Why Choose Mr. Toad's for Mastering?

The mastering engineer has the responsibility to make your album sound its best. In some cases the recording was so well executed that the only sonic decisions to be made are the relative volume level and sequence of songs- but it takes a skilled engineer to realize when to leave the best recordings intact. On the other hand, some records are comprised of ten-songs-from-five-studios-recorded-over-three-years-with-two-lineup-changes and require care and skill to best adjust the dynamics and equalization over the course of the entire record. There are no “mastering studio in a box” solutions that even remotely come close to replacing the expertise of the engineer. Our engineers are music production professionals- this is no day job to them, this is their passion. When it’s time to place the responsibility for the final preparation of your master into the hands of a professional, the Mr. Toad’s engineers are up to the task.

On the technical side, the mastering system has to be capable of operating at a much higher resolution than the final product. We are proud to have some of the best analog reproduction gear available, from the Ampex ATR 102- one of the best sounding 2-track tape machines ever- through our 24 bit 96k Cranesong and Mytek analog to digital signal conversion, we use only the finest gear we can get our hands on. If you’re supplying a digital master source, we support formats up to 24 bits. Once in the system, a 24 bit native all digital signal chain, with world renowned linear phase coherent signal processing and a signal to noise ratio of over 120 dB, handles the adjustments to your music with pristine clarity.

Choosing a mastering house is difficult- there are mastering engineers charging thousands of dollars for a CD master and project studio engineers willing to do the job for a couple hundred. Ideally, you would be able to audition the technique and quality of every mastering studio in contention, to determine which service is right for your album. Depending on our current workload, we'll be happy to master a snippet of your material no charge for you to evaluate our service. Just email us to inquire.