Mixing and Mastering Services
- Professional Mixing and Mastering Services
- EDM Mixing and Mastering Services
- Hip Hop Mixing and Mastering Services
- Rock Mixing and Mastering Services
- AI Mastering Services
- Online Mastering Services
- Stem Mastering Services
Mastering FAQ Guide
- What is the difference between Mixing and Mastering?
- How Much Does Mixing & Mastering Cost?
- How Long Should Mastering Take?
The best mixing and mastering service. Great accolades, analog gear, but expensive
✅ Incredible mix of analog and digital gear
✅ Fast 4 day turnaround time
✅ 2-4 revisions included
✅ Huge industry accolades (Bastille, 1975, Years & Years)
✅ Project file for study
❌ Expensive. Recommended for pros
❌ Basic package doesn’t suit all
Pricing Options
- Basic $140 – 1 song, 6 stems, 2 revisions, 4 day delivery time.
- Standard $295 – 1 song, 16, 3 revisions, 5 days delivery time.
- Premium $495 – 1 song, unlimited stems, 5 revisions, 6 day delivery time, project file included.
Most Professional & Affordable
Cheaper, huge industry accolades, virtual analogue gear
✅ Mixed for Eminem, Outkast, Whitney Houston and more.
✅ Fast 5 day turnaround time
✅ 3 revisions included
✅ Great for Rock, Pop, Hip Hop & more
✅ 3 decades of music industry experience
❌ No analog gear used (virtual analog)
❌ No project file for studying after,
Pricing Options
- Basic $150 – 1 track, 5 stems, 3 revisions, 5 day delivery, mastering included.
- Standard $195 – 1 track, 15 stems, 3 revisions, 6 day delivery time.
- Standard $395 – 1 track mix, ∞ stems, 3 revisions, 7 day delivery.
Cheapest mixing & professional audio mastering, with fewer accolades
✅ Fast 4 day delivery time
✅ 1 – ∞ revisions
✅ Mix of virtual analog and digital gear used
✅ Works best with Hip Hop & Urban styles
✅ Over 10 years experience in the industry
❌ Less industry accolades, works with smaller artists
Pricing Options
- Basic $125 – 1 song, 20 stems, 1 revision, 4 day delivery.
- Standard $175 – 1 song, 100 stems, 5 revisions, 7 day delivery, mastering included.
- Premium $450 – 4 songs, ∞ stems, 14 day delivery, mastering included.
Finding the best mixing and mastering services for your music is an essential part of the process of releasing music.
Without a mix or master, your tracks will sound lifeless, dull, & all the horrible words you can think of.
To get the most out of your music it’s essential that it sounds its best, upon release.
Often music producers will outsource mixing & mastering, to someone more experienced, to get a good, overall, balanced sound that’s professional.
Quick Note: Mixing and mastering can’t save a bad track – you’ll need a producer for that.
However, it plays a huge role in getting the vibe and sounds you want out of your music. A good mix and master can make all the difference, and leave your track sounding much more clear, punchy, vibey, and just better.
This article will run you through the 12 best mixing and mastering services right now.
Contents
What’s The Difference Between Mixing & Mastering
Mixing takes multiple tracks and blends them into one track that sounds cohesive, clear, and punchy. Mastering takes the stereo mix, and enhances it using EQ, compression, and limiting – ensuring maximum loudness, with minimal distortion, so it sounds good on all systems and is ready for distribution.
The mixing process differs from mastering, because it takes multiple tracks (20, or more), and gives the engineer individual control over each instrument track.
This means the engineer can use audio effect processing (such as EQ, compression, reverb etc) to slot each track in its own area of the frequency spectrum – preventing the clashing of instruments, and overpowering sounds from washing over others, that cause imbalances, & a difficult listening experience.
The idea of mixing is that each track will have its own space, or work in conjunction with another, to sound cohesive, as a final, single track.
Mixing is much more creative than most people think, and although there are the technicalities of removing nasty resonances, providing vocal presence, and balancing – a lot of what a professional mix engineer will do is creative, and a lot of the sound + vibe of your favourite music is a result of a good mix engineer at work.
Mastering, however, focusses solely on enhancing the final stereo mix, and making sure that it’s right for streaming services, physical print (if you want that), and that it is at maximum loudness, without destroying dynamics.
What Does A Mixing & Mastering Engineer Do?
A Mixing and Mastering Engineer will balance multiple instruments, to make everything sound cohesive, clear & punchy; exporting it to a final mix. They will then take this mix, and enhance it ensuring your music is loud, and ready for distribution.
The mixing engineer focusses on the sound and vibe of your track, making sure each instrument has its own space, and sounds as good as it can.
They focus on balancing the levels, frequency spectrum, moulding the acoustics, atmosphere & more, to create an exceptional listening experience.
The mastering engineer then takes this final stereo mix, and enhances it further using virtual analogue and analog gear to inject warmth, character, and maximise loudness, without introducing artefacts. The mastering engineer will also be responsible for making sure your track is ready for distribution.
How Much Should It Cost To Mix and Master My Song? – Mixing And Mastering Prices
Quality mixing and mastering prices can range between $150-$1000 per track. This can get go into the thousands with more experienced engineers but, you can get a quality mix and master online, for a budget of $150-$300.
Mixing is going to be the most expensive out of the two.
Just mixing can set you back hundreds, if not thousands of dollars. It takes a long time for an experienced engineer to get the tonal balance of a track optimal, and if you have a lot of tracks, it can be very difficult to blend all of them together and maintain clarity.
Good mastering is generally much cheaper, and you can get good-sounding audio mastering online, that’s radio-ready, for $50/track. The more you pay, the better quality service you’ll receive (usually). Most masters for $50/track won’t pay the same attention to detail as higher paid masters.
If you’re on a budget, mixing and mastering prices shouldn’t go over $300 per track.
There are plenty of experienced engineers that will be able to get your track radio ready for $300 and, in our opinion, you shouldn’t really get the higher-priced services until you start to make money with your music.
Sometimes you might be able to find a less-experienced engineer who is charging much less for their services, to gain experience.
This is rare to come by, but if you’re on a massive budget, it might be worth checking if there are any music production university students offering professional audio mastering online, who are willing to work on your tracks. Make sure they are in their last semester, and they have some previous work you can listen to, otherwise, this can be hit and miss.
Best Mixing & Mastering Services 2023
Here is the complete list of best mixing and mastering services in 2023:
- Max Honsinger
- Alex Reverberi
- Kamen
- Martin Kano
- Lucas Pereira
- Dominion Analog Mastering
- MixButton Studios
- Cloud Bounce
- Landr
- Andrey
- Sovereign
- Kevin Carafa
Best Mixing and Mastering Services (By Humans)
Here you’ll find the best of the best professional mixing and mastering services that aren’t AI-based. If you want your track to sound exceptional, it’s better to go with human mastering.
With human work, comes a bigger price tag, but it’s well worth it.
Max Honsinger – Best Professional Audio Mastering & Mixing for Rock
Max is by far the best quality mixing and mastering engineer you will find in 2021.
Having done work for the likes of Bastille, The 1975 & Years and Years, he’s a veteran at this stuff.
What stands out about Max is his combination of state-of-the-art Analogue and Digital gear, which will give you all the warmth and thickness of vintage analog hardware, but also give you the precision of new-age digital plugins.
Mixing is a crucial part of the release process, and with Max’s accolades and work, you can put your trust in him to get you the most high-quality mix and master you’ve heard.
Another great thing about using Max is that he offers a service which gives you access to the project file. If you’re looking to learn mixing and mastering, studying this file will give you incredible insight into how the professionals do it.
Max has a quick response time & turnaround time, meaning you’ll be able to stick to your release plan with ease.
Pricing
Due to the professional nature of Max’s services, they come with a professional price tag. But, with everything considered, it’s more than worth the money if you can afford to spend it.
Max has 3 different mixing and mastering prices for you to choose from.
- Basic $140 – 1 song, 6 stem digital online mixing and stereo mastering, with 2 revisions and 4 day delivery time.
- Standard $295 – 1 song, 16 stem analog mixing and mastering with 3 revisions and 5 days delivery time.
- Premium $495 – 1 song, unlimited stem mixing and mastering with 5 revisions, 6 day delivery time & access to the project file for learning from.
Pros
✅ Incredible analog and digital gear that will make your track sound warm, thick and all kinds of gooey audio goodness.
✅ Fast turnaround time, so you’ll be able to stick to your release plan.
✅ Large amount of revisions. This means that if you don’t like the mix or master, you can get Max to change it about to suit your liking & needs.
✅ Huge industry accolades, so you can expect the quality mix and master you’re looking for.
Cons
❌ The most expensive online mastering service on this list.
Alex Reverberi – Best Professional, Low-Cost Mix and Master Online
Alex Reverberi is a mixing and mastering engineer who is on the same level as Max Hosinger, if not better (and cheaper). With 3 decades of experience in the music industry (as you can see from that classic CRT monitor in the photo above) Alex has had the pleasure of working on platinum projects.
He’s worked on/with:
- Eminem – Slim Shady
- Outkast – Hey Ya
- Whitney Houston – One Wish
- Universal Music
- Limp Bizkit
- Shakira
- and more
That’s an impressive list of platinum records to have under your belt as a mixing and mastering engineer, and the experience Alex shows, through his dedication, top-notch communication and professional results.
For the prices Alex charges, the service is an absolute steal. You’d often find mixing and mastering engineers of his stature charging $1000+ for services like this.
The only downside to Alex’s services is that he doesn’t own true analog hardware, but uses virtual analog VST’s (made by UAD) to get a similar feel. These are almost indistinguishable from the originals, but we thought it was worth mentioning before you buy.
Pricing
Because of Alex’s accolades, he charges a bit more than most on this list. But, what you get with him is an absolute steal considering the name dropping power he has!
Alex has 3 different pricing tiers:
- Basic $150 – 1 track, 5 stems, 3 revisions, 5 day delivery, mastering included.
- Standard $195 – 1 track, 15 stems, 3 revisions, 6 day delivery time.
- Standard $395 – 1 track mix, ∞ stems, 3 revisions, 7 day delivery.
Pros
✅ Amazing industry accolades working with the likes of Eminem, Limp Bizkit, Shakira, Whitney Houston and more
✅ Skilled in all genres, meaning no matter whether you have a Rock, Pop or Classical piece – Alex will nail it.
✅ Virtual analog gear used. With UAD plugins that are identical to the original hardware, expect all the warmth and character that analog gear provides.
✅ Quick turnaround. With 5 days delivery time, you’ll be able to get your projects finished up quickly.
Cons
❌ No analog gear. Virtual analog is pretty much indistinguishable these days, but some people want real analog hardware. If you want that, then Alex isn’t for you.
Kamen – Best Mixing and Mastering Services for Hip Hop Music
Kamen has over a decade of experience in the music industry and it shows, with his impressive attention to detail and trained ear. His mixing and mastering style is best suited to Rap, Drill, Afrobeats, R&B and Urban music styles.
Being nominated for an award in music production, having accumulated over 6 million streams on some of his work and been played on international radio stations like BBC, Colors, Tidal Rising and more – you can expect nothing short of phenomenal work from Kamen.
One bonus that Kamen provides over the other services, is a quick zoom call to get to know you, your project goals and what you want from working with him.
This is a really nice touch because you can’t always communicate want you want to through messaging properly – especially if you’re not at a professional skill level in music production yet. A quick call can help Kamen understand your needs and help get a better end result.
One drawback of Kamen’s services is the lack of audio mastering with the basic package. This allows him to keep the cost of the service down, but you’ll have to pay extra for mastering if you want it done. Additionally, he doesn’t use analog gear, which could be a dealbreaker for some people.
Pricing
- Basic $125 – 1 song, 20 stems, 1 revision, 4 day delivery.
- Standard $175 – 1 song, 100 stems, 5 revisions, 7 day delivery, mastering included.
- Premium $450 – 4 songs, ∞ stems, 14 day delivery, mastering included.
Pros
✅ Highest number of stems for the price range. If you have a big project with lots of elements, Kamen can help you cut costs a lot when compared to other engineers and still provide an exceptional result.
✅ Production enhancements. Kamen is the only engineer to offer this on this list. If he feels he can aid the production to make your music sound better, he will use his expertise to do so.
✅ Zoom call to get to know your needs. This is useful for those times where you can’t quite get across what you want through instant messaging.
✅ Clean versions included. If your track is explicit Kamen will make clean versions for radio play.
Cons
❌ No analog gear
❌ Less experience than the other professional choices
Martin Kano – Affordable Professional Mixing & Mastering
Martin Kano is an exceptional mix & mastering engineer, who is on par with Max Honsinger, but is better value for money.
With over 16 years of professional experience in the music industry, and having won 2 international music awards, Martin’s ability exceeds expectations.
He has worked with the likes of Chris Lord-Alge, Coca Cola, Budweiser, & a tonnes of huge industry names, providing his exceptional online mixing service, which won him a Latin Grammy in 2001.
And, for the price he charges, Martin’s services are an absolute steal.
But don’t let the price make you think you’re getting any less of a service, with Martin’s mix & master packages, you get all the trimmings.
He uses a combination of digital and analog gear to inject that beautiful analog warmth, while retaining that digital clarity.
He also uses analog summing. This means instead of bouncing your audio inside a DAW, he uses special external hardware – the Manely 16×2, so you get the best results possible.
One massive unseen benefit is also how quickly Martin replies. His communication is fantastic, and is something to note because, if you’re on a strict release plan, you need this.
Pricing
Because of Martin’s accolades, he charges a bit more than most on this list. However, you get what you pay for with mixing and mastering services, and you will get an award winning result from him.
He’s far cheaper than the top-rated online mastering service on this list, but that’s only due to location rather than the level of skill.
(it’s much cheaper to live in Argentina than it is London)
Martin has 3 different tiers for you to choose from.
- Basic $115 – 1 song, 40 stem analog mixing and mastering, with 4 revisions and 4 day delivery time.
- Standard $140 – 1 song, 60 stem analog mixing and mastering with 4 revisions and 4 days delivery time.
- Premium $165 – 1 song, unlimited stem, analog mixing and mastering with 4 revisions and 4 day delivery time.
Pros
✅ Analog summing which collates your multitrack session using specific hardware, rather than the digital DAW algorithms used by most.
✅ Incredible analog and digital gear that will make your track sound warm and thick, while maintaining exceptional clarity.
✅ Low professional mixing and mastering prices. This is one of the cheapest, best value for money, online mixing and mastering services we’ve ever seen. With his incredible accolades and Grammy-winning pieces, you really can’t go wrong choosing Martin.
✅ Large amount of tracks & revisions included. You have enough tracks in the basic package for a fairly big project, and if you don’t like the mix/master, you can get it revised up to 4 times.
✅ Incredible industry accolades, including a Latin Grammy, so you can put your trust in Martin to deliver high-quality work.
Cons
❌ We couldn’t find any.
Lucas Pereira – Affordable Professional Mix & Master
Lucas is another great value online mixing and mastering engineer. He’s the cheapest high-end mixing & mastering engineer you’ll find.
Offering a range of digital and analog gear, including a huge SSL console, you won’t find anyone better to offer you that hybrid of digital cleanliness and analog warmth.
With over 10 years of experience in the game, Lucas has done it all, from Rock, to Pop, to EDM, Hip Hip – you name it, Lucas has got experience in it. He’s a full-time audio engineer that works prominently with sound design, so you know you’re getting quality!
Throughout those 10 years, he’s released countless original tracks and remixes, which have done the rounds on streaming services like Spotify, Apple Music & itunes – racking up millions of plays and sales.
Pricing
You can purchase Lucas’ mix and master online. He offers three different packages to choose from.
Here’s what is offered:
- Small Mixes $100 – 16 stems, online mixing & mastering, with 5 days delivery & 1 revision. Lucas will make your track radio ready & it will stand out from the competition.
- Standard Mix $125 – 48 stems mixing and mastering with 5 days delivery and 1 revision.
- Large Mixes $225 – 100 stems online mixing and mastering, with a 5 day delivery time & 1 revision.
Pros
✅ Professional audio mastering & mixing at an incredible price.
✅ Offers sample mixes, so if you’re on the fence, this can help you decide.
✅ High-quality analog & digital gear. Lucas has a range of beautiful analog gear, including a huge 88-channel SSL console.
✅ All genres accepted! Lucas is a versatile engineer and can get any genre you ask right!
✅ HQ audio file, delivered as a 24 bit wav & MP3
Cons
❌ Can’t find any!
Dominion Analog Mastering – Best Value for Money Online Mastering Service
Dominion is a studio that has been offering professional audio mastering online, since 2013. They are a fantastic online mastering service, which is among the cheapest on this list, that uses incredible analog gear.
However, if you’re also looking for a mix, then you might want to check some of the other services as this only a is music mastering service, meaning it doesn’t include any mixing services.
He’s a professional mastering engineer that has a degree in audio & music production, with over 6 years of experience mastering any genre of music. That means you’ll be able to send him anything, from EDM to folk music, you name it, Dominion does it.
With over 1,000 5 star ratings, his online mastering service is among the best available to purchase. And, for the price, the service is an absolute steal for music producers on a tight budget.
Dominion Mastering, uses state of the art of professional analog & digital gear to get you that vintage audio warmth, without sacrificing precision.
Here’s a list of his outboard, analog mastering gear alone! You can check his website to see more.
Pricing
Dominion has 3 different packages to choose from, so whatever you’re looking for, he’ll have something for your track(s).
- Basic $30 – 1 song, analog audio mastering with professional outboard equipment & 2 days delivery time.
- Standard $120 – EP analog audio mastering through professional outboard equipment & 2 days delivery time.
- Premium $200 – 1 full-length album, professionally mastered using analog outboard gear & 2 days delivery time.
Pros
✅ Huge range of analog outboard gear used with digital to give you all the warmth of vintage hardware, without sacrificing precision.
✅ Best value music mastering service for analog sound. If you’re on a budget, then this is an awesome online mastering service to choose.
✅ Exceptionally quick turnaround meaning you’ll get your audio master file back quicker.
✅ High-quality audio file which will come as a 24bit wav file.
Cons
❌ Revisions cost $10 as all the analog gear will have to be re-adjusted based on session notes.
❌ Two formats cost $5, which means if you want digital downloads & CD duplication you’ll have to pay more.
MixButton Studios
MixButton Studios are another mixing and music mastering service with an incredible amount of industry experience. Having worked for the likes of Ed Sheeran, One Direction, London Grammar & a whole lot more – you can be sure to trust your mix in the hands of Mix Button Studios.
They use an incredible combination of precise digital gear, alongside beautifully warm analog pre-amps, compressors & more to get you the most precise, clean mix – without losing any charm or characteristics.
Some of the analog mastering gear they use includes: the legendary LA-2A, API 560, Neve 2254 & other hardware classics that have shaped decades of old music, & continue to shape the modern era.
Their customer service is also fantastic, and when messaging Mix Button Studios, they were also extremely quick to reply & were able to answer every question that I had.
Pricing
You’re getting a lot of bang for your buck with MixButton Studios. With expertly trained engineers & state of the art analog gear, it’s a steal when it comes to premium online mixing and mastering services.
MixButton Studios offer 3 options:
- Mastering only $55 – 1 track, expert mastering using state of the art analog gear & 1 revision.
- Mixing only $155 – 1 song, 35 stem analog mixing & mastering, with 5 day delivery time & 1 revision.
- Mixing & Mastering $265 – 1 song, 35 stem analog mixing & mastering, with 5 day delivery time & 1 revision.
Pros
✅ Combination of state of the art analog & digital gear. Giving you the most pristine mix & master, without losing that warm character.
✅ Quick delivery time, so you’ll be able to stick to your release plan & satisfy your impatience.
✅ Expert audio engineers, all with degrees & an incredible list of industry accolades for big artists.
✅ Incredible industry accolades. Mix Button’s engineers have done work for huge artists including, Ed Sheeran, One Direction, London Grammar, Example & more!
Cons
❌ Can get quite pricey. Although you’re getting a great service, if your projects are on the bigger side you can rack up quite a bit of money.
Andrey – Best Value for Money Mixing and Music Mastering Service for EDM
Andrey is one of the finer mix & mastering engineers, and is great value for money when you’re looking to get both a mix and a master on a budget.
He’s a music producer, mix & mastering engineer from Ukraine who has the upmost degree of professionalism. Having worked on more than 5,000 online projects, he has been featured on major networks such as Fox, Netflix & CW.
With all that under his belt, you can put your trust fully in Andrey, to return your tracks with exceptional quality and speed. Andrey works by using digital gear to mix, master & pitch correct your tracks with precision and clarity.
Pricing
Andrey is one of the cheaper mix and mastering engineers on this list and offers a whole lot for his prices! Not only will he mix your tracks, but he’ll master them and make sure that they are in key too!
Andrey offers 3 packages:
- Basic Mix and Master $45 – 1 track mixing, mastering and pitch correction of 10 stems, with 2 revisions and returned as a 24 bit wav & MP3 file.
- Optimal Mix and Master $65 – 1 track mixing, mastering and pitch correction of 20 stems, with 2 revisions & returned as 24 bit wav & MP3 file.
- Premium Mix & Master $100 – 1 track mix, master and advanced pitch correction of 30 stems, with 4 revisions, returned as a 24 bit wav and MP3 file.
Pros
✅ Mix, master and on top of that pitch correction. This means you’ll not only get a high-quality mix and master, but Andrey will ensure your track is sounding at its best harmonically.
✅ Quick delivery time, meaning you’ll get your sweet sounding master back sooner.
✅ Revisions on each package, so if you don’t like anything you can ask Andrey to change it.
✅ Incredible industry accolades, meaning you can put your full trust in Andrey.
✅ Great value for mixing and mastering, plus on top you get pitch correction!
Cons
❌ No analog gear used, which could remove that warmth and vintage feel.
❌ Only best at modern genres. If you’re looking for an EDM, Hip Hop, Rap or Trap mix you’re fine, but older genres aren’t as great.
Sovereign – Cheapest Online Mixing and Mastering
Sovereign is a new freelance mix & master engineer who is absolutely incredible at what he does.
If you want a really pristine mix & master, for an extremely low price we’d definitely recommend checking his services out.
He’s a professional producer that has been working with music for over 15 years and has been mentored by some of the best industry professionals in the music space.
Pricing
Sovereign is great for producers on a budget, looking for a great value for money mix and master online.
He offers 2 packages:
- Basic Mix $20 – 1 song full mix and master, no limit on stems, with 1 revision.
- Standard Mix & Master $40 – 1 track professional mix and master, with 2 revisions and 1 project file included.
- Full Mix & Master $300 – up to 10 songs mix and master, with all project files, 3 revisions and a 10 day delivery time.
Kevin Carafa – Cheapest Human Mix & Mastering Engineer
Kevin Carafa has over 18 years of experience in the music industry and is an incredible mix & master engineer. He’s also extremely good value for money, if you’re looking for the basics.
He’s got a B.A. in music & sound engineering and is genre fluid, so you can send him anything from EDM to Rock!
He’s the top choice if you’re looking to get audio & music production services on a budget.
Kevin only offers 2 packages – a basic mix and a basic master. The rest of the more advanced stuff come as add-ons, which you pay more for.
Pricing
Being the best value for money mix and master online, Kevin is the top pick for music producers on a budget.
He offers 2 packages:
- Basic Mix $5 – 1 track basic level adjustment, EQ and compression returned as a wav & MP3.
- Basic Master $5 – 1 track professional master with adjustments in EQ and loudness for optimal playback
Pros
✅ Extreme value for money. Kevin is by far the cheapest option on this list, so if you’re on a budget, he’s your guy.
✅ Analog & digital gear for optimal precision and warmth in your tracks.
✅ 1,000 5 star reviews, meaning you can put your trust in Kevin to return a fantastic job!
Cons
❌ Mixing is basic. There’s not much Kevin does for just the $5. He’ll adjust EQ, compression and levels to give a balanced mix, but it won’t bring warmth & punch.
❌ Lots of upsells. Kevin has a wide range of upsells for his mixing package so you can get it to sound better. Ends up being similar prices to the engineers listed above.
Mikes Mix & Master – Best Mix and Master for Urban Music
Mike has a whopping 17 years of experience in the music industry & has worked with a huge number of labels such as Maybach Music Group, Atlantic Music & more.
And, you’d think that because of those accolades, Mike would charge a huge amount – but he doesn’t. He’s actually one of the most affordable, professional mixing & mastering services on this list.
Also you can use our WHIPPEDCREAM10 code to receive a further 10% off your mix or master (or both)!
When reviewing Mike’s services, we found he provided the best result for EDM & Hip Hop tracks, but Mike can cover any genre, spanning from, Pop to Rock, Reggae, World & even Religious.
Take a listen for yourself below!
Pricing
Mike’s services are great value for money.
He offers:
- Mastering only $50 – 1 track, expert mastering using state of the art analog gear.
- Supreme Mix & Master $175 – 1 song, 48 stem analog mixing & mastering, with unlimited revisions & social media promotion.
- Album Mastering $336 – Entire album mastering with, crossfades, noise reduction, album art encoding & files for CD replication.
Pros
✅ Incredible industry accolades & experience. Mike’s Mix & Master has worked for the likes of Maybach music, Atlantic records & a whole lot more. He’s also got 17 years of experience in the industry – you can trust Mike with your mix or master.
✅ Analog & Digital gear. A hybrid blend of analog and digital gear for the most precise, clean & warm mix.
✅ Great customer satisfaction. Mike’s goal is to leave every customer happy & their customer service is A grade because of it.
Cons
❌ Revisions on lower cost items are an extra $15. If you go for the lower packages, you have to purchase addons for revisions, apple digital masters & additional stems.
The Best Online Mastering Services (Free & Paid)
Here you’ll find the top online mastering services, you can use to get your tracks ready for commercial use. These online tools use AI to make calibrated changes to your tracks, and they do an awesome job of it!
Online mastering services are the best value for money mastering that you will find, but unfortunately don’t provide mixing.
Here’s the complete list of the best online mastering services (AI):
- CloudBounce
- E-Mastered
- Landr
- BandLab (free online mastering)
CloudBounce – Best Online Mastering Service
CloudBounce is an online mastering company that uses state of the art AI to analyse your tracks and make calibrated adjustments. CloudBounce masters sound just as professional as human mastering, but come at a fraction of the price & are done, ready to go in minutes. They’re also an Abbey Road Red company.
If you haven’t heard of Abbey Road, it is one of the most world-renowned studios of all time. So, you can expect that, if they’re backing it, the technology is great & it sounds phenomenal.
The online mastering company also allows you to try their service out, offering free mastering to test your tracks in.
Alongside all that, you also get some input on your master with CloudBounce, with options to select different genres, volume, brightness, warmth & bass.
Pricing
Being and online company that offers studio mastering quality, CloudBounce are excessively cheap. They offer some incredible packages and are among the best online mastering companies about.
Here’s what they offer:
- Pay as You Go $9.90 – 1 track studio quality mastering, with the option to download CD quality and hi-res wav files.
- Infinity (Monthly) $19.90- Unlimited tracks for master each month, with CD quality & hi-res wav files. Also comes with lifetime cloud backup, which saves all your files online.
- Infinity (Yearly) $199.99 – Unlimited tracks for master all year round, with cloud back up, CD quality and 24 bit hi-res wav files.
Pros
✅ Incredible studio quality mastering, which comes at a fraction of the price you’d pay.
✅ Cloud storage you can use to store all your files on, saving space on your computer.
✅ Instant mastering, completed in a matter of minutes.
✅ 15 genre specific mastering styles. Whatever style your tracks are, CloudBounce will cover it.
✅ 10 post-mastering options, you can use to tweak you master to your liking.
Cons
❌ Not human. Although the AI is incredibly intelligent, human input & listening always helps to sculpt your sound further.
Distrokid
Distrokid is offering free online mastering to members who are already signed up. This means you can master as many tracks as you like, before submitting them to distribute … all directly in the Distrokid platform.
And, the mastering quality is surprisingly good, competing very closely with the likes of Cloudbounce and Landr.
The controls are a little bit more stripped back compared with Cloudbounce, but like Landr, you have the same possibilities to alter the loudness, warmth and change settings that alter the tonal balance of your track.
Distrokid mastering sounds clean and punchy and will give your tracks the extra loudness they need to compete on streaming platforms. However, it tends to over-compress things (like most AI mastering).
As always, hiring a professional engineer is always better, but if you need a quick master for release and have a decent mix, then Distrokid mastering is a great option- especially if you already pay for Distrokid.
Pricing
The pricing is a little confusing compared to the other options because you also get distribution bundled in with the service too. Distrokid is a distribution service, not a mastering service, and it’s more of a perk for signing up to distribute music with them, than a full-fledged service
Here is the pricing for Distrokid:
- Musician ($19.99) – Upload unlimited songs to all major DSPs with unlimited mastering and cloud storage.
- Musician Plus ($35.99) – This plan allows you to control the release date of your music. Other features include Daily Sales stats and being able to customize your song’s ISRC Number and the name of the record label you are releasing under. You can also upload to two separate artist pages with this plan. Comes with unlimited mastering and cloud storage.
- Label ($79.99) – All features listed previously are included with this plan, although you get to upload to up to 5 artist pages (As opposed to two in ‘Musician Plus’ and One in ‘Musician’). Comes with unlimited mastering and cloud storage.
Pros
✅ Incredible studio quality mastering, which comes with a small $19/year fee
✅ Cloud storage you can store all your previous masters on. Unfortunately, projects are not available yet.
✅ Instant mastering, completed in a matter of minutes.
Cons
❌ Not human. AI is great for quick masters, but will not provide the same result as a professional engineer.
❌ Little customization. Not as many settings to customise as other platforms.
Landr
Landr is another company that uses intelligent AI mastering engineers to analyse your tracks, and make adjustments. It sounds pretty good for AI online mastering, but when compared to CloudBounce and E-Mastered, it doesn’t perform as well on sound.
It’s also a lot more limited in what you can alter. You only get a few options to choose from when mastering, and the rest is down to Landr’s algorithm to provide the best results. When compared to CloudBounce and E-Mastered’s bigger range of controls, it’s not as easy to get the exact sound you want.
One bonus of Landr is that you initially get 2 free online masters per month with Landr, however, these are limited to MP3 downloads.
When testing it on sound, Landr came in 3rd and sounded fairly squashed and a bit too pushed. It will work well on already professionally mixed songs, but it didn’t seem to have the same technology that CloudBounce or E-Mastered had.
Landr is definitely much better as a service and has far better customer service than the other AI picks here though, so that’s also something to note. It comes with pretty much everything, including music distribution, cloud-based sampling, collaboration tools and more.
When it comes to just mastering though, Landr pales in comparison to the other choices.
Pricing
Landr is the cheapest option on this list for professional mastering. It’s also incredibly quick and doesn’t leave you waiting around. They also offer your first master for free, so you can check it out before you buy!
Here’s how it’s priced:
- Basic $6/month – Unlimited LO-MP3 mastering, with the ability to pay more for hi-res wavs.
- Advanced $14/month – Unlimited HI-MP3 mastering, with the option to pay more for high quality wavs.
- Pro $39/month – Unlimited hi-res wav mastering, with MP3’s included as well.
You can also pay yearly for these.
Pros
✅ Studio quality mastering, for a fraction of the price that you’d pay a mastering engineer.
✅ Access to promotional tools, included with the plan for release strategies.
✅ Distribution included, meaning you’ll be able to get your music on Spotify & Apple Music.
✅ Two free masters/month. You can sign up on a free account and get 2 masters a month.
Cons
❌ Basic & Advanced plans aren’t that great. Having to pay extra for wavs sucks because you need to upload wavs to Spotify.
❌ Pricing is confusing. It’s difficult to understand what you actually get for the money.
❌ Not human. Although the AI is incredibly intelligent, human input & listening always helps to sculpt your sound further.
E-Mastered
E-Mastered is a great online mastering service to use for quick, cheap professional masters. Out of all the AI services on this list, it’s the best in terms of user experience and has the most customizability.
For instance, in E-Mastered you can alter the Stereo Width, Compressor intensity, EQ intensity, multi-band, brightness, and even feed it a reference track to apply a similar mastering chain to your track.
This is really useful for getting a dialled-in sound, without having to fork out for a human engineer.
(don’t get us wrong a human mastering engineer is always a better choice, but this will do for some people who are on a budget)
Like with CloudBounce and Landr, you also get access to cloud storage. This is unlimited storage, and you can store your WAV files, or even your project files online for backup (Splice also offer this for free).
When it comes to sound, E-Mastered sounded decent on the tracks we fed it in the test. However, it seemed to squash the audio too much and focussed on a pushed sound. This was the same with Landr and BandLab, but with CloudBounce it was a bit more natural.
Pricing
Landr is the cheapest option on this list for professional mastering. It’s also incredibly quick and doesn’t leave you waiting around. They also offer your first master for free, so you can check it out before you buy!
Here’s how it’s priced:
- 1 Year Commitment $19/month – Unlimited hi-res WAV mastering, cloud storage, 14-day money back guarantee.
- Monthly $49/month – Unlimited hi-res WAV mastering, cloud storage, 14-day money back guarantee.
- Yearly Upfront $156/year – Unlimited hi-res WAV mastering, cloud storage, 14-day money back guarantee.
Pros
✅ Most feature-rich and customisable mastering for your tracks
✅ Instant audio mastering
✅ Professional audio mastering, with Hi-Res audio file download
✅ Reference track mastering (feed E-Mastered a reference track of your choice)
✅ Free online mastering demo for your tracks
Cons
❌ Most pricey monthly plan
❌ Poor reputation in reviews (we didn’t experience anything bad)
BandLab – Best Free Mastering Online
BandLab is a free online mastering tool you can use as much as you want. It gives you unlimited masters and was created alongside mastering engineers to ensure the quality of the service.
Because it’s free, it’s pretty stripped back and you don’t get a lot of options to choose from when using it. There are only 3 presets for your tracks and no possibility to alter the settings of compression, EQ or other important factors.
When it comes to sound, it’s the best free mastering you’ll find online and has a great algorithm, but it doesn’t compare to the likes of CloudBounce or E-Mastered in terms of sound.
It’s a great tool to use for free if you’re on a budget, but we’d recommend either going with a paid mastering engineer or opting for Cloudbounce if you’re going to be releasing your music.
Pros
✅ High-quality, free online mastering
✅ Hi-Res audio downloads in WAV or MP3
Cons
❌ Minimal customisation
AI Mastering Shootout – Which is The Best Online Mastering Service?
CloudBounce is the best online mastering service when it comes to price, sound and control. There are more options to manually input settings into the AI engine, than E-Mastered or Landr – and you get it at a fraction of the price. It provides the most natural frequency profile and seems to do more than just limit your track to oblivion.
When comparing AI mastering services, Landr is better as a whole, because you get music distribution, cloud-based sampling (like Splice) and a whole range of other features included with your subscription. However, if we’re just talking AI online mastering, when it comes to sound, CloudBounce wins.
E-Mastered also has a decent range of features and is more customisable than CloudBounce – offering a great reference track upload feature. However, it sounds too pushed, compressed and unnatural.
BandLab is free, so there’s nothing to really fault it on. However, the mastering doesn’t sound great and there are fewer options for high-quality exports.
Most of the AI mastering services online will sound squashed and won’t do your track justice fully. However, the best of the bunch is CloudBounce. And if you have a professional mix, your master will sound great.
Which AI Mastering Sounds The Best?
In our audio tests we’d rank them as follows:
- CloudBounce
- E-Mastered
- Landr
- BandLab
We’ve left the audio tests below for you to see for yourself!
Final Thoughts
To recap, here’s the complete list of mixing and mastering services:
- Max Honsinger
- Alex Reverberi
- Kamen
- Martin Kano
- Lucas Pereira
- Dominion Analog Mastering
- MixButton Studios
- Cloud Bounce
- Landr
- Andrey
- Sovereign
- Kevin Carafa
Having a good mix and master for your music is hands down the most essential thing to get sorted before releasing it to the world. You want to be releasing your best work, & a good mix and master will ensure this.
FAQ
How Do I Choose The Right Mixing and Mastering Engineer for My Music?
When picking a mixing and mastering engineer, you should consider:
- Experience – how long have they been working in the industry?
- Accolades – have they worked on any big projects or with big names?
- Examples – what does their previous work sound like?
- Gear & Equipment – do they have a professional setup? What about analog gear?
- Genre – have they previously worked with your genre of music?
- Price – what’s your budget, how much can you afford?
A mixing and mastering engineer should be able to listen to your track and instantly identify the key issues, then know what to do to fix those issues. You should find someone passionate about music, who can work with your genre and has past experience in it. They should have good industry accolades, fantastic equipment, communication and fast turnaround times.
Is It Better To Pay For Mixing & Mastering, or Do it Myself?
If you’re not skilled in mixing or mastering, and need your track radio ready, it’s better to pay for mixing & mastering. If you want to learn, and don’t have a large fanbase, or need a radio-ready song, start learning yourself.
The answer to this really depends on what skill level you’re at, whether your release needs to be radio-ready at this stage, and whether you want to learn mixing and mastering or not.
Personally, we would recommend anyone who’s serious about music, or production as a career, to start learning mixing or mastering. You can learn audio mastering online pretty easily alongside some YouTube tutorials, but you must have a decent setup. You can additionally learn mixing online using the same techniques – find good YouTube tutorials and practice, practice, practice!
However, mixing and mastering isn’t for everyone.
Even some talented music producers choose to get professionals to mix and master their tracks, even when can themselves. This is because, when producing for hours, you can get bored of your song, and might not be able to breathe the same life into it, as someone with a fresh mind.
Personally we would learn mixing, and outsource the mastering. Here’s why:
You can good mixes in headphones more easily than a good master in headphones. Mastering additionally requires extremely expensive equipment, studio treatment, and often, you just won’t be able to get the same professional result without investing.
Headphone masters can sound good, but will simply never match that of a professional studio expert who has invested thousands of dollars into gear. And, you can get professional audio mastering online, for $30-50.
For us, it’s worth it.
Is AI Mastering Worth it?
AI mastering is worth it. It can give you a radio-ready track for a fraction of the price of a mastering engineer. It will be nowhere near as good, or receive the same love and care that an engineer would give, but it’s a good alternative if you’re on a budget.
AI mastering gets a lot of flak, and there’s a reason for that. Mastering isn’t really a process that can be done by a robot properly (yet).
However, it can get you the loudness you need, and ensure that your track is ready for distribution to all major streaming services. Sometimes this is all you need, and you don’t need a high-quality master from a professional.
If you’re releasing music as a hobby, or you don’t have a huge fanbase yet, there’s not much point in spending upwards of $50 on a decent master. At this stage, you probably need to get better at making music anyway.
If you have a great mix that has clarity and sounds cohesive, then AI mastering can finish it off for you at a fraction of the cost, and your end result will still sound professional. It’s hard to make a great mix sound bad in the mastering stage. But, mastering from a professional will always be better.
