What are good examples of inexpensive online-submission mastering studios? Nothing above $200 for a full-length album.

I'm especially interested in those that accept FLAC files (not just WAV or AIFF).

I'm considering 48 Hour Masters, but their contact form is currently broken ... which makes me suspicious.

I'm also leery of services that mostly master hip-hop. That's not what I'm into at all, and they might not know how to properly master my preferred "genre."

Andrew89, as an engineer who also does mastering, (with fresh ears!) I don't think you'll find many professionals with label experience at your budget level. In fact, I'd be wary of anyone who takes less than 45 minutes to an hour per song.

But Discmakers charges on a "more you buy/cheaper it gets" scale, and the things I've heard from there are quite good. Here's their rates:

http://www.discmakers.com/soundlab/pricing.asp

You spent countless hours writing, recording and mixing your masterpiece, mastering isn't the place to get an amateur putting a rubber stamp eq and limiter on your baby!

KVR/eSoundz: Xenobt

I'm pretty good:
www.mastering.co.nz

that's NZ dollars btw.

Mastering is an art.
I personally would not use an online mastering service unless, they were very well know AND respected.

Think of it this way, you can spend months working on your CD only to have someone change it in a matter of moments.

If there is a respected mastering house near your home that may be the way to go.

This gives you the opportunity to speak to the engineer directly (and see the studio) as opposed to some one online you will never meet.

Just my 2-bits...

There is a very good reason that a large majority of producers and record companies use the same mastering engineers.

i can have a look at it, you like what i do you pay me, you dont like it you dont pay a penny

i agree that a professional with years of experience would be better, but your budget may not stretch to that kind of pricing. there are many "amateurs" who do good work, and will also do reduced prices due to our lack of big name work.
just because weve never worked with chart acts doesnt mean we are useless.
a local engineer would be preferable obviously as you can sit in on sessions and change things as you go, online is less personal but will also cost you less in the majority of cases.

if you are interested in my offer pm me and we will take it from there

good luck whatever you choose

Agreed for an album it will be tough to find anyone good to do it for that rate.

$100 NZD is about $80 USD. That's per song. I don't have that kind of money. Thanks, though.

Again, services that charge no more than $200/album. Those akin to 48hourmasters.com.

I know that, at my price range, I don't get major label quality. That's something a budget-conscious amateur lives with. But amateur mastering, if not up to chart standards, sure beats releasing unmastered music (or my own sloppy "mastering" attempts, for that matter).

Please list examples.

hi, you could check out mvploops.com they sell sample packs good quality and do mastering @ 30 dolars per song, for album maybe work out cheaper, often they have discounts across store mastering included, check with Nigel there see what he says

Let me master a track of you. Hah, joke.

I believe I've found what fits the bill: http://channelfusemedia.com

Good stuff, Andrew89! I'm glad you could get it done for what you wanted, and it does look (and sound) like they've done plenty. A bit edgy for my taste, but I'm pretty old school about upper mids!

Good luck and let us know how it turns out. I get calls for lower budget stuff too, and it would be nice to say something other than sorry.

KVR/eSoundz: Xenobt

While I agree that there are many online mastering services out there that are not worth the time and money, there are some that are extremely worth it for their price and quality of service.

As someone mentioned, not everyone can afford to master each and every one of their tracks at the big studios for $150 / track. With services like http://phatmastering.com you can get quality analog mastering for a fraction of the price. We believe that through good communication between the artist and the engineer you can virtually achieve the same harmony as through an attended session.

Hi Andrew,

What is your preferred genre? I master for Launchpad Music Services (see the link in my sig). Feel free to ask me any questions!

There are a lot of online mastering services.
Some of them are of very low quality but a lot of them are of very high quality.

A lot of studios can make you a master as good as Abbey Road for example, maybe even better. I experienced it myself with my own music, friend's music and threads of cool people who uploaded samples of what popular mastering studios studios did.

We all know that because something is more popular or expensive it doesen't mean is better. With famous studios you pay a lot for the "name".

In the top of it there are a lot of studios offering people a mastered sample of your own music for free, so you can try and compare them at no cost.

+1000