t believe you got this sound recording at home!” 

How does Hifi Mastering Online work?

Using HiFi Mastering Online is easy.
If you are mastering singles for self distribution or upload to iTunes, Amazon, Rhapsody etc.:

• Use our convenient upload page to send us your tracks for mastering in one of these supported formats: wav, aiff or flac - NO MP3 FILES!
• In 24-48 hours you will receive two email messages, one with a link your samples and one with an online invoice.
• If you like your samples and want to purchase your mastered tracks – just complete the online invoice and we will send you a link to download your complete, mastered songs.

If you are mastering an entire EP or CD for manufacture and distribution or mastering for release on vinyl, please contact us at: hifimasteringonline@gmail.com or give us a call at 1-866-927-8136

What file formats can I send my music files in?

You can upload your audio files in uncompressed .wav or .aiff file format. We also support flac lossless files.

 

 

What about mastering a full CD for manufacture and distribution?

Follow the instructions our upload page. We deliver CD's for duplication via downloadable .iso files or we will gladly ship two physical master CDs USPS Priority Express.

Why won’t you master my mp3 files?

Mp3 files (as well as other lossy compression formats) simply compromise audio quality too much for us to work with.

You advertise “free samples” are these really free or is there a catch?

No catch. You will get a 30 – 60 second sample of your music to evaluate our mastering service.  Samples are yours to keep and use as you like - with no obligation to buy.

How does Hifi Mastering Online compare to other mastering facilities?

We believe – and our customers seem to agree – that we provide audio quality equal to mastering houses charging 3X and 4X the price. But don’t take our word for it, upload one of your songs and decide for yourself – for free.

Why don’t you post mastering examples on your site?

We think the typical examples posted on many web sites - particularly “before and after mastering” examples - can be somewhat misleading. There are so many variables involved in mastering a particular song that we believe the only real way for you to know how your music will sound is by sending us one of your actual songs for us to master.  Remember, it is always free to try our mastering service.

How long will it take to receive my sample songs?

Most sample songs are ready for you to download 24 to 48 hours after we receive your file.

Now that I have my sample songs, how long do I have to make up my mind?

Take as long as you like. We encourage you to listen to your mastering sample on a variety of playback systems.  Get feedback from your band, manager, boyfriend/girlfriend… Whenever you’re ready, just complete your online invoice. (After 30 days, please contact us to send a new invoice)

I like my samples. How do I pay for my complete, mastered songs / CD ?

After you’ve had a chance to evaluate your samples, just complete the online invoice to download your tracks. We accept MasterCard, Visa, American Express, Discover and PayPal.

Do I need a PayPal account to pay for your services?

No. You do not need a PayPal account to pay for services.

Do you have any discount packages?

Yes. We do provide discounts for customers that pay up-front and a loyalty/referral program for repeat customers.

I like what I hear, but want a few minor changes?

No problem.  Just give us a detailed description of the changes you want us to make and we’ll master your song again (up to 2 revisions).

What if I want to talk to a real, live person about my music?

Communication is key to getting the sound you want, so we love to hear from our customers.  Feel free to give us a call. We are happy to talk to you about your music.

I received an invoice after I downloaded my samples. I thought your web site says samples are free?

Samples are absolutely free. We send out an invoice for clients who want to download their complete, mastered songs right away. You are not obligated to pay the invoice unless you want to purchase your mastered songs.

How loud should I mix my songs?

If at all possible, we recommend mixing down to a 24bit file (wav, aiff or flac) with volume peaks between -6db and -3db below 0dB. This might sound a little quiet to some of you, but to properly master your project we need the headroom to do our job.   

Should I use stereo loudness maximizers on my mix?

Don’t do it!
Using compression on individual tracks is fine and dandy, but using compression/limiting or maximizers across your entire mix pretty much ties our hands – like painting car before the bodywork is done. To get quality sound, we need the dynamics of your songs left intact. If your track shows up looking like someone went over it with a lawn mower, there’s not much we can do to fix it.

You recommend 24bit files. What if I only have 16bit files?

16bit files are fine. Many hit songs have been recorded at 16bit. However, they are less forgiving than 24 bit files so make sure your volume peaks are between -6db and -3db.

What about dither?

Do not use any dither or noise-shaping in your mix.  For dither to work, it needs to be applied at the very end – i.e. the mastering stage. In most cases, applying dither before mastering provides no real benefit and can potentially reduce the apparent resolution of your song.

What do you mean by ReMix Protection?

Sometimes while mastering a song, we’ll find a problem that is just better to fix in the original mix – for example:

• Too much compression/limiting
• Phase cancellation/weirdness
• Excessive distortion or clipping

Often these are problems that the clients are not aware of – especially musicians and producers that record and mix at home. (Another reason a set of experienced and objective ears is so important.) Rather than just master the song as-is, we think it is much better to:

• Let you know about the problem up-front
• Provide suggestions and advice for fixing the problem
• Give you a chance to remix your music
• Master your new mix – for free.

Seriously, our number one priority is getting you the best sound possible from your mastered track. If this means getting on the phone and talking you through a mix session – we’re happy to do it.

I got an email saying you couldn't master my song because the mix was “too loud” or “too compressed”.  What does this mean?

In order to master your song, we need some room to work. This means we need your mix to have a peak level that is around -6db below maximum volume with no stereo buss compression or “loudness maximizer” applied. Please, if you have any questions contact us anytime. Click here to find out more about preparing your mix for mastering ->

I keep reading about flac files. What are flac files?

FLAC stands for Free Lossless Audio Codec. We LOVE flac files because they allow you to compress your music like an mp3 file, but with no quality loss. This is great when you have to send high quality music files over the internet all day.  Learn more here: http://flac.sourceforge.net/

What is your privacy policy?

At Hifi Mastering Online, we take your privacy and intellectual property rights seriously. You are guaranteed we will never sell or otherwise share your personal information with anyone.  Your intellectual property is also protected. All your files are kept secure in-house.  Music files are received and transmitted using YouSendIt’s secure servers (More information at: http://www.yousendit.com/cms/security).