How much for a Master for a single track?

[Jimbguitar]

Sailing Final Mp3.mp3 Final Mp3.mp3

I was trying to Master this track (unsuccessfully) with Sonnox Limiter and had some major distortion...possibly due to the Enhance function??? Is there a particular frequency/frequencies that are offensive or close to distorting. Do you think this mix is good enough to have Mastered? I am considering sending it out if need be, I did everything on the track. What does an average Mastering House charge for Mastering a single? Also I was wondering about these MP3 bounce downs we do for emailing and uploading, is it necessary to dither them down to 44100 and 16 bit? I normally work at 88200 and 24 bit? Can you bounce to MP3 directly without Dither??

Thanks a lot,
Jim

[CJ Mastering]

Here is my rates page
Audio Mastering Rates | CD Mastering Rates | Audio Mastering Studio Rates

[trmchenry]

I'm not very familiar with the Sonnox Limiter but as with any limiter if you push it hard you're going to end up with distortion. Try any other limiter and I'd bet you end up with the same issues. This is especially noticeable if you've been working on this project for awhile and you're used to hearing it uncompressed.

Most mp3 encoders expect a 16 bit 44.1 kHz file. I think the LAME encoder will accept a 24-bit file but still wants a sample rate of 44.1 kHz.

I charge the same rate as CJ minus the extra cost if you want a physical reference CD and live in the States. I can also give you a short sample from the track so you can hear what it is that I do.

neonmastering.blogspot.com

[therealbigd]

[QUOTE=Jimbguitar;5568376]Sailing Final Mp3.mp3 Final Mp3.mp3

Won't listen, got something else on... but will give stock answers.

I was trying to Master this track (unsuccessfully) with Sonnox Limiter and had some major distortion...possibly due to the Enhance function???

Could be that, could just be too much bass in the pre-master, could be that the attack is too slow. Many more.

Is there a particular frequency/frequencies that are offensive or close to distorting.

Lower frequencies are typically more prone to noticable distortion. It occurs in higher frequencies too, it just tends to hide a bit easier. My advice would be to put your mastering chain across the master bus of the mix (if not already so - as you should try to avoid mastering 'in the mix'). The advantage of doing so, and 'mastering in the mix', is that you can mute individual tracks and try and work out what is causing you problems. I had this lately, I turned lots of things down that didn't need turning down before I found the totally unsuspected guilty party.

I am considering sending it out if need be, I did everything on the track. What does an average Mastering House charge for Mastering a single?

Really depends. There are plenty of places here that will work for £20/track. My favourite bloke is about £50, and then studios like Metropolis are £100 upwards. It entirely depends on what you want and who you use.

Also I was wondering about these MP3 bounce downs we do for emailing and uploading, is it necessary to dither them down to 44100 and 16 bit? I normally work at 88200 and 24 bit? Can you bounce to MP3 directly without Dither??

Thanks a lot,
Jim

I'd just send the file over as an 88200 / 24 WAV file. Your DAW should give you options for bounce-down bit rate and depth.

[aleatoric]

Somewhere between $30 and $250.

[Babaluma]

Very nice track!

Re: .mp3, I'd do all in my power to avoid working with an .mp3 file for mastering. It's much better to work with the original file (88/24 in your case).

If my clients don't have their own FTP space then I usually recommend one of the "share it" type free file hosting sites.

My rates page is here:

Hermetech Mastering | Rates

The first track for a new client is free.

[Jimbguitar]

trmchenry

That answers the question thanks, I apparently do have to take the 24 bit 82000 and dither it to 16 bit and 44100 then convert it to an MP3. To get it sized for emails, forums etc.

therealbigd

Yes I should have tried lowering the attack time...good tip thanks. This one shouldn't have too much low end as there are no Drums or Bass in it. Yes I would send the 117 MB 24 bit 88200 to the Mastering House, I just burned the MP3 for the Forum and emailing. I stayed away from Mastering during this mix, just a little Glue on the master Buss and no Dither either until I sent it through Wavelab and rendered for this MP3. Just did some click fixes no volume added or limiting/EQ. After Playing it and mixing it I really don't know what else to do EQ wise, tried to get it to sound the way I wanted it as much as possible...

darkflame

Yes I would send the 24 bit 88200 file, thanks for your kind offer, I am downloading the Folk examples from your page now and will be in touch after listening to them. they seemed to be the closest thing to this tune look forward to getting them (38 minutes remaining in download)
thanks to all others for taking the time to answer!
Best Jim