FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
Over the years we have been asked the same questions week in week out. Our engineers have answered the questions in their field of expertise in as much detail as possible.
Mastering FAQ
Mixing FAQ
Dolby Atmos FAQ
Upload FAQ
If you have a question that isn't covered here, click the button below and fill out the contact form. Your question will be sent directly to our team of engineers and answered ASAP.
STUDIO SERVICE QUESTIONS
Audio Animals work with all genres of music. There is not a genre of music we have not worked with. Our engineers have a great deal of experience working with all genres of music.
You can contact us via email, phone or social media. Full contact details can be found on our contact page here.
Phone: +44 (0) 7415 17 55 30
Email: studio@audioanimals.co.uk
Whatsapp: +44 (0) 7415 17 55 30
Yes discount codes are available for most products. Discount codes can be found here and applied to your cart. Two discounts types are available. 10% off when you order 4 or more tracks, and 20% off when you order 8 or more tracks.
Yes you can listen to work we have previously mixed and or mastered on our previous work page here.
Yes you can call the studio from 9am - 5pm UK time to speak with an engineer on +44 (0) 7415 175530. If you are overseas you can call using whatsapp via an internet connection.
Files can be uploaded directly to us using our upload form here. Using our internal upload form simply drag and drop or select the files you wish to upload and they will arrive in our inbox safely and securely. Within the message section you can leave any information you feel we need to know about the files you are sending. Please ensure you include your order number in this section. Your 5 digit order number can be found within your confirmation email or within your Audio Animals account. Your order number is required in order to link your files to your payment/order. Alternatively above the file upload form you will find an external upload form where you can paste your own download link and information.
No, we work with artists and producers around the world. Files are sent through our website once your order is placed and files are returned through our secure server via email.
Mastering is an essential process that finalises your song ready for distribution. Processing is applied to the master bus in order to achieve a sound that is glued together and sounding the best it can. Processing includes EQ, compression, limiting, saturation, stereo widening, de-essing and other processing. Mastering in the hands of a professional engineer will achieve a wider, more detailed and controlled sound. Mastering ensures playback of your song is correct across all devices.
Stem mastering is the process of summing up to 18 stems together and mastering the summed stems across the master bus. The benefit of working in this way is that the engineer has control over each individual audio channel that is summing to the master bus. Resulting in the engineer being able to process and balance each indivually stem correctly to get the very best from the song.
Dolby Atmos mastering is a process that allows us to take your songs mixed stems and transform it into a Dolby Atmos master. Working in our 9.1.4 Dolby Atmos mastering studio we are able to position and pan your song in a 3D space. Creating a fully immersive and spatial master that can be released on streaming platforms such as Apple Music, Amazon and Tidal. The difference this service makes is outstanding and quite honestly takes your music to an unimaginable level.
By adding + Apple Digital Mastering to your order, you will receive back both the stereo master as well as the Apple Digital Master. This master can then be released on Apple Music as an official Apple Digital Master that is optimised specifically for Apple Music. All Apple Digital Masters receive a badge and are marketed as an Apple Digital Master on Apple Music.
Binaural Mastering is the mastering of the stereo binaural mix that is rendered from the completed Dolby Atmos mix. What this means is that you will receive back a stereo master that sounds immersive and 3D but has the ability to be played back using any stereo device. This also means you can release your music on platforms such as Spotify in a far superior binaural stereo format compared to standard stereo.
Stereo streaming masters are optimised for the purpose of streaming on streaming platforms such as Apple Music, Amazon Music and YouTube. Streaming masters have more headroom and a -1db true peak. The reason for this is to reduce inter sample peaks (ISP's) and minimise the amount of gain reduction applied by the online streaming platform.
Standard mastering is turned around within 5 working days and priority mastering is turned around within 1 working day. If you require your song back by a certain date, please let us know when sending your files and we will make sure your songs are back to you mastered before your deadline.
Vinyl mastering can be added to your order if you require a version of your song that is optimised to be pressed to vinyl. This master will be ready to send to your cutting house of choice. It is very important that a master optimised to be pressed to vinyl is used and not a master that is designed for digital distribution.
Alternate masters are any additional masters of your song that are different from the original master. Alternate masters include instrumental, acapella, radio edit, extended edit, performance mix or live mix. All alternate masters are passed through the same mastering chain as the original master.
Mastered Stems can be added to your order if you require each induvial stem passed through the same mastering chain as your complete song. Mastered stems can be used for TV and film licensing or for remix purposes among other things.
Payment must be made before work on your song begins. This ensures our engineers, take the necessary time and care required to return you the very best master.
Mastering includes 2 revisions. Mastering revisions give you the peace of mind that the end result is going to be exactly as you want it. On the rare occasion you exceed 2 revisions, you can always purchase more via our revisions and re-runs page here.
No, it is advised to remove all plugins from your master bus that effect dynamic range. This includes plugins such as compression or limiting. It is best to remove all plugins but we understand that some clients want to leave EQ or saturation active as it is part of their sound. The reason we suggest removing master bus processing is so that we have a mix with a full dynamic range and the mix is compressed and limited in the correct stage of the mastering chain.
If work has not yet begun on your song, you can simply get in touch with us and replace the file.
If work has already begun on your song and you need to replace the mix for a new one. Two outcomes will occur.
If the mix is technically the same song and same mix but there is a change resulting in the song needing to be re-run. There is a charge of £10 to cover the time the engineer must take to re-run your song. This can be ordered by purchasing a master re-run from the revisions and re-runs page here.
If the mix is completely different or a different song altogether, a new order for mastering will need to be placed. The reason for this is because mastering will need to be begun from scratch and the previous master scrapped.
Before sending your song always make sure that the mix is correct and the file you are sending is the correct file.
Mastering is one of if not the most important part of the engineering process of a song. Mastering can make or break a song. Too many artists fall at the final hurdle with poor quality mastering. A professional engineer will ensure your music plays back correctly across all devices. The skills and knowledge required to do so is an art.
Your mix can be uploaded safely and securely via our upload form here. Bypass any compression / limiting you may have on your master bus before printing your mix ready for mastering.
File Type : Wav / Flac / Aiff
Bitrate : 16/24/32 bit / 44,1khz - 96khz
Headroom : -3db / -6db
It is not ideal but yes we can work with a limited or clipping mix. The approach to mastering a limited mix is similar but requires a very precise approach in order to ensure the song is not over compressed or distorted.
If a mp3 is the highest quality file you have and you are unable to obtain a wav file, we can work with this. If a mp3 file is sent to us we will always request that you send the high quality wav. But if this is the only file you can obtain then we are able to work with a mp3 in a way that will still achieves great results.
Master (24bit 44,100kHz wav)
CD Master (16bit 44,100kHz wav)
MP3 (320kbs mp3)
Streaming Master (24bit 44,100kHz wav)
Instrumental (optional extra)
Acappella (optional extra)
Vinyl Master (optional extra)
Mastered Stems (optional extra)
Dolby Atmos Master (optional extra)
Yes, if you would like to credit Audio Animals for the mastering of your music you can do so. Please credit Audio Animals Ltd and Nick Burchall as the mastering engineer. This is not required but is greatly appreciated.
Mixing is the stage in which each indivually stem from your song is carefully summed together to create a finished stereo mix. Using EQ, compression, reverb, delay and other processing we are able to process and position each stem to achieve the best possible mix ready for mastering.
Mastering is an essential process that finalises your song ready for distribution. Processing is applied to the master bus in order to achieve a sound that is glued together and sounding the best it can. Processing includes EQ, compression, limiting, saturation, stereo widening, de-essing and other processing. Mastering in the hands of a professional engineer will achieve a wider, more detailed and controlled sound. Mastering ensures playback of your song is correct across all devices.
Stereo streaming masters are optimised for the purpose of streaming on streaming platforms such as Apple Music, Amazon Music and YouTube. Streaming masters have more headroom and a -1db true peak. The reason for this is to reduce inter sample peaks (ISP's) and minimise the amount of gain reduction applied by the online streaming platform.
Binaural Mastering is the mastering of the stereo binaural mix that is rendered from the completed Dolby Atmos mix. What this means is that you will receive back a stereo master that sounds immersive and 3D but has the ability to be played back using any stereo device. This also means you can release your music on platforms such as Spotify in a far superior binaural stereo format compared to standard stereo.
Dolby Atmos mastering is a process that allows us to print the Dolby Atmos mix as an ADM file that can be released on streaming platforms such as Apple Music, Amazon and Tidal.
By adding + Apple Digital Mastering to your order, you will receive back both the stereo master as well as the Apple Digital Master. This master can then be released on Apple Music as an official Apple Digital Master that is optimised specifically for Apple Music. All Apple Digital Masters receive a badge and are marketed as an Apple Digital Master on Apple Music.
The initial mix is turned around in roughly 5 working days from receiving your order. Mix revisions are performed the following working day. Once your mix is confirmed as ready for mastering, mastering will be performed in the next available mastering slot.
By adding + Alternate Mixes to your order, you will receive back the mixes and masters for any of the following additional file types in stereo and Dolby Atmos.
- Instrumental (dolby atmos included)
- Acapella (vocal bus only)
- Performance Mix (version with lead vocal removed)
- Radio Edit (additional stems must be supplied)
- Extended Edit (additional stems must be supplied)
All alternate mixes and masters are mixed and mastered in the exact same session as the original mix.
By adding + Mixed Stems to your order, you will receive back all stems as they are mixed in the session. Mixed stems will included all mixed buses as well as any reverb and delay sends. Playback of the mixed stems will playback as the finished stereo mix does. Mixed stems can be used for remix purposes and further production.
Payment must be made before work on your song begins. This ensures our engineers, take the necessary time and care required to return you the very best mix.
Your stems can be uploaded safely and securely via our upload form here. Bypass any compression / limiting you may have on your master bus. All sound design processing should be left active on each stem, any processing that is 100% part of your song and sound design must be left active. Do not normalize stems or change their volume. Playback of your stems should be exactly as your rough mix plays back.
File Type : Wav / Aiff
Bitrate : 16 - 24 - 32 bit / 44,1kHz - 96kHz
Headroom : -3db / -6db
All mixing packages include 3 revisions. Mix revisions give you the peace of mind that the end result is going to be exactly as you want it. On the rare occasion you exceed 3 revisions, you can always purchase more via our revisions and re-runs page here.
100% yes, this is essential when working with an online mix engineer. The rough mix or demo mix will be used to establish that the stems you have sent playback correctly as well as include all automation and necessary processing. The rough mix is also used to correctly establish the balance you intend for each stem in the mix. By listening to the rough mix we can establish at what volume you intend a certain sound to be and where you intend it to be positioned in the mix.
Technically nothing. The two formats are the same. Spatial Audio is just what Apple call it on Apple Music. The same ADM file is delivered to Apple Music as is delivered to any other streaming platform. The main difference is the codec that is used to deliver the ADM back to the listener in Dolby Atmos.
The Dolby Atmos ADM and stereo master can be given to your desired distributor to release on platforms such as Apple Music, Tidal and Amazon Music. The Dolby Atmos and stereo masters sit alongside each other and depending on which format the listener has their device set to will determine which version they hear. It is highly important that the Dolby Atmos and stereo versions perfectly sync with each other. If they do not sync perfectly your masters will be rejected.
Get in contact with us via email and we can simply replace the files. Please be sure to get in contact with us ASAP to ensure we have the correct files to mix before work commences. If work has already started on your mix and the entire mix requires new stems, charges will apply.
A good mix engineer will be able to work with all genres of music not just one. At Audio Animals pride ourselves on the fact that we work with all genres of music. Being an online mixing and mastering studio working worldwide there is not a genre of music we have not worked with.
Stereo Binaural Mix
Stereo Binaural Master
Stereo Binaural Streaming Master
Dolby Atmos Master (optional extra)
Mixed Stems (optional extra)
Alternate Mixes (optional extra)
If you have set your panning how you intend it to be, then by all means print your stems with your panning active. Alternatively leave your panning off and send us panning mix notes along with your stems. In the notes include stem name and pan position. Such as "Lead Guitar Hard Left" and "Rhythm Guitar 30% Right."
100% yes, automation should always be active. Automation is part of your production and sound design and if removed results in an unfinished production. All automation including volume, modulation, EQ, reverb or delay automation should be kept active.
Reverb can be left active if you 100% want the reverb you have added in your song. We will always add reverb where we see fit but any specific reverb you want 100% exactly the same as you have it in your mix, should be printed to the stems or sent as a 100% wet stem. Any creative reverb that is specific to a particular stem should be left active. Any reverb that is part of your sound design or essential to your sound must be left active.
Yes. Delay is something that can have a million different outcomes. If you have added delay that is specific to your taste and how you want delay to sound, this delay would be considered as part of your production. To remove this delay would be to remove an essential part of your sound. We always recommend leaving delay active if you want it in your track. We will not add delay as standard as this is a creative effect that is specific to the production and not the mix. If delay is required from a mix perspective we will by all means add it how we see fit to get the best results.
No. Vocals should be organised and comped ready to be mix. Unwanted clicks, pops and breathes should be removed. All vocals should be tuned and ready to be mixed. You should never send a raw unedited vocal for mixing.
We can add Autotune to vocals to ensure they are kept in tune. This is included in the price. Detailed tuning of vocals using Melodyne is not included in the price and can be ordered and discussed as an additional service.
Dolby Atmos mastering is a process that allows us to take your songs mixed stems and transform it into a Dolby Atmos master. Working in our 9.1.4 Dolby Atmos mastering studio we are able to position and pan your song in a 3D space. Creating a fully immersive and spatial master that can be released on streaming platforms such as Apple Music, Amazon and Tidal. The difference this service makes is outstanding and quite honestly takes your music to an unimaginable level.
Stereo mastering is an essential process that finalises your song ready for distribution. Processing is applied to the master bus in order to achieve a sound that is glued together and sounding the best it can. Processing includes EQ, compression, limiting, saturation, stereo widening, de-essing and other processing. Mastering in the hands of a professional engineer will achieve a wider, more detailed and controlled sound. Mastering ensures playback of your song is correct across all devices.
By adding + Apple Digital Mastering to your order, you will receive back both the stereo master as well as the Apple Digital Master. This master can then be released on Apple Music as an official Apple Digital Master that is optimised specifically for Apple Music. All Apple Digital Masters receive a badge and are marketed as an Apple Digital Master on Apple Music.
Binaural Mastering is the mastering of the stereo binaural mix that is rendered from the completed Dolby Atmos mix. What this means is that you will receive back a stereo master that sounds immersive and 3D but has the ability to be played back using any stereo device. This also means you can release your music on platforms such as Spotify in a far superior binaural stereo format compared to standard stereo.
Stereo streaming masters are optimised for the purpose of streaming on streaming platforms such as Apple Music, Amazon Music and YouTube. Streaming masters have more headroom and a -1db true peak. The reason for this is to reduce inter sample peaks (ISP's) and minimise the amount of gain reduction applied by the online streaming platform.
Standard mastering is turned around within 5 working days and priority mastering is turned around within 1 working day. If you require your song back by a certain date, please let us know when sending your files and we will make sure your songs are back to you mastered before your deadline.
Alternate masters are any additional masters of your song that are different from the original master. Alternate masters include instrumental, radio edit or extended edit. All alternate masters are passed through the same mastering chain as the original master.
Mastered Stems can be added to your order if you require each induvial stem passed through the same mastering chain as your complete song. Mastered stems can be used for TV and film licensing or for remix purposes among other things.
By adding + Dolby Atmos Re-Renders to your order, you will receive back any of the following additional file types.
- 5.1 Surround Sound
- 7.1 Surround Sound
- 7.1.2 Dolby Atmos Bed
Dolby Atmos Re-Renders can be used for playback on home cinema devices and other surround sound formats.
Dolby Atmos is the future. Releasing your music now with a Dolby Atmos version ensures your music is futureproof and isn't going to require a Dolby Atmos version to be created at a later date. The added benefit being that Dolby Atmos is a far superior format compared to stereo. Dolby Atmos mastering ensures you achieve the best possible release for all listeners, not just people who listen in stereo. There is a growing amount of users who primarily listen to Dolby Atmos on their phones. This number will be continuously growing as Dolby Atmos is made the industry standard.
Payment must be made before work on your song begins. This ensures our engineers, take the necessary time and care required to return you the very best master.
100% yes, this is essential when working with an online mix engineer. The stereo mix will be used to establish that the stems you have sent playback correctly as well as include all automation and necessary processing. We will use this mix as a reference mix whilst mastering to ensure that the Dolby Atmos master does not deviate away from the stereo mix.
It is not ideal to send a stereo mix. For the best results we always request that you send mixed stems. We understand this isn't always possible with older songs and we do have certain unique processes to upmix a stereo file into Dolby Atmos.
No, it is advised to remove all plugins from your master bus that effect dynamic range. This includes plugins such as compression or limiting. It is best to remove all plugins but we understand that some clients want to leave EQ or saturation active as it is part of their sound. The reason we suggest removing master bus processing is so that we have a mix with a full dynamic range and the mix is compressed and limited in the correct stage of the mastering chain.
If work has not yet begun on your song, you can simply get in touch with us and replace the file.
If work has already begun on your song and you need to replace the mix for a new one. Two outcomes will occur.
If the mix is technically the same song and same mix but there is a change resulting in the song needing to be re-run. There is a charge of £10 to cover the time the engineer must take to re-run your song. This can be ordered by purchasing a master re-run from the revisions and re-runs page here.
If the mix is completely different or a different song altogether, a new order for mastering will need to be placed. The reason for this is because mastering will need to be begun from scratch and the previous master scrapped.
Before sending your song always make sure that the mix is correct and the file you are sending is the correct file.
To work in Dolby Atmos you will be required to send mixed stems. Each individual stem is then processed and positioned in the 3D space. By positioning sound in a 3D space we are able to create an immersive 3D experience that is unlike anything you will have heard in standard stereo. Your mixed stems can be uploaded safely and securely via our upload form here.
File Type : Wav / Aiff
Bitrate : 16 - 24 - 32 bit / 44,1kHz - 96kHz
Headroom : -3db / -6db
Dolby Atmos ADM Master
Stereo Master (24bit 44,100kHz wav)
CD Master (16bit 44,100kHz wav)
MP3 (320kbs mp3)
Streaming Master (24bit 44,100kHz wav)
Instrumental (optional extra)
Dolby Atmos Re-Renders
Yes, if you would like to credit Audio Animals for the mastering of your music you can do so. Please credit Audio Animals Ltd and Nick Burchall as the mastering engineer. This is not required but is greatly appreciated.
DDP IMAGE FAQ
A DDP image is a set of files used when duplicating a CD. The DDPi will include all required data such as meta data and ISRC codes.
Upon completion of the mastering of your project, we will ask you to confirm 100% that the project is complete and ready to be printed to a DDPi. At this point we will print your DDPi image and email it to you. This process will usually be completed with 2 working days of completion of the mastering of your project.
DDPi stands for "Disc Description Protocol image"
Yes we can. We will additionally send you the DDPi via email also, so you have a data copy. Postage cost will vary. If you require a CD version of your DDPi please let us know and we can organise a postage price based on your location.
We will need all information you require to print to the DDPi. This will include all metadata, ISRC codes, songs and any additional information you feel may need to go on the DDPi.
You can add as much or as little metadata as you please. Below is a list of recommended metadata you should supply.
- Song title
- Band or artist's name
- Album name
- Genre of music
- Album track number
- Year song was released
DDPi in digital format via email.
DDPi CD sent via post (at the clients request)
DDPi in digital format via email.
DDPi CD sent via post (at the clients request)
MIX EVALUATION FAQ
We listen to your song in detail and establish if there are any errors in the mix that need to be address before your song can be mastered. We do not give advise on production as this is subjective and down to personal preference. We do however advise you on changes that will improve the mix and ultimately achieve a better master.
Yes your song should be in it's final state ready for mastering when you submit the mix for evaluation.
Yes you can submit as many songs as you plan to have mastered by us.
We aim to perform all mix evaluations the following working day. We roughly have about 15 - 30 to do each day so it does take some time to go through them all.
There are many reasons. The number one reason is that it is very helpful for you to have a professional pair of ears listen to your music and advise you on mix changes that will improve your song. We are monitoring in a state of the art Dolby Atmos studio that is one of the most accurate rooms in the UK. What we hear in this room is 100% accurate to how the song sounds. We will hear things you wouldn't necessarily hear in your studio. We are listening to your music from a fresh perspective for the first time. We will instantly pick up on things you won't because you have listened to the song on repeat a thousand times.
No, we do not want you to send a link to sites like Soundcloud as the audio streams are very low quality. We need to be able to download the files in full quality and import them into a session to visually see the waveform and analyse the audio.
You can upload your files to a file sharing website such as Dropbox, WeTransfer or Hightail and paste the download link into the submission form. if you have not sent a file along with your request we request that you reply to the email we send you with a download link, so that we know which file belongs to which person. As you can imagine we have hundreds of files being sent to our email for various different studio services. If you send the file directly to our email without any information, we will not know what the file relates to and it will be removed.
We would always recommend sending your song in wav format 44,1kHz 16-24bit.
UPLOAD FAQ
The internal upload form allows you to upload your files internally within the Audio Animals website using a dedicated file upload system. This method of file transfer is the preferred method of transferring files to us. If however, you have your files uploaded to your own file hosting server such as WeTransfer or Dropbox, you can by all means, use the external upload form to share your files with us. Using the external upload form, means whilst inputting all required information you will need to paste your file download link into the required field.
99% of the time file transfer is of a good speed and will complete as it is designed to. On the odd occasion the server may slow down for a number of reasons that are out of our control. If this is the case and your files are not sending using the internal upload form, then you can always wait and try again later or use the external upload form.
When your files have uploaded using the internal upload form, you will receive a confirmation email confirming your files have been sent. Once received, we will download your files ASAP and send you a personal confirmation email. This email will state that we have downloaded your files and if there are any issues with the files, we will contact you. If you do not hear from us please get in touch.
Yes, an order should be placed before uploading your files. This ensures you will receive an order number and are able to input this into the upload form.
Your order number will be emailed to the email address provided when placing your order. Alternatively, your order number can be found within your Audio Animals account.
An order number is a unique code given to each order. We need your order number in order to link your files with your payment/order.
Your order number is quite simple to find in your confirmation email or Audio Animals account. If however, you can't find your order number, you can email us at info@audioanimals.co.uk explaining you can't find your order number and need us to find it. To find your order number we will need you to inform us of the name and email address associated with the order.
Using the internal upload form you can transfer up to a combined 10GB of data. Multiple files can be uploaded at once as long as the combined total does not exceed 10GB.
If this is the case and you have not left a message explaining what the files you have sent are for, we will have no idea what the files correspond to. We receive a lot of files on a daily basis and to ensure we know what each file is linked to, we need either some information about the files you are sending, your order number or an email address that is linked to the order.
STORE CREDIT FAQ
No, we do not supply you with a coupon code.
Store credit can only be used with studio services. Store credit is essentially virtual money that can be used to upgrade studio services or use as credit that you can use over a period of time on studio services.
Store credit can be used to order mastering, mixing and mastering and Dolby Atmos services.
No, store credit is for the purpose of purchasing studio services only.
tel: +44 (0) 7415 17 55 30
email: studio@audioanimals.co.uk
