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Rik Stirlings mixes are highly transferable, and can be outputted to numerous formats to best meet the needs of an ever-changing media.

In addition, Stirling Sound can take mixed material and prepare it for duplication by mastering for 1- off glass masters or MP3 s.

It is our belief that mastering is the final polish for a mix, and we provide this service in-house so that the client knows exactly what will be duplicated.To hear examples of our Mixing and Mastering work, visit our Audio Samples page.

I think that there are many clients that just dont know so its become a default process for many masters.

However, an engineer at a recording studio I did a session at mentioned that they stay away from Sterling because, Unless you pay extra for the attended session, you dont actually know who will be doing it.

Implying that they might be palming off tracks to traineesinterns or something without telling the client, even if youre paying a premium for one of their extremely respected, award-winning engineers.

Is there any truth to this I really want to use them because their engineers have mastered some of my favorite records, but that would be a pretty shady business practice.

Obviously I hope its not true, and I dont want to spread bad rumors if it isnt, but it makes me a little reluctant to trust them.

Not only Sterling.

Here in my country there are a couple of top notch mastering engineers that have two different rates.

The expensive one is the one where you get to be in the room with the ME and your song is mastered using the highest end hardware.

If you pay the non-attended, cheaper rate you get your song mastered by an aprentice with plugins (Im not against ITB mastering FWIW).

Of course you are not told so, you still think the real ME is putting his hands on your songs, using the hi end hardware stuff he advertise in his website).

For me, when Im not doing the mastering myself, I just go with the master, Dave McNare.

The Masters we received from a so called top ME that were as flat as pancakes.

Unattended, they could have only been done in a hurry or by an intern.

What a waste of money that was, I did better ITB on the roughs.

Took my first album to George Marino because he did Zeppelin and Queen, lol.

Where are you located I would suggest you attend the mastering session so you can at least meet the engineer.

Book the engineer, not the studio If you cant have a dialogue with your engineer of choice, go somewhere else.

If theyre not willing to revise or revisit if its not to your taste, go somewhere else.

It was quite a while ago, but I was very familiar at one point with how Sterling did business.

Have heard that some masters sound like they were simply ran thru the process.

When you call them on it then the next one you get is dialed.

Sterling Sound Mastering