DIY Mastering Chain for DnB

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Learning how to master a drum and bass track yourself is one of the most useful skills modern producers develop. The cost of professional mastering (typically £50-150 per track for competent work, much more for top engineers) adds up across the volume of releases that working producers put out. Learning to master your own work to a competent standard handles 80%+ of releases without external help, with professional mastering reserved for high-stakes releases where the cost is justified.

This guide walks through the full DIY mastering chain for DnB and UK dubstep specifically. The preparation steps that matter most, the chain order and plugin choices, the settings to start from, and the final checks before export.

Preparing the Mix - The Most Important Step

The quality of your master is bounded by the quality of your mix. Three preparation steps make the actual mastering work significantly easier and more effective.

Confirm Adequate Headroom

The mix should peak at around -6 dBFS on the master bus, not at -1 or 0 dBFS. This leaves room for mastering processing to operate without immediate clipping.

The check: load the finished mix into a fresh session as a stereo audio file. Play the loudest section. Confirm the master meter peaks around -6 dBFS. If it peaks higher, reduce the gain on the mix before starting mastering - either by pulling down a gain plugin at the start of the chain, or by re-exporting the mix at a lower level from the mix session.

Load Reference Tracks

The mastering process needs comparison points. Load 2-3 finished, professionally mastered tracks in the same genre as muted audio tracks in your mastering session. Unmute one reference occasionally during mastering to compare your master against it.

The references should be similar in style and arrangement to your track - liquid DnB references for a liquid DnB master, neurofunk references for a neurofunk master. Generic "electronic music" references are less useful than genre-specific ones.

Loudness-match the references to your master using a tool like MeterPlugs Perception if you have it, or manually adjust the reference channel gain so the perceived loudness matches. Loudness-matched comparison reveals tonal and dynamic differences that uneven loudness comparison hides.

Walk Away From the Mix

Mastering immediately after finishing the mix produces worse results than mastering with fresh ears. Walk away for at least 24 hours - longer if possible. Return to master when your ear has reset and you can hear the mix objectively.

The producers who skip this step consistently produce mediocre masters. The producers who allow themselves a day of distance produce significantly better work. The cost is patience; the benefit is real and substantial.

How to Master a Drum and Bass Track Yourself - The Chain Order

Most mastering chains follow a consistent order. Variations exist between engineers, but the general structure is reliable.

▸ A standard DIY mastering chain

Mastering EQ - Subtle Tonal Shaping

Mastering EQ is the opposite of mixing EQ in scale. Where mixing EQ uses surgical cuts and boosts at specific frequencies (sometimes 6-12 dB), mastering EQ uses broad, gentle moves of 1-3 dB at most.

Standard Mastering EQ Moves

High-pass at 20-30 Hz. Remove inaudible sub-rumble that eats headroom without contributing to the music. Anything below 30 Hz is essentially unheard but takes up dynamic range.

Gentle low-shelf for tightness or weight. A 1-2 dB cut at 80 Hz tightens the low end if it feels slightly muddy. A 1-2 dB boost at 60 Hz adds weight if the low end feels slightly thin.

Mid-range character. Very gentle bell cuts or boosts in the 200-500 Hz range for tonal character. Used surgically - only if there is a specific tonal issue across the whole mix.

Presence at 2-4 kHz. A 1 dB boost in this range adds presence and clarity. A 1 dB cut tames harshness if the mix feels aggressive.

Air at 10-15 kHz. A high-shelf boost of 1-2 dB at 10-12 kHz adds "air" and openness. The classic mastering move that polishes mixes and makes them feel finished.

Mid/Side EQ for Width Refinement

For more advanced mastering EQ, mid/side processing lets you adjust the mid (centre) and side (stereo) channels independently. Common moves:

Brighten the sides only: high-shelf boost at 8-10 kHz on the side channel for more air without affecting the centre vocal or bass.

Tighten the centre only: low-shelf cut at 100 Hz on the mid channel to reduce centre low-end weight without affecting the stereo content.

Mono the low end: high-pass the side channel at 100 Hz to ensure mono compatibility below the sub crossover (essential for club system playback).

Plugin Choices

FabFilter Pro-Q 3 - the industry standard. Mid/side processing, dynamic EQ, spectrum analyser overlay. Used in most modern mastering chains.

TDR Nova - excellent free alternative with dynamic EQ.

Brainworx bx_digital V3 - dedicated mid/side mastering EQ. Used in many professional mastering chains.

Mastering Compression - Glue, Not Crush

Mastering compression is dramatically more restrained than mixing compression. The goal is cohesion, not control. Typical settings:

• Ratio: 1.5-2:1
• Attack: 30-50ms (slow, lets transients through)
• Release: Auto release or 100-300ms (medium to slow)
• Threshold: Set to achieve 1-2 dB of gain reduction on peaks
• Knee: Soft (smooth transition into compression)

The compressor should be barely audible as compression. Bypassing it should produce a subtle change in cohesion, not a dramatic shift in dynamics. If the bypass test shows a dramatic change, the compression is too heavy - reduce gain reduction to 1-2 dB at peaks.

Plugin Choices

Cytomic The Glue - SSL-style bus compression emulation. The standard for mastering glue. Around £130.

FabFilter Pro-C 2 in Glue mode - same principle, more visual interface. Around £120.

TDR Kotelnikov - excellent free mastering-grade compressor. Used professionally.

Stock DAW glue compressors - Ableton's Glue Compressor is excellent. Logic and FL include capable bus compressors. Stock tools handle most mastering compression needs.

Saturation - The Final Cohesive Layer

Subtle saturation on the master adds warmth and harmonic content that creates the perceived "finish" of professional mastering. The key word is subtle - mastering saturation should be almost imperceptible when bypassed.

Typical settings: tape or analogue console saturation, less than 1 dB of drive, mix knob at 30-50% if available. The character added should be warmth and richness, not obvious distortion.

Plugin Choices

Softube Tape - emulations of Studer A800 and similar tape machines. Standard mastering saturation. Around £150.

Wavesfactory Cassette - subtle cassette tape emulation. Around £30. Punches above its weight.

FabFilter Saturn 2 - versatile saturation with tape, tube and analogue console models. Useful as one plugin covers many saturation needs.

TDR Vos SlickEQ - free analogue-modelled EQ that adds gentle saturation. Excellent as a mastering EQ + saturation combination.

Stereo Widening on the Master - Use With Caution

Stereo widening on the master bus is one of the most overused mastering moves. Plugins that "make the master wider" often introduce phase issues that destroy mono compatibility and produce results that sound impressive in stereo but collapse in mono.

The general rule: do not widen the master bus. If the mix needs more width, fix it in the mix at the channel level (panning, stereo synthesis, Haas effect at specific channels). Mastering width plugins are a band-aid for a mixing problem.

The exception: mid/side EQ to subtly brighten the side channel (boost stereo content at high frequencies for air) without affecting the mid channel. This is more transparent than stereo widening plugins and does not introduce the same phase issues.

If you must widen the master, use a mono-compatible widener like Brainworx bx_stereomaker with mono compatibility checking. Test the result in mono before accepting any widening. If mono compatibility degrades, reduce or remove the widening.

True Peak Limiting - The Final Stage

The limiter at the end of the chain handles three jobs simultaneously: prevent peaks from exceeding the true peak ceiling, deliver competitive loudness, and shape the dynamic character of the final master.

Setup

True peak mode: Enabled. The limiter prevents true peak from exceeding the ceiling, not just sample peak. Essential for streaming compliance.

Ceiling: -1 dBTP for streaming releases. Some engineers use -0.3 to -0.1 dBTP for non-streaming releases where slightly higher loudness matters.

Lookahead: Enabled (most modern limiters). Lets the limiter anticipate peaks and respond cleanly without distortion.

Release: Auto release or 50-200ms. Faster release gets louder but can pump; slower release stays transparent.

Style: Most modern limiters offer multiple algorithms (modern, classic, transparent, aggressive). Start with a transparent mode for mastering work. Switch to aggressive only if you specifically need more loudness and accept the dynamic cost.

Setting the Loudness

Watch your LUFS meter while the limiter works. Adjust the input gain (or threshold) until the integrated LUFS hits your target:

• Streaming release: -9 to -8 LUFS integrated
• Club/DJ release: -8 to -6 LUFS integrated
• Bandcamp/direct sales: -9 to -7 LUFS integrated

The full streaming and loudness landscape is in the LUFS guide.

Plugin Choices

FabFilter Pro-L 2 - the modern mastering limiter standard. Multiple algorithms, integrated LUFS and true peak metering, lookahead, oversampling. Around £150.

iZotope Ozone Maximizer - alternative mastering limiter inside the Ozone mastering suite. Around £130 for Ozone Standard.

TDR Limiter 6 GE - free, professional-grade limiter with true peak limiting and multi-stage processing. Excellent free option.

Checking at Multiple Volumes

Listening to the master at only one volume hides problems that appear at different listening levels. The standard check sequence:

▸ The multi-volume mastering check

Do not stay at loud volume for extended mastering work. Hearing damage is cumulative and the loud-listening checks should be brief. The bulk of mastering decisions should happen at medium volume.

A/B vs Reference

The final critical check before export: A/B against your reference tracks.

Loudness-match the references to your master using Perception or manual gain matching. Listen to a reference for 10-15 seconds, then to your master for 10-15 seconds, then back to the reference. Notice any differences in:

• Overall tonal balance (is one brighter or darker?)
• Low-end presence and weight (is one tighter or fuller?)
• Stereo width (is one wider or narrower?)
• Dynamic energy (is one more or less punchy?)
• Mid-range character (does one feel more or less aggressive?)

If your master differs substantially from the references in any direction, adjust the mastering chain to close the gap. The goal is not to clone the references but to be in the same ballpark - close enough that your master sounds at home alongside them in a playlist or DJ set.

Export Settings

The final export settings depend on the distribution format.

Distribution	Format	Sample Rate	Bit Depth	Notes
Streaming (Spotify, Apple Music, etc.)	WAV	44.1 kHz	24-bit	Most distributors accept these settings. Avoid MP3 - distributors re-encode for streaming.
Beatport / DJ stores	WAV	44.1 kHz	24-bit	Same as streaming. Beatport accepts higher resolutions if available.
Bandcamp	WAV or FLAC	44.1 kHz	24-bit	FLAC offers smaller file size with no quality loss.
SoundCloud	WAV	44.1 kHz	16-bit or 24-bit	SoundCloud re-encodes to AAC for streaming.
CD (legacy)	WAV	44.1 kHz	16-bit	CD standard. Apply dithering when reducing from 24-bit to 16-bit.
Vinyl	WAV	44.1 kHz or 48 kHz	24-bit	Consult the cutting engineer for specific requirements.

For most modern releases: WAV, 44.1 kHz, 24-bit is the default. Higher sample rates (88.2, 96 kHz) are appropriate for mastering work but distributors convert to 44.1 kHz for streaming anyway.

Common DIY Mastering Mistakes

Key Takeaways

▸ What to remember from this guide

1. Mastering chain order: EQ → bus compression → saturation → (optional mid/side) → true peak limiting → dither at export.
2. Preparation matters most: 6 dB headroom in the mix, reference tracks loaded, walk away from the mix for at least 24 hours.
3. Mastering EQ uses broad, gentle moves (1-3 dB). High-pass at 25 Hz, gentle air shelf at 10-12 kHz, surgical tonal corrections only where needed.
4. Mastering compression: slow attack, slow release, 1-2 dB gain reduction, 1.5-2:1 ratio. Glue, not crush.
5. Subtle saturation (less than 1 dB drive) adds final cohesion. Tape or analogue console emulation.
6. Stereo widening on the master is almost always a mistake. Fix width in the mix, not in mastering.
7. True peak limiting at -1 dBTP. Adjust input gain until integrated LUFS hits target (-9 to -8 for DnB/dubstep streaming).
8. Check at multiple volumes (quiet, medium, loud) and on multiple systems (monitors, headphones, phone, car).
9. A/B against loudness-matched reference tracks for the final critical check.
10. Export WAV 44.1 kHz 24-bit for streaming releases. Apply dithering when reducing bit depth.

Mixes That Translate Through Any Mastering Chain

The mastering chain works best on mixes that arrive in good shape. The corrective work needed at mastering scales inversely with the quality of the underlying mix - which scales with the quality of the source material the mix was built from.

Continue the Mastering Pillar