leftystratman
24 April 2006
I'm a newbie and have a dumb question. most of the commercial CDs are mastered already, so the mixed tracks don't sound like the mastered versions. so my question is, how do you if your mixes are ready for mastering? any good reference CDs for Mixing? or commercial CDs are also relavant in mixing?
milion thanks in advance.
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Compare them at comparable levels (bring the commercial tracks d
Compare them at comparable levels (bring the commercial tracks down) - Unmastered mixes should still be open and airy, clear and focused, punchy and strong.
Although a good mastering engineer can take those things and exploit them or accentuate them, they can't simply "invent" them - Mixes that sound great after mastering sounded pretty darn good before they arrived on the M.E.'s doorstep.
There will probably (especially over the last dozen years or so) be a substantial difference in density also - Probably in favor of YOUR mixes (as they haven't been "abused" by the volume wars yet).