Premastering Levels

lodstudios · Post by **lodstudios** » Mon Jul 14, 2008 4:44 pm

Hi All,

I tried to do my homework and look on the boards first but didn't find much, feel free to direct me to anything I missed. (I know it sucks when people just ask questions and don't want to look around first.)

I am getting ready to send a CD to mastering, Evren at Capitol studios in Hollywood. I have done a lot of mixes that got mastered but I can't say I have a real method on how to best prepare tracks for mastering. What level should I stick to on the mixes? Is there a level I should not exceed? I basically want to give the songs the sound I intended but allow their superior gear to bring it to CD level. Any help is appreciated.

Best,
Keith

chadd · Post by **chadd** » Mon Jul 14, 2008 7:42 pm

Bob Katz recommends not exceeding -3 dBFS peak on the highest peak of the mix.
His site is chock full of advice on how to prepare mixes for for mastering.

http://www.digido.com/bob-katz/mixing-t ... ricks.html

kassonica · Post by **kassonica** » Mon Jul 14, 2008 9:22 pm

You can even go less -6dBFS.

Also don't use any compression, Limiting or EQ on the master buss. Leave that to them.

I've taken a few things now to top line mastering engineers following these rules and they give the thumbs up.

lodstudios · Post by **lodstudios** » Mon Jul 14, 2008 9:45 pm

Very good to know. I have recently done a sort of "pre mastering" for my clients so they can get an idea of the end product, I am assuming I should just take all the comp and eq off before I give it to them. Thanks!!!!