The Mastering Show

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About the show

Latest episodes

• The Mastering Show #112 - When louder is easier ?!

  September 30, 2026 · 30 min

  As much as I love dynamics, in some ways mastering loud is easier. So what do I mean by that, and what does it mean for the loudness of your masters ? In this episode I explore the benefits of loudness, including: Why "more dynamic" isn't…

• The Mastering Show #111 - Fix it in the master ?!

  August 31, 2026 · 40 min

  I hear this question all the time - would it be better to fix this in the mix, or in the master ? It’s a fascinating question, and you may think you already know my answer - but it may not be that simple ! There are actually several things…

• The Mastering Show #110 - What makes a REAL mastering engineer ?

  June 30, 2026 · 41 min

  I'm seeing several different discussions online about what makes a "real" mastering engineer – and some of them are getting pretty heated ! So what really matters the most ? Expertise, experience, or credits ? In this episode I talk about…

• The Mastering Show #109 - Audio repair & fixing faults

  May 29, 2026 · 46 min

  Audio repair and restoration has always been a huge part of mastering – and not only for re-mastering vintage material. Even modern recordings can have problems like clicks, thumps, hiss, amp buzz, distortion and many more. Ideally they’d…

• The Mastering Show #108 - Why I was wrong about Loudness Range

  April 29, 2026 · 33 min

  I used to say that the Loudness Range (LRA) measurement wasn't really useful when mastering - but recently I changed my mind. In this episode I explain why, and how loudness range is actually something you might want to pay attention to…

• The Mastering Show #107 - Mastering for 1-Off Vinyl (and short runs)

  March 31, 2026 · 1 hr 9 min

  More and more people are choosing to get vinyl copies of their music made one at a time, rather than having hundreds of copies pressed at once. Or in very small batches, or allowing fans to order copies on demand. So how does this work…

• The Mastering Show #106 - Are dynamics dead ?!

  February 28, 2026 · 35 min

  I see it every day: “The Loudness Wars are over - loud won. Get over it” And it’s easy to see why. The average mainstream release hits -8 LUFS integrated or more; club releases regularly hit -6 or even -4 LUFS and are peaking well above…

• The Mastering Show #105 - Loudness at the Grammys: is there REALLY a secret sauce ?

  January 31, 2026 · 28 min

  It was the Grammys this week - you can't have missed it ! And somewhere along the way I saw an article by Ian Vargo assessing the loudness and dynamics of the nominees for Best Song. In this episode I talk about what he discovered, and…