Professional ONLINE AUDIO MASTERING

Don’t trust your music to AI

Achieve professional online mastering with a tried-and-tested expert refining your music remotely

Online mastering is far more than just making your music LOUDER. A polished master is the final step that transforms a great mix into a radio-ready track.

Studio Edison’s professional online mastering services ensure your music sounds its absolute best on every platform and in every format.

Rob Kleiner is an in-demand collaborator with artists including Labrinth and Sia, and as a go-to mastering resource for Hollywood including streamers (Netflix, HBO) and composers like Hans Zimmer, you’ll find his mastering prowess on an impressive number of soundtracks including Euphoria (Vol. 1 & Vol. 2), Avatar: The Way of Water, Death Stranding 2, and The Hunger Games: Catching Fire.

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Join Good Company at Studio Edison

  • Andra Day, Cheers to the Fall

    Andra Day

  • Madison Beer, Dead

    Madison Beer

  • Labrinth, Ends & Beginnings

    Labrinth

  • Weston Estate, Superbloom

    Weston Estate

  • Sia, Elastic Heart

    Sia

  • Avatar Soundtrack, The Weeknd

    The Weeknd

  • Pink Sweat$, Through the Fire

    Pink Sweat$

  • David Guetta, Titanium

    David Guetta (feat. Sia)

  • Chrissy, Arm Cnady

    Chrissy

Online Mastering: The Basics

What Is Online Mastering?

Online mastering is the final step in the audio production process—after recording, arranging, and mixing—and is conducted remotely, which allows for both more affordable and more professional options.

Most affordable online mastering is conducted by AI, which is a technology that is still finding its sea legs for even simple creative commands.

A professional online mastering engineer uses a highly trained ear, specialized tools (both analog and digital), and years of experience to make sure your track sounds polished, cohesive, and competitive across platforms.

How Does Online Mastering Improve Your Music

  1. Online Mastering Adds the Final, Professional Polish

    A mastering engineer acts as the ultimate quality control. They use their specialized skills and equipment to enhance the overall tonal balance, clarity, and stereo image of your track. This final polish adds a professional sheen that makes your music sound finished and ready for release.

  2. Online Mastering Achieves Competitive Loudness

    Through careful compression and limiting, mastering brings your track up to a competitive loudness level. This ensures your song can stand alongside other professionally released music on streaming services and radio without sounding quiet or weak.

    Learn More About Mastering for Streaming Services

  3. Mastering Optimizes for All Platforms

    Every listening platform—from Spotify and Apple Music to vinyl and CD—has its own unique technical requirements. A professional mastering engineer will prepare your track to sound its absolute best on all of them, taking into account things like loudness normalization (LUFS) and true peak levels to prevent distortion.

  4. Mastering Online with a professional Provides a Fresh Perspective

    After spending countless hours mixing, it's easy to lose objectivity. A mastering engineer provides a fresh, unbiased set of ears, allowing them to hear subtle imperfections or opportunities for enhancement that you might have missed.

  5. Mastering Ensures Consistency Across an Album

    For an album or EP, mastering guarantees that every song has a consistent sonic character and volume. This creates a cohesive listening experience for your audience, where no single track sounds out of place.


What Does Mastering Do to a Song?

Mastering acts as the bridge between a finished mix and a commercially ready track. While mixing is about blending all the individual instruments and vocals into a cohesive whole, mastering—whether mastering online or IRL—takes that final stereo mix and perfects it for public release. Think of it as the ultimate quality control and enhancement phase.

A professional mastering engineer's primary job is to ensure your song sounds its absolute best on every playback system, from high-fidelity studio monitors to laptop speakers, car stereos, and earbuds. They achieve this by:

  • OPTIMIZING LOUDNESS

    Mastering brings your song to a competitive volume level, so it stands up to other professionally released tracks on streaming services and radio without sounding crushed or distorted.

  • BALANCING TONAL QUALITY

    The engineer uses subtle equalization (EQ) to balance the frequencies, ensuring the song isn't too muddy, harsh, or thin. This process adds a final layer of polish, making the track sound clear, powerful, and balanced.

  • ENHANCING CLARITY & DEPTH

    Through techniques like subtle compression and stereo enhancement, mastering can bring out details that were less prominent in the mix, giving the song more punch, presence, and a sense of depth and space.

  • ENSURING CONSISTENCY

    For an album or EP, mastering is vital for ensuring all tracks have a consistent sonic character and volume level, creating a seamless and unified listening experience from start to finish.

  • PREPARING FOR DISTRIBUTION

    The mastering engineer formats the final audio files to meet the specific technical requirements for various platforms, including different loudness standards for streaming services (like Spotify and Apple Music), and specific formats for CD, vinyl, and other physical media.

In short, mastering takes a great-sounding mix and transforms it into a professional, polished, and impactful song ready to be heard by the world. It’s the final, and often most important, step in making your music sound like a record.

Mastering Loudness

Why Hire a Professional Online Mastering Engineer to Master Your Music?

Hiring a professional online mastering engineer is one of the most critical investments you can make in your music. While modern software and automated services offer a tempting shortcut, a professional's expertise is the final step that can elevate your project from a good recording to a truly exceptional, impactful, release-ready track.

How Does Online Mastering Work?

Engaging Studio Edison, or any seasoned professional, for online mastering is a streamlined process that bridges the gap between traditional studio work and the convenience of modern digital collaboration.

Studio Edison is a highly personalized online mastering service that ensures your music receives world-class care, all from the comfort of your home.

Here’s a step-by-step breakdown of how mastering online with a professional engineer usually works:

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1. Initial Communication & Project Submission

  • Contact Studio Edison: You begin by reaching out! Many engineers have dedicated forms or email addresses set up for project inquiries.

  • Share Your Vision: This is a crucial first step. Tell us about your artistic vision for the song or album. It’s helpful to provide reference tracks from commercially released artists that have a similar sound, mood, or loudness you're aiming for. This gives us a clear understanding of your audio mastering goals.

  • File Preparation: You'll prepare your final mix files. The golden rule is to send the highest quality, uncompressed files possible (e.g., 24-bit, 48kHz WAV or AIFF). It's vital that you do not apply any limiters, compressors, or EQs to your master bus before exporting, as this allows the mastering engineer the necessary "headroom" to work their magic.

Screenshot of music production software with waveforms, equalizer, and audio effect adjustments.

2. The Online Mastering Process

  • File Upload: You securely upload your mix files to the engineer's cloud storage service.

  • The Engineer's Work: We import your files into their acoustically treated studio, a controlled listening environment that provides an accurate representation of your audio. Using their specialized analog and/or digital tools, the process looks like this:

    • Critical Listening: The engineer listens to your track with a fresh, objective ear, identifying areas for improvement in terms of tonal balance, dynamic range, and clarity.

    • Applying Expertise: They apply their skills to enhance your mix, making subtle adjustments with equalization, compression, and limiting to bring the track to a competitive loudness and sonic level.

    • Quality Control: They check for any technical issues that might have slipped through the mixing process, such as clicks, pops, or phase problems.

    • Album Consistency: For an EP or album, they work to ensure a seamless flow between all tracks, with consistent loudness and character.

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3. Review, Revisions, & Final Delivery

  • Initial Master Delivered: The engineer will send you a preview of the mastered track. This is often in a high-quality format with a low-quality, loudness-matched preview for quick comparison to your original mix. Some services offer a private streaming platform for easy review and feedback.

  • Client Feedback: You review the master on various listening systems (headphones, car, phone speakers) and provide feedback to the engineer. This is your opportunity to request any changes or revisions. Most professional services include a set number of revisions to ensure you're fully satisfied.

  • Final Approval: Once you approve the master, the engineer will prepare the final delivery files.

  • File Delivery: You'll receive all the necessary formats for your release, which often includes a high-resolution WAV file for digital downloads and streaming, a 16-bit WAV for CDs, and potentially a specific pre-master for vinyl. They will also embed any important metadata, such as artist and track information.

In essence, online mastering with a professional is a collaborative process that combines the convenience of modern technology with the irreplaceable expertise of a skilled human engineer. It ensures that your music receives the personalized attention it deserves, resulting in a polished, impactful, and professional-sounding final product ready to be shared with the world.

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Remote Mastering Questions?

We’ve Got Remote
Mastering Answers.

Not sure what you’re looking for or have questions about the remote mastering process? Let us know. We’ll get back to you within 24 hours.

learn MORE ABOUT ONLINE MASTERING

It all begins with an idea. Maybe you want to launch a business. Maybe you want to turn a hobby into something more. Or maybe you have a creative project to share with the world. Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference.

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AI Mastering vs. Professional Online Mastering
What Is Vinyl Mastering?
Read More About Online Mastering

Rob Kleiner on Jaxsta’s
Voice Notes

Rob Kleiner discusses his work mixing and mastering the soundtrack to Euphoria’s second season.

Remote online
mastering FAQs

  • Yes. A mix can sound great, but mastering ensures it sounds great everywhere. It’s about consistency and professionalism.

  • Turnaround times can range from 1 to 7 business days, depending on:

    • The number of tracks

    • The engineer’s current workload

    • Whether revisions are requested

    Rushed delivery (24–48 hours) is usually available for an additional fee.

  • The difference between mastering and online mastering is not in the process itself, but in the logistics of how that process is carried out. The final goal and the fundamental techniques used by the mastering engineer remain identical.

  • After professional mastering, your track should sound:

    • Louder, but not crushed or fatiguing

    • More balanced, with clearer highs and tighter lows

    • More polished, like a finished record, not a demo

    • Cohesive with your other songs (if part of an EP or album)

    Ready for release on all platforms, from Spotify to vinyl.

  • Mastering can enhance a mix—but it can’t fix fundamental issues like poor vocal balance or muddy instrumentation. A good mastering engineer will flag mix problems before starting.

    Learn more about Studio Edison’s professional audio mixing services

  • Possibly. Some formats (like vinyl) require separate masters due to physical or platform limitations. Your engineer can advise.

  • No! This is crucial. Remove any limiters or maximizers from your master bus before exporting your mix. Leaving headroom (around -6dB to -3dB peak) allows the mastering engineer the necessary dynamic range to work with.

  • No, that's the beauty of online mastering. All communication and file transfers happen remotely, making it convenient regardless of your location.

  • Always send your final stereo mix as a high-resolution WAV or AIFF file (e.g., 24-bit, 44.1kHz or higher). Avoid sending MP3s, as they are compressed and contain less detail.

  • Most professional engineers include 1-2 rounds of revisions in their standard pricing. It's always good to clarify this upfront.

  • Professional engineers are committed to client satisfaction. Communicate your concerns clearly, and they will work with you through the revision process to achieve your desired sound.

  • Not necessarily. Many online mastering engineers prioritize communication and build strong relationships with their clients through calls, emails, and detailed feedback. The quality of the human interaction depends on the individual engineer.

  • We may be biased, but we honestly believe that AI is no match for what an expert ear and a seasoned professional can do for your music. And it’s probably more affordable than you think. If you’re interest, get in touch!

Final Thoughts

Mastering Is an Investment in Your Sound

Think of mastering and online mastering as the last stage of storytelling.

You’ve written the script (composition), shot the scenes (recording), and edited the footage (mixing). Mastering is the color grade, the final cut that gives it all cohesion and impact.

A professional online mastering service doesn’t just make your song louder—it ensures your music sounds intentional, refined, and emotionally powerful. In a crowded digital landscape, that level of polish isn’t optional—it’s essential.

If you’re serious about your music, don’t skip mastering—and don’t trust it to an algorithm. Let Studio Edison bring your vision across the finish line.

 mastering Is the Final
—
& Most Crucial
—
Step in Making Your Music Release-Ready

Other Available Mastering Services

Dolby Atmos Mastering | Stem Mastering