tips on picking a mastering engineer?

hey folks,

does anyone have any good tips for picking a mastering engineer? the last album that i got mastered, i decided i definitely wanted to be in the studio while it was being mastered. so, i asked around to see who people recommended that were within a two hour drive. it was pretty much narrowed down to three folks, one really expensive (200 an hour) one fairly expensive (100 an hour), and one cheap one (65 an hour)... so, i was about to just splurge an go with one of the more expensive ones, but then i felt ridiculous spending that much when we payed our recording engineer less than half of that an hour.... anyway, so we went with cheaper guy who was still highly recommended and has a lot of credits to his name... and he was very disappointing. he couldn't hear when peak limiting distortion was cutting in, etc.... i had to point it out to him. the mixes weren't that loud. and also, half of the CD-Rs he gave me were screwed up... which required a lot of fedexing at the last minute before pressing the CDs. I definitely don't think more expensive is better when it comes to recording necessarily, but is that pretty much the case with mastering? What kind of mastering equipment sets some guys apart from others that's worth the costs... or is it just their ears and experience?

also, what's a reasonable price to pay?

and... would you be better off just sending it out to a remote mastering studio that is highly recommended and not sitting in on the session... and just trusting them and their experience?... or doing the local thing...

One thing you can do is to look in the credits of your favorite sounding album. Pick some albums that you like the sound and production. Usually there are names and sometimes an address of who did the work. That will be the best kind of referance, one that you decide.

[clineaudio]

Well, money means quality, like anything there's a slippery slope, a point of diminishing returns, but a good room, with good ears, and someone who makes good, confident clear-headed decisions that only someone with scores of experience can make is worth the money. Often times, those decisions involve knowing when to stop... which is a bigger deal than I can put on paper.
Of course, good gear is important as well. But that old addage of the tools only being as strong as the user is case in point with mastering.

[smopo24]

mastering is one of the least understood, yet most unsung step of the recording process. go with someone who has a good rep, tons of expierence, and leave a lot of headroom for them (i hear they appreciate this, gee i wonder why). check out as many records that they've done as you can (or ask for a sampler); or go with someone who's done good work on records you enjoy sonically (though this can be costly). i'd say that distance shouldn't be a factor because they may be as good, if not better suited to do your album than someone locally. you may not be comfortable letting go of that much control, but the results could be better than you expect. spend as much as you can afford, it's easy to just cut corners; and you may not be as satisfied with the results.

Yeah, record on 2" if possible, and give the masterer a decently flatish mix. He will love you if hes any good. There are a few in Chicago, none I really recommend. If you send it to someone with extensive notes, chances are he will not read the notes unless you pay him very well. Give him/her a ref disc with what you hope it will sound like, some minimal notes, and chances are you will be overwhelmed with joy. I realize its difficult to let your baby go, but do you like when people are breathing down your back being super critical, and sighing when it takes you 10 mins to get the snare right, I dont. More than likely there is reason why this guy has had a few customers, listen to his stuff if its good, trust him more than likely you will be happy.

My friend Mike Lust, who runs Phantom Manor studios, tends to get stuff he's done mastered at a place called Noizefloor. I think that's in Chicago. His albums all tend to sound quite good--I've been to his studio a few times and have a pretty good idea what he's working with there, but I don't know anything about this Noizefloor place. It's worth looking into

[Nubus]

I had Faction of the Fox mastered at Colossal. When we put out a sampler CD we included two tracks from that FOTF CD. The guy at Blam mastered the sampler, and he had to turn down the FOTF songs.
We had the Cats and Jammers stuff mastered for free at Gravity since it was his first time mastering on his new setup, and for whatever reason the waveforms are all square...

[Nubus]

Also, when the samplers came out for Quincy Shanks, #3 had faction of the fox on it. That song was mastered by Matt Allison at Atlas and it sounded pretty good. but then, when #4 came out for whatever reason the original DAT wasn't used and the mastered version was subsequently "Mastered" again by Doug Ward at Maximum Mac. That version sounds ridiculous.... what he was thinking I do not know. The vocals come in and the music completely vanishes... and there are at least a thousand of those CDs floating around.