Mastering · Mixing · Recording
— Warsaw, Poland
Mastering and mixing
on a fully analogue chain
Studio in Warsaw. Twenty-four channels summed on a Looptrotter SATUR 8/24, then Neve 33609/N, Chandler Limited TG1 and SSL Fusion. No plugin touches the bus; the digital domain is limited to conversion and writing the file.
24
channels summed
18
outboard units
30+
microphone models
5
monitoring paths
0
plugins on the bus
01
Principles
Chain characteristics
Saturation
Transformer saturation
The transformer cores in the Looptrotter summing unit and the Neve inputs add harmonics that depend on signal level and frequency. Density grows with level, without a second stage of compression.
Depth
Twenty-four channels summed
Tracks leave the DAW through separate outputs and meet in the analogue domain — each with its own noise floor and micro phase offset. The sum is formed electrically, not arithmetically.
Operation
Real-time work
Settings are made on the units themselves, in real time, on ATC SCM25A Pro Mk2 monitors in an acoustically treated room. A session ends with one version of the master.
02
Signal chain
Signal path
From the source file to the master. Violet modules — the analogue chain. Green modules — the two points where the signal stays digital.
Source
DAW
Logic Pro · Cubase Pro 11 · Reaper — 24 outputs
D/A
Antelope Orion
Conversion, Acoustically Focused clocking
Summing
Looptrotter SATUR 8/24
24 channels, saturation on the bus
Tone
Neve 1073 · Avalon VT-737
Band EQ, valve stage
Dynamics
Neve 33609/N · TG1 · SSL Fusion
Bus compression, mix glue
Peak
Looptrotter Emperor
Analogue limiter, peak control
A/D
Master 24 bit
WAV / AIFF · DDP · streaming versions
Analogue chain
Digital domain and files
Monitoring: ATC SCM25A Pro Mk2 + subwoofer
03
Studio
Rooms and equipment
Photographs taken in the studio: control room, live room, racks of the signal chain.
04
Services
Services
Stereo mastering
The finished mix passes through Neve → Chandler → Looptrotter Emperor. Delivery covers streaming, CD and reference versions.
- WAV or AIFF 24 bit at the original sample rate
- Streaming version approx. −14 LUFS-I / −1 dBTP
- DDP image with ISRC for the pressing plant
- Two revisions included
Stem mastering
Four to eight groups: drums, bass, guitars, vocals. Balance corrections without opening the mix session.
- Separate analogue processing per group
- Balance adjustment without returning to the mix
- Parallel compression on drums
- Used when the mix was made in another studio
Analogue mixing
Tracks leave the DAW on 24 channels into the summing unit. Balance, space and dynamics are set on hardware.
- Up to 32 tracks at the base price
- Hardware reverb — Lexicon PCM 91
- Attendance at the session — on site or online
- Mastering included in package C
Recording and reamping
Neumann, Shure and Sennheiser microphones, four valve amplifiers. Drums, guitars, vocals, overdubs onto an existing session.
- Drum session with full microphone setup
- DI reamping through Rivera, Mesa, EVH or Peavey
- Vocals: U 67, U 47 FET, TLM 49 or SM 7B
- Preamps: Neve 1073, UA 610, API
05
Pricing
Prices per track
Prices exclude VAT. EP from 5 tracks −15%, album from 8 tracks −20%.
Package A
Mastering
€99
per track · 3–5 working days
- Analogue chain on the bus
- WAV or AIFF 24 bit + MP3 320
- Streaming version
- Two revisions
Package B
Stem mastering
€129
per track · up to 8 stems
- Everything in package A
- Separate processing per group
- Mix balance correction
- DDP image with ISRC
Package C
Mixing + mastering
€349
per track · up to 32 tracks
- Full mix on hardware
- Hardware reverbs
- Mastering included
- Three revisions
Vinyl premaster — no peak limiting, bass phase and sibilance control
+€25
Express — delivery within 24 h
+50%
Alternative versions — instrumental, TV mix, radio edit
+€12 each
Studio day with an engineer (8 h, recording)
€350
DI reamping through a valve amplifier
€25 per track
Mastering test — 60 s of your material
€0
06
Work
Selected work
Nothing is hosted on this site. Each entry links to the release on SoundCloud or Bandcamp. The player loads only when clicked.
Mixing + mastering
Mastering
Stem mastering
Mixing + mastering
Recording
Recording
Studio profile
Artist releases
Six empty tiles are waiting for links. Click a tile, paste a public SoundCloud link or a Bandcamp embed code in the panel on the right, then fill in artist, title, year and service. Reorder by dragging the blocks.
07
Process
How a job runs
01
Delivering the material
A link to WeTransfer, Dropbox or Google Drive. WAV or AIFF 24 bit, no limiter on the bus, peaks around −6 dBFS. Up to 5 GB per project.
02
Test excerpt
Sixty seconds of the material through the full chain, returned within 48 hours. Free of charge.
03
Agreeing the direction
A conversation and reference material. What can be changed in mastering is separated from what requires a mix correction.
04
Session on the hardware
Real-time work on ATC monitoring. The client may attend on site or online, with a session view and live monitoring.
05
Delivery and revisions
Full set of files: WAV or AIFF, streaming version, MP3, DDP. Two revisions included, turned around in 24 h. VAT invoice.
08
Equipment
Studio equipment
The full list.
Summing and bus chain
- Looptrotter SATUR 8/24 24 ch
- Looptrotter Monster Compressor 2 ×2
- Looptrotter Emperor Limiter ×1
- SSL Fusion ×1
Compression and limiting
- Neve 33609/N ×1
- Chandler Limited TG1 ×1
- Drawmer 1978 ×1
- Avalon VT-737 ×1
Preamps and tone
- Neve 1073 ×1
- Neve 1073 OPX ×1
- Universal Audio SOLO/610 ×1
- Universal Audio 2-610 stereo ×1
- API Box ×1
- SPL Vitalizer ×1
- Chris Sound Research Silver Shadow ×1
500-series modules
- Chandler Little Devil ×1
- Chandler TG2-500 ×1
- Germ 500 MkII ×1
- Shadow Hills Mono Optograph ×1
- Neve 512v ×1
- API lunchbox ×1
Effects and conversion
- Lexicon PCM 91 ×1
- Fractal Axe-Fx II ×1
- Antelope Orion Studio (Thunderbolt) A/D–D/A
Monitoring
- ATC SCM25A Pro Mk2 ×2
- ATC SC70 Pro — subwoofer ×1
- Genelec 8040 ×1
- APS Klasik ×1
- Renkus-Heinz PN82/12 ×1
- Avantone MixCube ×2
Microphones — Neumann
- U 87 Ai — stereo pair ×2
- U 67 — valve ×1
- U 47 FET ×1
- TLM 49 ×1
- TLM 103 ×6
- TLM 102 ×4
- KM 184 — stereo pairs ×4
- Neumann Gefell PM 750 ×1
Microphones — Shure
- SM 57 ×15
- SM 57 LCE ×10
- SM 7B ×2
- KSM 44 A/SL ×2
- Beta 58A ×2
- Beta 52A ×1
Microphones — Sennheiser
- MD 421 II ×8
- e 604 ×12
- e 602 II ×4
- e 901 ×1
- e 945 ×2
- ew 100 G4 — wireless ×4
Microphones — valve and ribbon
- Royer R-121 — ribbon ×1
- beyerdynamic M 160 — ribbon ×1
- Vanguard V13 — valve ×1
- Vanguard V44S ×2
- Vanguard V24 ×2
- Peluso P-78 ×2
- Peluso CEMC6 — stereo pair ×2
- Lampifier 711 ×2
Microphones — other
- Audix i5 ×1
- Heil PR 35 ×2
- Heil PR 22 UT ×2
- Tonsil MD 288 A ×1
Consoles, amplifiers and attenuators
- Allen & Heath System 8 2416 ×1
- Allen & Heath GL2000 ×1
- Allen & Heath Q16 ×1
- Seck 1282 ×1
- Rivera Fandango ×1
- Rivera RockCrusher — power attenuator ×1
- Mesa/Boogie Mark III ×1
- EVH 5150 III ×1
- Peavey 5150 ×1
Systems, DAWs and routing
- Mac Pro (Intel, late 2013) ×1
- Mac M1 Pro ×1
- Logic Pro
- Cubase Pro 11
- Reaper
- Ecler MIMO88 — audio matrix ×1
09
Questions
Technical notes
Preparing a mix for mastering
WAV or AIFF 24 bit — both formats equivalent, no conversion needed. Sample rate matching the session, no limiter and no corrective EQ on the bus. Leave around 6 dB of headroom on peaks. A limiter used only for monitoring should be switched off before export. File name: artist_title_v1.wav or .aif.
Stems — count and export
Four to eight groups: drums, bass, guitars, keys, lead vocal, backing vocals, effects. Every stem from bar zero, the same length, with bus processing switched off. All stems played back together must add up to the mix.
Turnaround
Mastering — 3 to 5 working days from confirmation. Mixing — from 5 working days per track, depending on track count. Express delivery within 24 h carries a 50% surcharge. A test excerpt is returned within 48 hours.
Revisions
Two revisions included with mastering, three with mixing + mastering. Each turned around in 24 h. Further revisions €15 each. Changing the mix after mastering has started means a new master for that track.
Which stages stay digital
Summing, equalisation, compression and bus limiting happen on hardware only. Two points remain digital: A/D–D/A conversion on the Antelope Orion, and writing the file. Spot editing — removing a click, fixing timing — is done in the DAW and reported to the client.
Vinyl mastering
The vinyl premaster is prepared separately: no peak limiter, with low-frequency phase correlation control, excess sibilance tamed, and sides split with adequate time headroom. The file reaches the plant in a form the cutting engineer accepts.
Attending the session
Possible on site in the studio or online, with live monitoring and a session view. It does not affect the price. Remote sessions run in an agreed time window.
Invoicing, payment, rights
VAT invoice. On a first order, 50% up front and the balance before the source files are released. Rights to the recording remain entirely with the client; the studio retains only the right to list the title in its portfolio, unless agreed otherwise.
10
Contact
Contact
Enquiries through the form. Sixty-second test excerpt — reply within 48 hours.