How Should I Export My Mix for Mastering?
If your mix is finished and you’re ready to send it for mastering, the basic answer is straightforward: export one complete stereo WAV or AIFF file at 24-bit and keep it at the same sample rate as your session. A 32-bit float WAV or AIFF is also absolutely fine if your DAW supports it.
Make sure the mix isn’t clipping, leave normalisation switched off and remove any limiter that’s only there to make the track louder. You don’t need to hit a particular peak level or LUFS target before mastering.
Whether your DAW calls the process exporting, bouncing or rendering, the principles are the same.
If you’re still checking the mix itself, rather than simply working out which export settings to use, start with my broader guide to preparing your mix for mastering.
What Export Settings Should I Use for Mastering?
For most mixes, these settings will give you exactly what I need:
Export source: Your main stereo output or mix bus
File format: WAV or AIFF
Channels: Stereo interleaved
Bit depth: 24-bit or 32-bit float
Sample rate: The same as your mix session
Normalisation: Off
Limiter: Off if it’s only being used for loudness
Peak level: No exact target, but the mix must not clip
LUFS: No target required
Export range: The complete song, including all reverb and delay tails
You don’t need to convert the mix to a particular sample rate for streaming, make it as loud as a mastered release or force the peaks to land on an arbitrary number. The goal is simply to give the mastering engineer a clean, full-quality version of the mix you’ve already created.
Should I Export a Stereo Mix or Stems?
For standard mastering, export one complete stereo mix.
This should be the version you hear when you play the finished song through your main stereo output. All of your individual tracks, effects, automation, panning and mix bus processing will be combined into that single file.
You don’t normally need to export the individual multitracks or grouped stems for mastering. Those are used for mixing, or occasionally for stem mastering when that has been specifically discussed with the engineer.
If your DAW gives you a choice between stereo interleaved and split stereo, choose stereo interleaved. That creates one file containing both the left and right channels rather than two separate files.
If the song is intentionally mono, a mono file is completely fine. Don’t turn a deliberately mono mix into fake stereo just because you’re sending it for mastering.
What File Format, Bit Depth and Sample Rate Should I Use?
WAV and AIFF are both full-quality, uncompressed audio formats and are equally suitable for mastering. If your DAW offers both, you can choose either one. There’s no sonic benefit in converting a perfectly good WAV into AIFF or an AIFF into WAV before sending it.
Lossless FLAC files can also be mastered without sacrificing audio information. WAV and AIFF are generally the most straightforward options when you’re creating a new export directly from your mix session, but an existing full-quality FLAC is perfectly usable.
If you’re creating a fresh export from the original mix session, don’t choose MP3. MP3 encoding discards audio information to reduce the file size, which makes it useful for listening copies but less suitable as the source for mastering. If an MP3 is genuinely the only surviving version of a song, it can still be mastered, but converting that MP3 into a WAV or AIFF won’t restore the information that has already been removed.
I’ve covered the differences in more detail in What File Format Should I Send for Mastering?.
Bit Depth
For a new mastering export, 24-bit is a straightforward default.
If your DAW offers 32-bit float, that’s absolutely fine too. You don’t need to convert a good 32-bit float export down to 24-bit before sending it to me.
If the only version available is a 16-bit WAV or AIFF, send the original file rather than converting it to 24-bit afterwards. Increasing the bit-depth setting on an existing file doesn’t add detail that wasn’t captured in the first place.
Sample Rate
Keep the export at the same sample rate as your mix session.
If you recorded and mixed the project at 44.1 kHz, export at 44.1 kHz. If the session is running at 48 kHz, export at 48 kHz. The same applies if you’ve genuinely been working at 88.2, 96 or 192 kHz.
There’s no need to upsample a 44.1 kHz mix to 96 kHz to make it look more professional, and there’s no need to reduce a higher-rate session to 44.1 kHz before mastering. Unnecessary sample-rate conversion doesn’t add anything useful and is better handled later when the final delivery files are created.
What About Dither?
Leave dithering switched off when exporting your mix for mastering.
Dither is normally applied at the end of the mastering process when the final delivery files are created, so there’s no need to add it to the mix beforehand. This applies whether you’re exporting at 24-bit or 32-bit float.
If you’ve already exported a 24-bit version with dither applied, the mix isn’t ruined. However, if the session is still available, export another version with dithering switched off and send that one instead.
Check Your Levels and Master Bus Processing
Your mix should be clean and shouldn’t clip, but it doesn’t need to peak at exactly −3 dBFS, −6 dBFS or any other prescribed level.
If the file isn’t clipping, I can easily turn it down before processing. What I can’t do is completely undo distortion that has already been printed into a clipped export. There’s also no advantage in turning a healthy mix down by an enormous amount purely to manufacture more headroom.
If you’d like the full explanation, read How Much Headroom Should You Leave for Mastering?.
The same principle applies to loudness. Your unmastered mix doesn’t need to compete with commercially released music, and there’s no particular LUFS figure you need to reach. Establishing the final level is part of the mastering process, so don’t add processing purely to make the premaster look louder on a meter.
I’ve covered that separately in How Loud Should My Mix Be Before Mastering?.
Should I Remove the Limiter?
If the limiter was added purely to make the mix louder, bypass it before exporting.
If removing it causes the stereo output to clip, reduce the level feeding the limiter until the unlimited version is clean. Simply lowering the limiter’s output isn’t the same thing because the limiter may still be reducing peaks and changing the dynamics.
There is an exception when the limiter has become an important part of the sound. If you’ve been mixing into it and removing it noticeably changes the balance, impact or character of the track, export both versions:
Song Title – Unlimited Mix.wav
Song Title – Limited Reference.wav
The unlimited mix gives the mastering engineer more flexibility, while the limited version demonstrates the sound you’ve been working towards. You can read more about deciding between them in Should I Remove the Limiter Before Mastering?.
You don’t automatically need to remove every other plugin from the master bus. If compression, EQ, saturation or another effect is an intentional part of the mix, it can stay. The aim isn’t to strip away creative decisions that are fundamental to the sound.
Should I Normalise the Export?
Leave normalisation switched off.
Your mix doesn’t need to be adjusted to an artificial peak or loudness target before mastering. If it needs to be turned up or down, that can be done easily without using normalisation during export.
If you’ve already normalised a clean file, it isn’t necessarily ruined. Normalisation may only have changed its overall gain. However, if the session is still open and you can quickly create another export with normalisation disabled, send that version instead.
For the full explanation, read Should I Normalise My Mix Before Mastering?.
Where Should My Export Start and End?
Set the export range so it contains the complete song.
Start slightly before the first intentional sound so the opening isn’t cut off. At the other end, allow the final note, fade, reverb and delay to finish naturally before the file ends. Cutting the export exactly on the last visible region can accidentally chop off an effect tail that continues beyond it.
Unlike multitracks being exported for mixing, a stereo mastering file doesn’t need to begin at bar one purely for alignment. It just needs to include the full intended beginning and ending of the song.
If you’re sending multiple versions, such as an unlimited mix and a limited reference, use the same start point and export range for both. This makes them much easier to compare and keeps everything consistent.
Most DAWs can export the mix offline or faster than real time without a problem. A real-time bounce may be necessary if you’re using external hardware, live inputs or something within the session that doesn’t render correctly offline. If neither of those applies, your DAW’s normal offline export should be fine.
Check the Export Before Sending It
Once the export has finished, open the resulting file outside your original DAW session and listen to it.
This final check catches a surprising number of problems. It’s easy to accidentally select the wrong output, export an older mix version, cut off the opening, miss a reverb tail or discover that a muted track was included.
You don’t necessarily need to sit through the entire song while staring intensely at the screen, but check at least:
The beginning of the song
A busy or loud section
Any section containing important automation or effects
The ending and final effect tails
That the file is the correct mix version
That the file plays properly and isn’t clipping
Give the file a clear name containing the artist and song title. If you’re sending multiple versions, label the difference between them clearly rather than relying on names such as “Final,” “Final 2” and the always reassuring “FINAL ACTUAL USE THIS ONE.”
Once you’ve confirmed that it’s the right mix, you’re ready to send it for mastering.
Not Sure Whether Your Export Is Right?
If you’ve exported your mix but you’re still not sure whether you’ve chosen the right settings, you’re welcome to upload the file here.
I’ll happily have a listen and let you know whether it’s ready for mastering or whether there’s anything worth changing before we get started.