Mastering: where to go

[FightingPlankton]

Hey all. My buddies band has recorded and mixed their album. They are looking for a high quality mastering engineer. Looking for suggestions with which you have personal experience. There is a place in the UK they're looking at that will do it for $800+fees but they're looking for options.

[UlricvonCatalyst]

I had an EP mastered by Hans DeKline of Sound Bites Dog many years ago and was happy with the service and results. Their prices look okay to me still. I liked the fact he asked for stems of one track he was having trouble balancing to his satisfaction.

When I used him, Hans had been working his way through SST's catalogue for CD releases, so if your friends are typical OSG types he should have a feel and track record with their kind of thang (though a good mastering engineer should be able to handle anything they're handed).

[cpeck]

I've used Golden Mastering, Chicago Mastering Service, Hans DeKline, and Sterling Sound. Hard to saw which was "better" because they were mastering wildly different material, but Steve Fallone at Sterling was my favorite.

[eggwheat]

I would always recommend getting a sample/test master before committing especially if it's someone you've never used before...even if they have the best recommendations and/or client list you've ever seen.

My favourites so far are Simon Davey from The Exchange and Kevin Metcalfe at Soundmasters..both in the UK.

[øøøøøøø]

...and be willing to PAY for that sample/test.

Some engineers will be willing to do one for you for free. Others are busy enough to not need to (or not have time to) do work for free.

[eggwheat]

I forgot to mention Mandy Parnell too... cool lady with a great ear and great gear. http://www.blacksaloonstudios.com" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[Gav Haus]

Only good things to say about Metropolis Mastering, or Hippocratic Mastering. Both uk based.

[toez10]

We had a record mastered by Carl Saff, and I thought the final product sounded really good.