Preparation

Before you make delivery arrangements, please ensure the original file is at the very least a 44.1kHz/16-bit stereo .wav or .aif recording (24-bit is preferred and strongly recommended) and that no dynamic compression or limiting has been applied to the stereo mix for the sake of loudness (don't worry if you mix through a bus compressor, that's fine). It is very difficult to restore the punch and transient attack of your material if it has already been severely brickwalled, so please refrain from limiting (or worse, clipping) your mixes before delivery, and ideally leave at least 2-3dB of headroom in your mixdowns.

Compressing the file using FLAC will ensure greatly decreased transfer times compared to simply zipping up the uncompressed source files. FLAC is a free, lossless compression format, providing bit-for-bit identical decodings of the source material, compressing up to half the size of the source files. Strongly recommended.

If you have a particular sound in mind you'd like me to aim for, then please feel free to include some reference material (high-quality mp3s would be ideal for this) or some guidelines detailing a desired aesthetic (e.g. I want this to sound warmer, tame the high-end etc.) otherwise I will proceed at my own discretion. Likewise, if you require track gaps or fades/crossfades of a particular duration, please also include these in the notes, otherwise I'll go by ear.

Please include any UPC/EAN or ISRC codes you may have for your album, as well as any CD-Text or wav metadata that you'd like embedding.

Transfer

Please use WeTransfer to transfer your tracks for mastering, quickly and securely.

By default I will supply a 44.1kHz/16-bit stereo .wav; if you require a different format, or want a master audio CD posted to you, please state when enquiring.

Processing

Software processing is carried out using a variety of carefully chosen tools from leaders in the field.

Analogue processing includes an API 5500 EQ (with Scott Lieber Red Dot Op Amps) and a Foote Control Systems P3S ME Class A compressor.

Monitoring and signal conversion are deftly handled by Klein + Hummel and Mytek respectively, providing exceptional clarity and very low distortion. A rock-solid RME HDSPe AES-32 card is used for digital interfacing.

Once mastering is complete, and all the tracks have been trimmed and faded as necessary, you will receive a zip of test mp3s for you to evaluate before proceeding with payment. On receipt of payment, I will upload the final masters, whether in wav or DDP format, and will post any CDs.