'Stem mastering' has provoked a ton of debate recently, with people claiming it crosses the line between mixing and mastering, interferes with the artist's intent, and isn't even really mastering at all !

But if that's true, why would Abbey Road, one of the biggest mastering studios in the world, offer a dedicated stem mastering service ?!

In this episode I talk to Oli Morgan, who specialises in stem mastering and mixing in mastering in Dolby Atmos at Abbey Road, about all these questions and more. We talk about:

• How he got started in mastering (and what that has in common with me)
• His perspective on stem mastering – when and how it can be helpful
• How (and why) stem mastering is a key element for working in Immersive Audio and Dolby Atmos
• What we can learn about dynamics from working in Dolby Atmos
• Why the 'pressure sound' may not be all about heavy limiting
• How we might be able to have our cake and eat it in the quest to balance loudness and dynamics

Full links on our website:

www.themasteringshow.com/episode-98

Mentioned in this episode:

Tools

For Ian's mastering plugins, click HERE

Learn to master !

Click HERE to see Ian's courses and mastering resources

Mastering

Click HERE to work with Ian