The Analog Mastering Desk

Online analog mastering is a professional audio mastering service that runs your music through real analog hardware, not just digital plugins. Your finished mix is processed through high-end outboard gear from renowned brands like API, Neve and Manley.

Analog mastering services usually mean booking studio time and waiting days. With our online mastering service, you simply upload your finished mix and the Analog Mastering Desk handles the rest. Each track gets analog EQ and tone shaping, tonal balance correction, stereo balancing and loudness optimization, for a polished, release-ready sound on every streaming platform.

Listen to your free mastering sample within minutes before you buy. Once you’re happy with it, download your professional master as a 24-bit or 16-bit WAV for just $14.99.

Mixing balances the individual tracks of a song, such as vocals, drums, bass and instruments, into one stereo mix. Professional audio mastering works on that finished stereo mix as a whole, adding EQ, tone, stereo balance and loudness so the song is ready for release. Upload your finished mix to our song mastering service, and the desk handles the rest.

Online audio mastering takes just a few steps. Upload your finished mix as a WAV, AIFF, FLAC, M4A or MP3, choose the style closest to your genre and a loudness level, then press Start Mastering. Your track is mastered through the analog chain and you can hear a free preview of the master. If you like it, download it as a 24-bit or 16-bit WAV for $14.99.

Most online mastering services rely entirely on software to master your track, with plugins or AI. Unlike digital mastering services, the Analog Mastering Desk processes your mix through a physical analog chain, with real outboard gear from API, Neve and Manley running at 96 kHz, and records it back through a Lynx Hilo converter.

It’s analog mastering online, so you still get the speed: upload your mix, hear a free preview in minutes, and pay only if you want to download the master.

It’s automated analog mastering, so no engineer adjusts your track by hand, but it isn’t AI mastering in the typical software-only sense. Automated analysis determines the tonal balance and level settings for your chosen style, while the actual sound is shaped through real analog outboard gear, including API, Neve, and Manley, running at 96 kHz. The final stage then sets the overall loudness.

Yes. This is real analog hardware mastering, not plugin emulation. Your mix passes through our high-end physical analog chain, operating at 96 kHz. You can follow its journey through the signal path at the top of the page and see exactly which pieces of analog gear your track passes through.

Analog processing can add warmth, depth, punch and dimension to your music. Real hardware introduces subtle harmonic saturation and natural tonal color that can make your mix sound richer, more cohesive and more polished. It helps bring out musical detail and gives your master high-end sound quality and an engaging, finished sound, while preserving the character of your track.

Unfortunately, we don’t use a tape machine. Many people look for tape mastering for its warmth and gentle saturation, and the desk’s real analog hardware adds that kind of harmonic color and depth to your master, without tape hiss or wear.

Hybrid analog mastering combines precision-based audio analysis with real analog hardware to deliver the best of both worlds. Your mix is analyzed, converted at 96 kHz, and routed through our professional analog mastering chain featuring API, Neve, and Manley outboard gear, where the sound is shaped using high-end analog processing. The signal is then converted back through a Lynx Hilo converter, before a true-peak limiter sets the final loudness for streaming and distribution.

A WAV, AIFF, FLAC, M4A or MP3 of your finished, unmastered mix, at its original sample rate. For the best results, leave peaks around -6 dB, with no limiter or heavy master-bus compression applied before export.

You can, but we don’t recommend it. A mastered track has already been limited and compressed, so there’s little headroom or dynamic range left for the analog chain to work with, and mastering it again can make it sound flat or over-compressed.

Choose the style closest to your genre: Pop, EDM, Hip-hop, Rock, Acoustic or Lo-fi. Not sure? Start with Balanced, then try a couple of other styles and compare. You might be surprised which one sounds best for your track!

Gentle aims for about -12 LUFS and keeps the most dynamics, which suits acoustic, jazz and classical music. Standard aims for about -10 LUFS, a competitive level for most genres. Loud aims for about -8 LUFS for dense, high-energy styles like EDM and hip-hop. All three keep true peaks at or below -0.5 dBTP, and if a track can’t reach its target without being squashed, the system stops short to protect the sound. Measurements may vary slightly across different meters.

Streaming services use loudness normalization to balance playback levels between songs. Spotify uses a reference level of around -14 LUFS, while Apple Music’s Sound Check is commonly associated with approximately -16 LUFS. YouTube also adjusts playback loudness, although it doesn’t publish a fixed mastering target. Mastering louder doesn’t necessarily make your song sound louder on these platforms, but many genres benefit from higher loudness for added density, punch, and energy. When mastering for Spotify, rather than chasing a specific LUFS target, choose the level that best suits your music.

Choose Gentle to preserve the most dynamics, Standard for a competitive loudness level across most genres, or Loud for dense, high-energy styles. Every master maintains a true peak ceiling of -0.5 dBTP as part of our streaming-focused mastering approach.

Usually just a few minutes. Your track passes through our analog mastering chain in real time, so the mastering process takes about as long as your song, plus any time needed for tracks ahead of yours in the queue. You can watch your music move through the analog signal chain while your master is being created.

Keep this page open until your mastered audio is ready for download. Closing the tab or leaving the page cancels the mastering job. On a phone, keep your browser open on this page rather than switching to another app.

Streaming-ready masters: a 24-bit and a 16-bit (CD) WAV file, with true peaks at or below -0.5 dBTP for clean playback on streaming services. The results also show the loudness, dynamics, stereo width and EQ changes.

Yes. Online CD mastering is included: every purchase includes a 16-bit WAV, the bit depth used on audio CDs, along with the 24-bit WAV for streaming. Use the 16-bit file for CD mastering needs such as burning your own CDs, CD duplication or a CD release through your distributor.

For an album sent to a CD pressing plant, which usually needs a DDP image and the songs matched to each other, contact The Analog Mastering Desk.

$14.99 per track for professional mastering through real analog gear. Preview your master for free, then pay only to download it. One payment unlocks both 24-bit and 16-bit WAVs, available to download for 3 days. The price is always shown before you pay.

No. You can pay securely through PayPal’s checkout without creating a PayPal account. When the payment window opens, continue to the next step and choose the option to pay with a major credit or debit card.

Yes. Your master is a standard WAV with true peaks at or below -0.5 dBTP, ready to upload to any distributor, such as DistroKid, TuneCore or CD Baby, which delivers it to Spotify, Apple Music and the other platforms. Use the 24-bit WAV unless your distributor asks for 16-bit.

No. The analog chain processes one track at a time, so every track gets the gear’s full attention. If other tracks are ahead of yours, yours waits in a first-come, first-served queue, and the page shows your place in line until your turn begins.

Yes. You can hear a free preview of your master online, with no credit card or sign-in required. The preview plays the loudest section of your master, so you can judge the result before deciding whether to purchase the full master.

Yes. Your mix and master are kept private. Working files are automatically deleted from the mastering server, while finished masters are retained for one week and then permanently deleted.

Sometimes. The desk gives you a fast, consistent master through real analog gear. An experienced mastering engineer adds an objective set of ears: someone who listens to your whole project, hears what’s working and what isn’t, and makes decisions a preset can’t, such as flagging problems in the mix or matching the songs of an album to each other. If your project needs personalized mastering, contact The Analog Mastering Desk.