The process of Audio Mastering varies depending on the specific needs of the audio to be processed. Steps of the process typically include:

1. Sequence the recorded audio as it will appear on the final product.
2. Correct any problems with the audio, such as volume level, tonal balance, or undesirable artifacts.
3. Transfer the audio to the final master format.

Examples of possible actions taken during mastering:

1. Apply noise reduction to eliminate hum and hiss.
2. Normalize the tracks to set the highest peaks in audio volume to a preset level; the overall audio should never exceed 0 dBFS.
3. Equalize audio between two tracks to ensure there are no jumps in bass, treble, midrange, volume or pan.
4. Apply a compressor (for example, 4:1 starting at -6 dB) to compress the peaks but to expand the softer parts.
5. Apply a dynamics compressor to compress only specific frequencies that generate the audio peaks.
6. In the case of mastering for broadcast, the bandwidth of the signal has to be reduced. For example for TV broadcast: apply a high-pass filter at 80 Hz with -18 dB/octave to filter out low frequencies and apply a low-pass filter at 12 kHz with -9 dB/octave to filter out high frequencies.

Our Equipment

Most of our mastering is done with software. We still have our dependable Manley Tube Preamp and various outboard compressors/EQs/Effects, but nowadays there is a variety of high-quality software we use (on a G5 Mac) to master most projects. They include:

Pro-Tools 7
Nuendo 3
Bias Peak Pro XT 5 (Includes Signal Analysis Suite)
Waves Diamond Bundle (Includes Masters Bundle and Restauration Bundle)
IK Multimedia T-Racks
Antares Tube
Universal Audio UAD-1 Ultra Pack
Complete Digidesign Plugins
Complete Bombfactory Plugins
Complete Unique URS Plugins

...and a whole lot more!

By keeping all mastering done digitally we avoid any unecessary D/A (digital to analog) or A/D (analog to digital) conversion or unwarranted dithering (going from 16 bit to 24 bit and then back again).

All mastering is done on Genelec monitors, double-checked on Yamaha monitors and then triple-checked on Ultrasone Pro-Line headphones.