is it worth the extra $$ mixing

[mullet]

I have a guy who does mastering.. I have two options: 1) mixing and mastering for $200 or 2) just mastering for $100.

I'm wondering if the extra $100 is worth it. Will there be a significant gain in sound quality to go with option 1?

I'm not an expert, but I've done my own compression, eq'ing, and panning on each of the parts, and I think it sounds pretty sweet.. its just not very loud..

[dhiltonlittle]

so the same guy is going to mix it and master it?

i'd let a mixing engineer mix it. and a mastering engineer master it.

a good mix can make or break your record. from the description of what you have done you sound kind of unsure. can you post some audio of your mix?

[MASSIVE Master]

+1 on not having the same guy do it... Although I'm more concerned with the $100 mixes... But I can't imagine why someone who would charge $100 for (assuming) 5 or 6 hours of work would charge another $100 for another 15 minutes...

Unless he's sending them out as part of a "package" or something...

[hobson]

Originally Posted by MASSIVE Master

+1 on not having the same guy do it... Although I'm more concerned with the $100 mixes... But I can't imagine why someone who would charge $100 for (assuming) 5 or 6 hours of work would charge another $100 for another 15 minutes...

Unless he's sending them out as part of a "package" or something...

$100 mastering job may in fact be a 5-6 hour endeavor if he is forced to creatively fix a poor mix...

maybe the ME is figuring on a quicker (re:15min) $100 mastering job being completed if he does the pre-mastering work (i.e. mixing it too for an extra $100)... just a thought...

question to OP - has this ME heard your mixes? was this a consult?

[jdg]

maybe he meant stem mastering?

[24-96 Mastering]

The pricing structure is a little weird, reading this kinda raises an eyebrow... the prices quoted definitely have very little to do with the comparative amounts of work usually needed for each step. A mastering engineer will usually take between 30 and 45 minutes for a track. Possibly less if the mix is superb. A mix usually takes between 4 hours and 2 days.

I would ask your guy how that pricing structure comes to be. Also, I would personally suggest to not have the same guy mix and master, but that's very debatable (as seen in another recent thread). If you want to go ahead with your guy, make him give you some mixing and some mastering examples he did. They don't have to be exactly your style, it's just to see that he's at the level of competence you are looking for. 100 bucks for a mix is very, very cheap, so if you like the mixes the guy has done, that is a killer offer. 100 bucks for a mastering is average.

.

PS:

Originally Posted by jdg

maybe he meant stem mastering?

Good call, that would explain the offer...

[MASSIVE Master]

Still, stems created by the same engineer? The difference could be $100 for "the mix" and another $100 for a limiter.

Which is nice work if you can get it I suppose...

[mullet]

sorry guys for being unclear..

actually i got the prices wrong myself.. lol

ok so he said I had two options:

1. mixing and mastering - u send me all the stems of the track (stems) bass parts/mid parts/high parts in 3 separate audio tracks. i will mix them down and master the whole track. this is aprox 160$ (on average time)
2. just mastering 25$ per track and a 50$ set up fee


no, he has not heard my track yet.

I asked him what the difference was between 1 and 2 and he said it depends on MY engineering skills a lot, but if I wanted proper quality, then he always recommends option 1.

This guy has a very good reputation in the production/mastering world. I'm not worried that he wont do a great job. It's more just not knowing if based on my own mixing skills, if I would need to spend the extra dough if i dont have to...

[Edward_Vinatea]

IMO, that price for mixing seems very small considering the amount of hours that takes to mix an average of 24 tracks. Having said this - it wouldn't be considered really expensive if this is an 8 track production mix plus mastering. As someone suggested - more like mastering with separations. But - we need more details from the OP.

EDIT: Ok, so this is for mastering with separations. Well, then it's not so expensive at all.

Regards,