Mastering

In 2016 we extended our studio setup with the addition of a dedicated mastering room, which allows us to provide a complete in-house solution from recording to mastering here at Black Box. We also offer mastering services for recording work done outside of our studio.

The mastering room has been set up in a carefully treated acoustic environment. The room is precise and natural sounding and the final masters done here translate well into the outside world. The mastering equipment has been selected to get all the essential processing and tone shaping done in the analog domain.

Please get in touch to discuss your mastering project. Often a test mastering of a sole track is a good way to exchange about colour and dynamics. We can also advise on some important mix practices to ensure your mix translates well in the mastering.

Mastering equipment

Monitoring:

ATC SCM 100 ASL Pro
CROOKWOOD custom C1

Mastering Console:

MANLEY Backbone

Processing:

BUZZ AUDIO REQ 2.2 ME
MANLEY Mastering Massive Passive EQ
MASELEC MEA-2 EQ
API 5500 Dual EQ
VERTIGO VSC-2 Compressor
MANLEY Vari-MU Mastering Compressor

Converters:

DANGEROUS MUSIC Convert AD+
LAVRY blue AD-DA
CROOKWOOD DA

DAW:

MAGIX Sequoia
AVID Protools

Tapemachine:

STUDER A80 VU Mk2 1/2″ with PIEVOX Quartz Control
MCI JH 114 1/4” (on request)

Non-exhaustive list of records we have mastered:

Andarta
Astro Atlas — In Between Nowhere
Bantam Lyons — Melatonine Spree
Bebly — Déconne
Born Idiot — Afterschool
Bumpkin Island — All Was Bright
Castro Camera — CC
Cheap Teen — Out Of Nothing
Dad Rock! / Mermonte — Split 7
Daniel Paboeuf — Ashes?
Das Wasteland Records — Das Wasteland Berlin Vol. 1 & 2
Damily — Fanjiry
Djiin — Mirrors
Dragon Rapide — Mumbo Jumbo
Drive Blind Reeditions — Tropical Motion, Super Easy, Stop Thinking Start Fighting
Fab Zoreil — Blues sur Paname
Glass — Saudade
Gleam — When Do Dogs Stop Growing?
Glen Hansard — Didn’t He Ramble EP
Gondhawa — Täkomā
House of Light — The Blue Hour
J&L Defer — No Map
Invaders — Carnival of Sounds
Kilkil — Clermont Ferrand
Laetitia Sheriff — Stillness
Lisa O’Neill — Pothole in the Sky
Lux The Band — Super 8, Gravity
Maragda — Maragda
Marnitude — Death of a Hedonist
Matt Low — Une vie cool
Miët — Ausländer
Mishima — L’Aigua Clara
Mnemotechnic — Blinkers
Monstromery — Monstromery
Mossaï Mossaï — Fourrière
Ornicar — Nox
Pamplemousse — Pamplemousse, Porcelain
Par le Gast — Par le Gast
Rank-O — De Novo, Monument Movement
Ropoporose — Kernel, Foreign Moons
Sofia Bolt — Extremes
Spinning Coin — Yacinth
Tal Rasha — Tal Rasha
The History of Colour TV — Something Like Eternity
Theo Lawrence and the Hearts — Homemade Lemonade
Tiny Feet — As an End to Death
Tom Penaguin — Tom Penaguin, Tom Penaguin II
Troy Von Balthazar — Aloha Means Goodbye
Truckks — Autophage
Vantre — Clonocracy
What Josephine Saw — Set a Fire
Zenzile — Elements

A complete in-house mastering solution

References