Audio knowledge base
Mastering & Low End
Practical guides to true peak, LUFS, limiting, bass weight, headroom, and reliable translation across playback systems.
10 visual articles
Fixing it in the master, or fixing it in the mix?
If the problem has a name — the vocal, the kick, the snare — it belongs in the mix. Mastering has no vocal channel.
How the pros master: what actually differs
The difference is not the gear. It is the room, the references, the restraint and the number of tracks they have heard.
What makes a good mastering chain, and how to build one
A good mastering chain is short, ordered, and every stage has a job you can say out loud.
How to master a track, step by step
Prepare, reference, adjust a little, control the peaks, set the level, check everywhere. In that order.
How to saturate bass properly (and why it survives small speakers)
A phone cannot play 40 Hz. It can play 80, 120 and 160 — and your ear will rebuild the 40 from them.
What is mastering, and what is a master?
A master is the finished file the world hears. Mastering is the small, careful stage that gets a mix there.
What to pay attention to when mastering
Mastering is mostly checking. These are the things worth checking, in the order that catches problems earliest.
How loud should your master be? LUFS without the myths
There is no mandatory LUFS number for every release. Build the master that serves the music, preserve the dynamics you value, and verify the destination requirements.
How to make bass louder without clipping
More bass level is not always more audible bass. Create space, control peak-to-average ratio, and add useful harmonics so the line translates beyond large speakers.
True peak vs sample peak: a practical limiting guide
A sample-peak meter sees stored sample values. A true-peak meter estimates the waveform reconstructed between them—and that difference can matter after conversion or encoding.