Mastering Articles
This is where I write about mastering. The gear, the technique, the decisions behind the work. Some of it is practical. Some of it is what I needed to get down.
The Vinyl Record Pressing Process
The sound quality of your vinyl varies greatly depending on who handles it. That single fact is the reason to care about every step between your pre-master and the pressing plant, and why vinyl brokers are almost never the right answer.
Mastering for Cassette: A Complete Guide
What most people heard was not cassette at its best. It was cassette at its most abused. A well-recorded cassette on a good deck with quality tape sounds genuinely great. Not great for cassette. Just great.
Dither in Mastering: A Deep Dive
The one topic guaranteed to clear the room at any party, explained properly. Apply it once, at the end, to the final bit depth. Everything else is downstream.
Lossy Codecs in Mastering: What Streaming Actually Does to Your Audio
The biggest thing codecs do isn't what they take out. It's what they reveal. A master that's solid and cleanly processed survives encoding. A master that's over-limited or harshly EQ'd exposes all of those problems more clearly after encoding, not less.
Mid-Side Processing in Mastering: A Surgical Tool, Not a Default
Most engineers encounter M/S processing and start moving things around to see what happens. That's not how I use it. There's no meter that tells you when you've gone too far. It's a feel, and developing that feel takes time behind the desk with real material.
Monitoring and Acoustics in a Mastering Studio
People ask which piece of gear makes the biggest difference. The honest answer is the room. If what's reaching your ears is colored, every decision you make is colored. It's that simple.
Transformer Theory Applied to Mastering
Transformer saturation in mastering isn't a fixed coloration. It's a conversation between the iron and the program material. Here's the physics behind why, and how to listen for it.
The Manley Variable Mu Compressor: 1dB and a Lot of Patience
The Variable Mu Compressor is the last thing that touches a master before it leaves my room. Here is what it actually does, why I use it at 1dB of gain reduction, and why that is enough.
My Big Crunch Transformer Box: Exploring Sonic Transformers in Mastering
In mastering, transformers shape tone through subtle, level-dependent interaction rather than gain. My custom Big Crunch Transformer Box lets finished mixes pass directly through selected vintage iron, adding density and cohesion without sounding processed.
The Otari MTR-10 in Mastering: Tape, Provenance, and the Music That Yearns for It
A purpose-built mastering tape machine from The Hit Factory, with confirmed Otari delivery records, mystery modifications, and the philosophy behind when tape actually earns its place in a master.
The Only Manley Mastering Stereo Pultec EQ in the World
A stereo Pultec-style mastering EQ custom-built by Manley Labs in 1997 as a one-of-a-kind commission for mastering houses. Serial number MSPEQ013 is, as far as EveAnna Manley can confirm, the only unit of its kind in existence.
The History of the ITI Audio MEP-130 Parametric Mastering EQ Modules
The ITI MEP-130 is where parametric equalization began. This is the complete history of serial numbers 001 and 002, from Baltimore Polytechnic Institute to Hunt Valley, a knife in an office door, Baltimore Harbor, a Craigslist listing, and a phone call with Burgess Macneal at 86.
API 2500 Bus Compressor Battery Mod
Step-by-step explanation of a hardware mod to improve API 2500 stability and performance in mastering workflows.
Building Passive High-Pass Filter Sidechain Cables for a Dangerous Compressor
A technical guide to modifying the Dangerous Compressor’s sidechain using passive high-pass cables to shape dynamics.