Sonik Wheel Productions

Recording and Mixing Tips for Best Results in Mastering:

• To begin, remember that your song and performance matter more than any technical application.

• If your mixes are finished, and you haven't followed all of these tips, don't worry... We can work it out.

• A great mix is the key to having the best sounding master. 

• Involve your mastering engineer early in the process.

• Try to get the sound you ultimately want while recording.

• Invest in at least one good quality microphone and preamp, especially for the lead vocal.  Test different microphones first to see which works best for your voice.  Consider renting a vocal mic if needed.

• Make sure you have a clean signal path.  Use the best cables you can reasonably afford.  Invest in high quality power conditioners.

• Roll off low frequencies in tracks that don't need low frequency energy. This way subsonic signals won't work their way into your mix or master.

• Use the best analog-to-digital converter you can reasonably afford.

• Avoid unintended distortion when recording, such as from too much level hitting a microphone. Practice safe levels during recording. Stay well away from 0 dBFS on a standard peak meter, or below the red on an LED meter.

• Use the highest bit resolution and sample rate possible.  Record at 24-bit (or higher) rather than 16-bit.  This can significantly improve sound quality.  If all you have available is 16-bit, we can work with that also.  In addition, recording at higher sample rates, generally up to 96 kHz, can further improve the sound.  (Some external mastering hardware sounds best at 96 kHz; We can convert the sample rate here if needed.)

• Mixdown to 32-bit float or 24-bit resolution.  (16-bit is acceptable if that's all you have available, but try to avoid it.)

• It is very important to allow sufficient headroom in your mixes for the mastering engineer's work. 

Peak levels should never exceed -3 dBFS and the average mix levels should be around -10 to -18 dBFS or lower (average sum of the left and right channels).

A *hot* digital mix can cause an equalizer, sample rate converter, or other processor to overload later on. Proper headroom makes equalization and other processing in mastering possible without an extra stage of attenuation (lowering and then raising the level). Distortion accumulates with every calculation. 

Please don't mix super loud and then later simply lower the volume (loudness) of the mix for mastering. That misses the point.  Send mixes for mastering without changing levels.

If you've already mixed too loud... don't worry.  We can try to fix it.  Or we may recommend remixing.

• Avoid using too much compression (hyper-compression) at any time while recording or mixing. Start mixing without compression, instead using fader moves (or automation). For example, increase the gain on vocals for whispered passages and reduce it for louder passages. Compression has its place, particularly when problems cannot be handled with fader moves alone. However, compression should not be a substitute for good recording and mixing techniques.

• Here is the most important tip of all:  Please do not use compression, limiting, EQ, normalization, an exciter, a finalizer, saturation, simulation, sample rate converter, or any other effect or processor on the overall mix (e.g. on the master bus or fader) at mixdown.  If you feel you need to apply a small amount of compression with a high fidelity compressor for a specific effect (such as for a particular vintage sound), that's OK if its critical to the sound.  Otherwise it may sound better if we apply compression, if needed, after we EQ and do a few other things we may need to do.  (You can apply compression and EQ, etc. to individual tracks.)  Definitely do NOT use an exciter or finalizer at mixdown.  Avoid multiband compression; If your mixes need multiband compression, there may be a problem better resolved with remixing.  If you're in doubt about processing on your overall mix, do two versions, one with and one without.  Send the mix without processing to us for mastering.

• De-ess vocals while mixing rather than leaving it for mastering.

• It's better for the vocal to be mixed a little too loud rather than too soft. Its common in mastering to try to bring the vocal up. If you're in doubt, send two mixes, one with the vocal up, about 1/2 dB. 

• Avoid mixing cymbals and other high frequency sounds too loud. Cymbals and similar instruments are generally easy to hear even if mixed low.  Also, avoid mixing kick and snare drums too loud.

• Don't fade out songs at mixdown.  Let us know when you want a fade to start and end.

• Do not trim all the "air" at the beginnings of songs. A clean sample of this, or other recording of quiet room tone, will help us with noise removal.

• Leave the sample rate at whatever you used for recording and mixing.  Do not convert it.

• Dither: The general rule is to apply dither only when moving to a lower bit resolution, for example, when converting from 24-bit to 16-bit. Add 24-bit dither if and when mixing down to 24-bit, as most software handles internal processing at a higher bit resolution.  Better yet, mixdown to 32-bit float without dither.  Either way, your DAW may handle dither automatically.

• Consider making several different versions of your mixes, such as vocal up, instrumental, and a-cappella versions.  A vocal up mix, with the lead vocal up by about 1/2 dB, can be very helpful if needed for mastering.

• Do not use MP3s for mastering. Although we are able to master MP3s in 320 kb/s, we recommend against using MP3s for mastering because much, or most, of the audio data has been lost and cannot be restored.

• Despite all of the above, its still your song and performance that matter most.  Don't get too hung up on all the technical stuff.

• Please e-mail us if you have any questions.  We love to help!

SRC and ID3 Tags

Sonik Wheel can encode your songs with International Standard Recording Codes (ISRC). The ISRC is the international identification system for sound recordings. ISRCs provide the means to automatically identify recordings for royalty payments. This is included with all Sonik mastering.

Sonik can encode your MP3s with ID3 tags, allowing information such as the title, artist, album artwork, lyrics, and other information to be stored in the MP3 file.

Audio Repair

We can eliminate unwanted noises from otherwise perfect recordings with Algorithmix reNOVAtor, such as coughs, lip clicks, a squeaky chair, door slams, cell phone ringing, “p”s popping, or the horn of a passing truck.  Extensive repairs beyond a few simple fixes may involve an additional charge.

Send Mixes by Mail:

Sometimes re-mixing is called for to improve the sound. For example, we may suggest that you re-mix a song if the kick drum or snare is too loud, the bass is too low, or the vocal is too low in an otherwise great mix. 

Another option is mastering from stems (a.k.a. sub-mixes or separations), which can often sound better than mastering from a two-track mix. This works best with 3 to 6 stereo stems. For example, separating the vocal or bass into a stereo stem can often improve mastering results.

For an additional $20 per song, we will master from 3 to 6 stereo stems. In mastering this way we usually mix and master at the same time. Please send us an e-mail for more information on how to master from stems.

Typical turnaround time for mastering is about 1 to 2 weeks.  (Mixes that need repairs may take longer.)  Typical turnaround time for free demo masters is about 2 to 3 weeks. 

Rush Orders:

Let us know if you need a rush order and we'll get your masters done within within 3 to 5 days.  Ask about special 24-hour mastering.  

Our Money-Back Guarantee:

If you are not completely satisfied with our work, return your master CDs and 100% of your payment will be refunded.

• High definition equalization for frequency balance

• Level (loudness) maximization without adding harmful distortion 

• Edit spreads (the time between songs), fades (both fade-ins and fade-outs), and basic additions/subtractions

• Add effects, such as (very) small amounts of reverb, delay, or tape compression modeling as appropriate and needed

• Spatial processing to enhance the stereo field while maintaining mono compatibility

• Clean up of minor noise and imperfections

• Sequencing of songs

• Encoding of International Standard Recording Codes (ISRC)

• Red book standard production master CDR and backup master CDR

• 24-bit CDR or DVD master for archiving and future duplication ($25 extra charge)

• Quality control check of all CDRs for errors

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Instructions for FTP File Transfers (FileZilla or Fetch)

FTP is the most common way for people to send, receive, and manage large files on the Internet. You can use this as a faster alternative to the drop box above. FTP means "file transfer protocol."  You can send your mixed stereo files to Sonik Wheel for mastering using an FTP client application, and receive mastered reference files for your evaluation the same way. You will probably need a fast Internet connection to use FTP, such as cable or DSL.

There are dozens of FTP applications for both Mac and Windows.  Many FTP applications are shareware and require a minimal fee to purchase. Some are free or provide a free trial period.  On the Mac, many people use either Fetch or Transmit (about $30).  For Windows, CuteFTP (about $40) is popular and offers a free trail period.  You can download a free FTP client here (Filezilla). You may find these and other FTP clients at CNET downloads.  Search for FTP.  CuteFTP works well for us.

If you have a pending project at Sonik Wheel and would like to upload your files using FTP, please e-mail us at sonikwheel@sonikwheel.com.  We will give you our FTP server address, a username, and a password.  (Access to our FTP server is restricted due to the proprietary nature of material submitted by our clients.)