A practical guide from a mastering engineer — what to send, how to prep it, and why it matters for the final result you hear back.
✦ 8 min read✦ Pro Tools, Logic, Ableton, FL Studio, Cubase✦ Updated 2025
I've received thousands of mixes over the years. Some come in perfectly prepped — clean headroom, lossless format, nothing limiting on the master bus. Others come in already clipped, squashed through a limiter, or exported as a 128kbps MP3. The difference in what I can do with those two files is enormous.
This guide isn't about being technical for the sake of it. It's about understanding why each export decision affects what you get back — so that when you hit bounce, you're setting yourself up for the best possible master.
Mastering engineers need headroom and dynamic information to work with. Every decision that compresses, clips, or reduces your mix before it reaches me takes away tools I need to do the work right. Give me the most honest, open version of your mix — and I'll take it the rest of the way.
Before you even think about export settings, make sure your mix is ready. Go through each item below — and be honest with yourself. A well-prepped mix gets a significantly better master.
Pre-export checklist
0 of 7 confirmed
No limiter on the master bus
Take any limiter, clipper or maximizer off the master channel before bouncing. If you mixed into a light bus compressor from the start, it's part of your sound, so leave it on. If you added it at the end to hear the mix louder, take it off. Not sure? Send me both versions.
Peaks sitting around –6 dBFS
Pull your master fader down if needed. Your mix doesn't need to be loud — that's my job. Aim for peaks no higher than –3 dBFS absolute maximum, ideally around –6.
No clipping anywhere in the signal chain
Check every channel, bus, and the master. Red meters anywhere in the chain mean distortion is baked into the file — mastering can't remove that.
You're genuinely happy with the mix balance
Mastering enhances a good mix — it doesn't fix a bad one. If something in the mix is bothering you (muddy low end, vocals too quiet, too much high-end harshness) go back and address it first.
Fade-outs and reverb tails are complete
Let the track breathe fully to its natural end before stopping the export. Don't cut off reverb tails, delay repeats, or fade-outs early — those get included in the master.
Brief silence at the start and end
Leave about half a second of silence before the first transient and a second or two after the last sound fades. This gives room to shape the intro and outro properly.
File is named clearly
Song title, artist name, version number. e.g. "Blue Horizon – Jane Wells – Mix v3.wav" — not "bounce final FINAL USE THIS ONE.wav"
Export settings explained
These aren't arbitrary numbers. Here's what each setting means and why it matters for your master.
File format
WAV or AIFF
Lossless formats — they retain every bit of audio information. MP3 throws away data permanently through lossy compression. Even a high-quality MP3 gives a mastering engineer less to work with, and artifacts from MP3 encoding can show up in the final master.
Bit depth
24-bit
24-bit gives you 144dB of theoretical dynamic range — far more resolution than 16-bit (which is CD quality). Export at the same bit depth as your project. Don't dither down to 16-bit before sending — that step happens at the end of mastering, not before.
Sample rate
48kHz or 44.1
Export at the same sample rate your project runs at. If your session is 48kHz, bounce at 48kHz. If it's 44.1kHz, keep it there. Don't upsample to 96kHz thinking it sounds better — sample rate conversion can introduce subtle artifacts and isn't necessary.
Peak level
–6 dBFS
This is headroom — the space between your loudest peak and 0dBFS (the ceiling). Give me room to bring levels up, shape dynamics, and add limiting without distortion. If your mix peaks at –1dBFS or higher, there's almost nothing left to work with.
Headroom visualizer — what your meter should look like
Too hot
–0.5 dBFS
Clipping. Mastering can't fix distortion baked in.
Borderline
–3 dBFS
Workable, but tight. More headroom is always better.
Ideal
–6 dBFS
Plenty of room to shape, limit, and deliver a great master.
A common misconception
Your mix doesn't need to sound loud before mastering. A quieter mix with good dynamic range and headroom will always produce a better master than a mix that's already been pushed to the ceiling. The loudness happens at the mastering stage — that's literally what it's for.
DAW-specific export steps
The settings are the same across every DAW — the menus just live in different places. Select your DAW below for the exact path to get there.
1
Make sure your master fader is at unity (0dB) and remove any limiter from the master fader insert chain — limiters, clippers, maximizers. A bus compressor you mixed into can stay.
2
Set your bounce range. Go to Setup → Session and confirm your sample rate matches your project (48kHz or 44.1kHz).
3
Go to File → Bounce to → Disk. In the bounce dialog: set File Type: WAV, Format: Interleaved, Bit Depth: 24, Sample Rate: match your session.
4
Set your bounce range to include a little silence before the first hit and after the last sound. Uncheck "Convert During Bounce" if you want to offline bounce (faster).
5
Hit Bounce. Check the resulting file in your file browser — confirm it's a .wav file and the file size looks right for the length of your track.
Pro tip: Use the Clip Gain feature to pull individual loud tracks down rather than the master fader if you need to create headroom without affecting your relative mix balance.
1
Remove any limiter from the Output channel strip in the Mixer — especially Limiter or Adaptive Limiter. A compressor you mixed into can stay.
2
Set your cycle range to include your full track plus a beat or two of silence on each end.
3
Go to File → Bounce → Project or Section... In the bounce dialog: PCM tab, File Format: WAV, Resolution: 24 Bit, Sample Rate: match your project, Dithering: None.
4
Make sure "Normalize" is set to Off. Normalizing defeats the purpose of leaving headroom.
5
Uncheck MP3 and M4A unless you specifically need those formats separately. Hit Bounce.
Pro tip: Logic's Output strip is easy to forget — double-check that the Limiter isn't sitting at the bottom of a long plugin chain where it's easy to miss.
1
Check the Master track's devices in the Session or Arrangement view and remove any Limiter. A Glue Compressor you mixed into can stay; one you added at the end to hear it louder should come off.
2
In Arrangement View, select your full track range including silence on either side. If you're in Session View, switch to Arrangement and record your session out first.
3
Go to File → Export Audio/Video. Set Rendered Track: Master, File Type: WAV, Bit Depth: 24, Sample Rate: match your project.
4
Uncheck "Normalize". Make sure "Dither Options" is set to No Dither.
5
Hit Export and verify the exported file in your finder — check length and file size look correct.
Pro tip: If you use Ableton's built-in Limiter on the master for monitoring purposes only, create a second "export" version of your set with it bypassed before bouncing.
1
Check your Master mixer track and remove any limiting — particularly Fruity Limiter, or Maximus (FL's multiband compressor/limiter) if it's on the master. A compressor you mixed into can stay.
2
Make sure your Master volume knob in the toolbar is at 100% (unity) and not boosted above that.
3
Go to File → Export → Wave File. In the export dialog: Quality: 24Bit 44100Hz (or 48000Hz if your project is 48kHz), WAV format.
4
Set the tail length to allow reverb and delay tails to ring out fully after the last note. Use "Leave remainder" or add extra bars at the end of your arrangement.
5
Disable "Enable Resampling" unless you're changing sample rates. Hit Start to export.
Pro tip: FL Studio's mixer master volume can creep above unity without being obvious. Check it explicitly before every export.
1
Open the MixConsole and remove any limiter from the Stereo Out bus. A bus compressor you mixed into can stay.
2
Set your locators (L and R markers) to include your full range plus a few beats of silence on each side.
3
Go to File → Export → Audio Mixdown. Set File Format: Wave File, Bit Depth: 24 Bit, Sample Rate: match your project.
4
Make sure "Normalize" is Off and "Stereo Out" is selected as the channel to export.
5
Hit Export. Import the resulting file back into an empty Cubase project to do a quick A/B sanity check before sending.
Pro tip: Cubase's "Import back to project" option after export is a great habit — it lets you instantly verify the bounce sounds identical to your mix at the right level.
Common mistakes that hurt your master
These come up constantly. None of them are permanent once you know to look for them — but they're worth running through before every export.
Exporting with a limiter on the master bus
The most common one. A limiter at the output ceiling means I'm receiving a file that's already had its dynamics processed. I can't undo that — I can only work with what's left. Remove it before exporting.
Sending an MP3 instead of a WAV
MP3 is a delivery format for listeners, not a production format for mastering. The encoding process introduces artifacts that become more audible when you process further. Always send WAV or AIFF.
Normalizing before sending
Normalization pushes the loudest peak to 0dBFS — the opposite of what mastering needs. It destroys the headroom you worked to create. Make sure "Normalize" is turned off in every DAW's export dialog.
Cutting off reverb tails or fade-outs
If your export range cuts the file short, you'll hear an abrupt end in the master. Always extend your export range a few seconds past the last audible sound to capture everything completely.
Sending a mix you're not happy with
This one isn't technical — it's about timing. If something in your mix is bothering you and you're hoping mastering will sort it out, it usually won't. Go back and fix the mix issue. The money you spend on mastering a mix you're not happy with is money that could have gone toward fixing the actual problem.
Not sure your mix is ready? Ask me.
Tell me about your mix and what's bugging you about it. If it sounds like something that would hold the master back, I'll tell you before you spend anything. Ask me a question.
Quick reference summary
Format
WAV or AIFF
Never MP3. Lossless only.
Bit depth
24-bit
Match your session. Don't dither yet.
Sample rate
44.1 or 48kHz
Match your session exactly.
Peak level
–6 dBFS
No limiter. No normalizing.
Just bounced a new master? Drop it into the free Mix Analyzer to check loudness, true peak, and how it'll translate across streaming platforms — catch issues before the file leaves your computer.
