We work in a mastering suite designed for us by the world’s leading studio designer, Thomas Jouanjean of Brussels-based Northward Acoustics. Built to Northward’s exacting FTB standard, we are proud to say that our studio is one of the finest listening environments in the world, equalled only by a handful of Northward’s other designs in Europe and the US.

Every detail of our workspace has been designed and executed to allow us to do our best work on the widest variety of material.

Our analog signal path is completely custom. Designed by J. LaPointe to work as an integrated system with our Merging Technologies converters, it achieves full analog eq capabilities without adding a single amplifier to the signal path, outperforming any off-the-shelf mastering equipment available today.

Weiss EQ1 MK2 and DS1 MK3 digital hardware complements the analog chain, and we use the Merging Technologies Pyramix system for editing and master production.

Analog tape playback is via a custom ATR Services ATR-102, with both 1/2” and 1/4” capabilities. Supporting infrastructure includes dedicated transformer isolated electrical service, and numerous network, AES, and analog patch points for easy client connections.

Production masters are the final master files for your project, prepared in the formats required for streaming release and physical manufacturing.

Your production masters are delivered as zip files, with a filename suffix indicating the release format. For example, a filename ending in “_DIGITAL” is the digital master files for streaming release.

See below for some general notes about handling each format. If you have any questions at all please don’t hesitate to contact us.

DIGITAL MASTER FILES (_DIGITAL)

Depending on the options you’ve ordered, there are up to four sets of files included with your digital masters:

BWF_44k16b

These are the standard streaming masters. Use these files for all online outlets.*

* if you are doing a hi-resolution release see the two 96k24b options below.

BWF_96k24b

Hi-resolution files suitable for Apple Music Hi-Res Lossless, Amazon Music, TIDAL, and other hi-res download and streaming services.

FLAC_96k24b_APPLE

Hi-resolution files specifically for releases requiring both Apple Music Hi-Res Lossless and Apple Digital Masters branding. Don’t use these files for anything else.

MP3

MP3 versions are intended for promo and in-house use, they cannot be used as a release format or transcoded into other formats.

DDP MASTER FOR CD MANUFACTURING (_DDP)

This should remain zipped and be delivered exactly as-is to the manufacturer. Note that this is not a playable audio file, it is an image format that is for manufacturing purposes only.

VINYL MASTERS (_VINYL)

Hi-res WAV files formatted for lacquer cutting. Separate files are provided for each side, with cue sheets indicating the timings for the spreads between tracks and total running time of each side. This should stay zipped until it gets to the manufacturer.

Gathering your materials for mastering? Here is a basic list of what you’ll need:

• the final mixes

• any alternate mixes you need mastered, such as instrumentals, clean versions, and radio edits

• any final mix reference copies that include additional processing NOT on the final mixes (extra limiting for increased level, for example). These can sometimes sound quite different than the mixes delivered for mastering so it is essential to know what you have been hearing

• a list of final song titles in the proper running order, and the artist name and album title exactly as they should appear on the metadata

• ISRC codes

We can accept virtually any analog or digital format. Please let us know if you are bringing something not listed below so we can prepare the necessary equipment in advance.

Digital:

24 bit WAV files at the sample rates of your project (ie. don’t make any unnecessary sample rate conversions). Upload files to us via our Client Area, or share files with us via Dropbox, Google Drive, or other file transfer services.

DSD 11.2 MHz (DSD256), DSD 5.6 MHz (DSD128) and DSD 2.8 MHz (DSD64) delivered as DSDIFF / DSF files (dff or dsf file extensions).

We are big proponents of DSD as a mixdown format, and are one of only a handful of mastering studios anywhere in the world equipped to playback DSD files directly into the analog mastering chain.

Analog:

Analog 2-track stereo (1/2 inch or 1/4 inch tape), at 30, 15, or 7.5 ips.

Please provide alignment tones (ideally 1kHz, 10kHz, 15kHz, 100Hz, 50Hz minimum, 40Hz and 30Hz are helpful too), and label with eq type, tape speed and reference fluxivity (for example: NAB EQ, 15ips, 355nWb/m)

Other Formats:

We can transfer 1/4", 1/2", 1" and 2" analog, DAT, cassette, vinyl, and many other oddball formats for cases where the original mix no longer exists for some reason (archival transfers, re-releases, live recordings, etc). Please contact us for details.

An ISRC is a unique and permanent 12 character alpha-numeric code assigned to each song on an album (or single). Encoded ISRCs provide the means to automatically identify recordings for royalty payments. Although it is not a requirement to encode ISRCs on your master files, they will be needed to place your songs with streaming services.

ISRCs are assigned by the master rights owner of the recording, usually the record label or independent artist. You will need to supply your ISRCs to us during the mastering process if you wish to have them encoded on your masters.

Independent artists may apply online to administer their own ISRCs (it's fast and free).

Click here for more detailed ISRC info from CONNECT Music Licensing.

The purpose of the reference copy is to give you a chance to hear your finished master start to finish in a listening environment that you are familiar with.

Whether your favourite system is your car stereo, headphones, your studio monitors, whatever - we understand the importance of checking your master in that setting.

Typically the reference copy is delivered as a link to our custom streaming player that allows you to listen on any mobile device or computer in 44.1kHz / 16 bit WAV (lossless) quality. This ensures you will hear the whole sequence in the intended sound quality, with proper spacing and gapless transitions.

You can also download a set of WAV files from this link in order to listen offline.