That is a difficult question.
As a general rule we think a good advise is:
Use whatever is essential to the SOUND of your mix, take off everything which is just there for loudness reasons, like Limiters, Maximizers, etc…
If in doubt, send us both versions, and we’ll see which one is better for the best results.

This is not really important, just make sure it does not exceed 0dbfs.
And if it is as low as -60dbfs, you might want to take a look at your gain staging…

We are able to work with all kinds of audio files, PCM (wav or aif), 16, 24 or 32 bit, all sample rates up to 192kHz or even DSD for Super Audio CDs.

That can be a challenging task.
With todays huge range of styles and genres, taste and skills may vary widely and what one doesn’t like at all could be absolutely fantastic for someone else.
So if you think you didn’t nail it during mixing and you are unsure, let us know where you think we should take a closer look at, and maybe we can fix it or help you to improve your mix before mastering it.

Yes, we are gladly accepting stems for mastering, if it helps to get better results.
Please note that more than one additional stem can alter the price total for mastering.
Visit our booking area to get an idea of the additional costs.

Sure!
Sometimes it is helpful, sometimes not, but in either case it is always good to know what you like and what kind of sound you prefer.

As mastering engineers we do not allow us to be picky. Our engineers need to have a very broad musical taste and in the case of e.g. Andreas Balaskas, who is working in pro audio for over 35 years and mastering audio for more than 25 years, we are providing a lot of experience in handling all kinds of music and almost everything you throw at us.

Yes we do, but we do not cut the laquers.
If you want to release on vinyl ONLY, we would suggest to go directly to a vinyl cutting masteringstudio.
But if you want to release your music in digital form and also getting some vinyl manufactured, we would be happy to master your tracks for all releases. Audiowise we will take special care in advance of the cutting/pressing process.

A DDP is short for “Disk Description Protocol”. It is a set of files, which are a virtual image of a Red Book Audio CD (in our case).
You can think of the DDP as a disk image, which replication plants can use to print the actual cds.
In case of an Album or EP master, we will provide you with a DDP in a zipped archive also containing a DDP player, compatible with Windows and OSX, for you to check the DDP.
With the help of this player you can listen to the DDP, check all the masters, track markers, pauses between songs, CD Text and ISR-Codes.
With this player, you can also burn a listening copy / CDR, as well as export the separate songs to wav or aif files for digital distribution, e.g.

We are offering two different pricing models:
1) emastering or unattended mastering, which means, you will send us the tracks via internet and we will return your finished masters for approval.
If you want us to do any changes, no problem, we will do them with no additional charge until you are completely satisfied. You get charged by track. depending on how many tracks you want us to work on.
Please take look at our prices section to find out about our very reasonable per track rates!
2) We also offer attended sessions, for those who want to sit in with us in the studio and take control of the whole process. In this case our hourly rate applies.

There is a great discount already in the calculation form of our emastering rates.
e.g. for an larger amount of tracks we only charge about 80€/track!
You are a label/producer putting out work on a regular basis? Just buy into a package! Pay for 30 or more tracks in advance and you will have the best mastering deal around!

All payment must be done in advance.
We will send out your invoice and you can choose between bank wire transfer or payment via paypal, which is also possible by credit card.