Mastering a master

Question

Mastering a master

Hi, Got a question. Can you Master a Master copy again, or do you need the mixed version. A friend has given me a mastered copy of her songs and wants them mastered again (to sound better than what she has now). She does not have the original mixed down versions. Does this cause a problem with levels, distortion and other things that i may not know. Or can this be done. And how do I go about it? Thanks Lou.

Posted on Oct 2, 2010 5:43 PM

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Answer 1

Oct 4, 2010 6:34 PM in response to smoochdaddy09

From what I've heard, you generally want to start with source material that is 3 to 6 dB below full scale. That allows you to put an EQ or other plug in in the chain without worry about going over 0 dB.

I would first import the mastered tracks into WaveBurner to see how much (if any) headroom there is. You can also get an idea of how heavily the tracks were compressed by looking at the density of the waveforms. If they're heavily compressed, you won't be able to do anything about it by mastering again.

What doesn't your friend like about the mixes?

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