Mastering Chain Order: EQ, Dynamic EQ, Compression and LUFS Targets

A standard mastering chain runs corrective EQ, dynamic EQ, compression, tonal EQ, saturation, stereo imaging and a true-peak limiter, with a loudness meter last. For streaming, aim near −14 LUFS integrated with true peaks at or below −1 dBTP; Spotify, YouTube and most other platforms turn louder masters down.

Mastering is about small moves. A typical master changes the EQ by 0.5 to 2 dB, compresses by 1 to 2 dB and limits by 1 to 4 dB. If you need more than that, the fix usually belongs in the mix. Below is the chain in order with starting settings, then what a dynamic EQ does, the loudness targets for each platform and a checklist to run before you export.

Mastering chain order

Why the mastering order matters

Every processor reacts to what reaches it. A compressor placed after a boomy low end spends its gain reduction on the boom and pumps the whole mix with every bass note; cut the boom first and the compressor works on the music. Harshness that only appears in the chorus pushes a compressor and limiter harder exactly where the track is already loudest, which is why the dynamic EQ sits before them.

The limiter goes last because it sets the final peak level. Anything after it that adds gain, EQ boosts or saturation can push peaks over the ceiling again. Only meters and dither belong after the limiter. Within those rules there's room to experiment: some engineers put tonal EQ before the compressor, add a soft clipper before the limiter, or use multiband compression instead of a single band. The what is a multiband compressor guide covers that option.

Mastering EQ: what to cut and what to boost

Mastering EQ uses wide bands and small gains, because every move affects every instrument at once. Use a low Q (0.5 to 1) for tonal changes and keep boosts and cuts under about 2 dB. Narrow cuts are for specific resonances only.

• Minimum phase vs linear phase: minimum-phase EQ is the default and sounds natural for most moves. Linear-phase EQ avoids phase shift between bands, which helps with large low-frequency moves, but it adds latency and can cause pre-ringing (a soft smear before transients).
• Mid/side EQ: high-pass only the side channel at 100 to 150 Hz to tighten the low end, or add a little air to the sides to widen without touching the vocal in the centre.
• Compare at matched loudness: an EQ boost makes the track louder, and louder always sounds better at first. Level-match before you decide. Our how to use EQ guide covers bands, Q and gain if any of this is new.

What is a dynamic EQ?

A dynamic EQ is an equaliser whose bands only act when needed. Each band has a threshold: when the energy in that frequency range rises above it, the band cuts, and the harder it's pushed, the more it cuts, up to a maximum range. When the energy falls, the band returns to flat. It works like a compressor on one slice of the spectrum, with the shape and precision of an EQ bell.

Typical starting settings for a dynamic EQ band in mastering: a Q of 1.5 to 3, a range of 2 to 4 dB, an attack of 5 to 20 ms and a release of 50 to 200 ms. Set the threshold so the band only moves on the loudest moments; if it's working all the time, a static cut is the better tool.

A dynamic EQ is close to a multiband compressor, with two differences. A multiband compressor splits the whole spectrum into adjacent bands with crossovers and compresses each one; a dynamic EQ works on a single, freely placed bell or shelf with an adjustable Q, so it can target one resonance without touching the frequencies next to it.

Master builds this into its Sculpt stage: six dynamic bands that each listen to the rest of the mix rather than to a fixed threshold, so a harsh hit gets tamed while a kick or a hi-hat keeps its punch. The Polished Pop (Sculpt) preset places two bands at 3.15 kHz and 7 kHz that dip by up to 4 and 4.5 dB only when harshness pokes out, with light glue and a Spotify loudness target.

Mastering compression settings

Mastering compression glues the mix rather than controlling it. Start with a ratio of 1.5:1 to 2:1, an attack of 10 to 30 ms (slow enough for drum transients to pass), a release of 100 to 300 ms or auto, and adjust the threshold for 1 to 2 dB of gain reduction on the loudest parts. If the meter never comes back to zero, or the mix pumps with the kick, raise the threshold or lengthen the attack. For how this differs from the limiter that follows it, see compressor vs limiter.

Limiting and true peak

The limiter raises the overall level and stops any peak from passing its ceiling. Set the ceiling to −1 dBTP and push the input until you reach your loudness target. 1 to 4 dB of gain reduction on peaks is usually transparent; past about 6 dB, most mixes start to lose punch and distort. Our explainer on what a limiter is covers attack, release and lookahead.

True peak (measured in dBTP) is the level of the waveform after it's converted back to analogue, including the inter-sample peaks that fall between digital samples. A file whose samples never exceed 0 dBFS can still peak above it once it's played back or encoded to AAC, Ogg Vorbis or Opus for streaming. True-peak meters and limiters catch this by oversampling, typically by 4x as ITU-R BS.1770 recommends. That's why −1 dBTP, and −2 dBTP for very loud masters, is the standard ceiling.

LUFS explained: loudness units and loudness normalization

LUFS stands for Loudness Units relative to Full Scale. It measures loudness the way people hear it, with a K-weighting filter that de-emphasises deep bass and emphasises the upper mids, as defined in ITU-R BS.1770 and EBU R128. One loudness unit (LU) equals one dB. LKFS is the same measurement under its US broadcast name.

Loudness normalization is what streaming services do with that number. They measure each track's integrated loudness and adjust the playback level to their target. A track mastered at −8 LUFS plays 6 dB quieter on Spotify; a track at −16 LUFS may be turned up by 2 dB, as long as there's peak headroom for it.

LUFS targets per platform

Platforms change their settings from time to time, and listeners can switch normalization off, so treat these as current reference points rather than permanent rules. A −1 dBTP ceiling is safe everywhere.

How loud should you master?

For streaming, −14 LUFS integrated with peaks at or below −1 dBTP is the cleanest choice: no platform turns it down by much, and it keeps the most punch. In practice, many genres are mastered louder because a denser sound is part of the style, and because the master also has to work where there's no normalization. These are the ranges many commercial releases measure, not targets:

Before choosing a louder master, listen to it normalized. If your −8 LUFS master sounds flatter than your −11 LUFS version once both play at −14 LUFS, the quieter one is the better master. Master's Hear it on Spotify switch does exactly this comparison, for Spotify, Apple Music, YouTube, Amazon and Tidal, SoundCloud or a club system.

How to make music louder without crushing it

1. Control the low end in the mix. Bass carries the most energy; high-pass everything that isn't kick or bass, and keep the bass mono below 100 to 150 Hz.
2. Tame resonances with a dynamic EQ. A single ringing frequency triggers the limiter long before the rest of the mix is loud.
3. Clip transients before the limiter. A soft clipper shaving 1 to 2 dB off the sharpest drum peaks lets the limiter work less.
4. Limit in two stages. Two limiters taking 1 to 3 dB each usually sound cleaner than one taking 6 dB.
5. Add harmonics. Gentle saturation makes bass and vocals read as louder on small speakers without raising the peaks.
6. Check at matched loudness. Compare against the unlimited version at the same LUFS, so you hear what you're losing.

Mastering checklist

1. Export the mix as a 24-bit WAV at the session's sample rate, peaks −6 to −3 dBFS, no limiter on the mix bus.
2. Load two or three reference tracks and match their loudness to your master before comparing.
3. Run the chain: corrective EQ, dynamic EQ, compression, tonal EQ, saturation, imaging, true-peak limiter.
4. Check the integrated loudness and true peak: near your target, and true peak at or below −1 dBTP.
5. Listen in mono, then on earbuds, a phone speaker and in a car. Fix only what fails on more than one.
6. Listen to the whole track once, start to finish, without touching anything.
7. Trim the start, add a short fade-out at the end, and leave no clicks at either edge.
8. Export at 24-bit for distribution; if a 16-bit file is required, dither once at that final step.

Master in your browser or in your DAW

Our free online mastering tool runs the same engine as the Master plugin in your browser: drop a mix, pick a genre and platform, and it sets Tone, Glue, Width and Loud, then lets you compare before and after at matched loudness. Nothing is uploaded. Inside your DAW, Master adds Sculpt, the full-resolution export and every control. For other options, our mastering plugins page compares the main approaches.

Mastering can only polish what the mix gives it. If the vocal is fighting the beat, go back to how to mix vocals first; if the song itself needs work, start with song structure.