What mastering means here
Mastering is the last step: taking a finished, balanced mix and giving it cohesion, controlled loudness, and a polished top end so it holds up next to commercial tracks. In the DAW you master on the master bus - the effects chain that processes the whole mix after the individual tracks.
Master well by finishing the mix first. Mastering cannot fix a mix that is unbalanced or clipping; sort those out in Mixing before you polish.
The master bus
Open the Effects Rack and switch it to the Master Bus (click the master channel strip). Effects you add here process the summed mix. A typical, restrained master chain:
- Compressor (gentle) - a little glue, low ratio, just a dB or two of reduction on peaks.
- EQ - small, broad moves. A touch of high shelf for air, a gentle low cut if it is muddy. Subtractive first.
- Limiter (at the end) - catches peaks and raises overall level without clipping. This is the loudness stage.
Less is more on the master. If you find yourself doing big moves here, go back to the mix.
Loudness
Aim for a level that is competitive but not crushed. Streaming platforms normalize to roughly -14 LUFS, so pushing far past that mostly just squashes dynamics without getting louder on playback. Use the limiter to control peaks and set a sensible ceiling (around -1 dBFS true peak is a safe target), and trust your ears against a reference track.
The one-click Master Audio tool
If you want a fast, hands-off master, AetherWave has a dedicated Master Audio tool (separate from the DAW) that masters a track with a chosen preset. Use it when:
- You want a quick, reliable master without building a master chain by hand.
- You have already exported a mix and want to polish that file.
Use the DAW master bus instead when you want full manual control over the master chain, or want the master processing baked into your DAW export.
Export at the right level
Master with the export in mind: your master-bus chain is applied when you export, so the WAV or MP3 you render already carries the master. Export lossless WAV for distribution or further work, and keep a little headroom under 0 dBFS. See Exporting.
Where to go next
- Mixing - get the mix right first
- Effects and the rack - the master-bus effects in detail
- Exporting - render the mastered mix