Is my mix good enough
for mastering?
Last Updated: December 23rd, 2025
Read time: 3-Min
Ensuring you have the best final sound for your release is the goal of any good mastering engineer, but what if they can't guarantee that?
Here are 3 reasons why a mastering engineer might decline to work on your mix.
1. File errors or inherent issues in the mix.
This can be things such as corrupt files or artefacts left in the mix from the recording stage. These errors or blemishes cannot be removed during post-production and therefore would face rejection.
Similar to point #1, when a mix comes into us already clipping (exceeding 0dB) the file is already being degraded with noise and distortion. This leaves also leaves us very little room to work on the track. Check out How To: Gain Stage/Level Balance to ensure you're providing between 3dB to 6db of headroom for your engineer.
(In instances of minor clipping we would first make you aware of the clipping and perhaps provide a sample of the final levelling before continuing to master the project.) We’d rather fix the mix, than overcompensate in the master.
2. Clipping or no headroom available.
3. No vision for the sound.
In very rare cases we would reject a mix if we feel we’re simply not the right fit for it. This only tends to happen with highly experimental sounds with no reference artists or tracks available. If we can’t see the vision for the sound, we’d rather you find someone who can!
Why not check our Mastering Portfolio to sample a range of our sounds, if you're still not sure if your track is a suitable fit for our engineers drop us a message on the live chat and we'll advise!
FAQs
How long does stem mastering take?
Depending on how many stems you are delivering to your engineer, stem mastering can take anywhere from a couple of days to over a week. During the stem mastering process time must be allocated for ear-breaks to allow for the engineer to remain objective over the sound and not over-mix. Here at Release Mastering, we deliver Stem Mastering projects within 3-days.
What does the stem mastering process typically look like?
Stem mastering usually begins with listening to a rough version of a mixdown and/or reference track to understand what the artist has in mind.
Then we can begin listening to the stems individually and identifying any noise or artefacts in the sound that need to be removed. Once all stems have been checked, level-balancing can begin.
For the full breakdown of how we do this please refer to our How to Level Balance/Gain Stage a mix post.
Once levelling is complete we move onto reductive EQ to help carve out space in the mix for each of the elements to exist without competition. Further enhancements such as analog saturation, multiband compression and light reverb may also be applied at this stage.
We can then move to the final mastering stage of adding glue via light compression and ensuring a appropriate final level is achieved. We then compare the stem master to the reference track and rough track and start the process of sharing the file.
The stem mastering series
