Mix and master online: what a free tool does, and what it cannot do
Mixing and mastering are two different jobs. A free online mastering tool works on a finished stereo track. Here is what it changes, what it cannot fix, and how to prepare your mix for it.
If you want to mix and master online for free, know this first: mixing and mastering are different jobs, and a free online tool can do only one of them well. Mixing sets the balance of each instrument and voice in a session. Mastering takes a finished stereo track and sets its loudness, tonal balance and peak ceiling for release. Echoteka is a mastering service. It does not mix from separate tracks. It masters a finished file, gives you a free master every day, and shows the numbers before and after, so you can see what the master changed.
Mixing and mastering are different jobs
| Job | What goes in | What it decides | Where to get it |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mixing | Separate tracks from a session | The balance of each part, panning, effects on each part | Your DAW, or a mixing engineer. Not offered by Echoteka |
| Mastering | One finished stereo file | Overall loudness, tonal balance, dynamics and the true-peak ceiling | Free AI mastering |
| Checking | Your mix or master | Integrated loudness, true peak, loudness range | Free LUFS checker |
Most searches for "mix master online" or "AI mixing and mastering" blur these two jobs. A site that promises to fix one instrument, rebalance a vocal or clean up a session is doing mixing. A mastering tool works on the whole stereo file at once.
What a mastering lab changes
When you upload a finished track, the lab measures it first. It then shapes the whole track with EQ, dynamics and stereo width, using one of its sound profiles or a reference track you upload. A true-peak limiter sets the ceiling at or under −1 dBTP. The output is measured again, and the before-and-after report shows each number.
The free master includes a full master of the whole track, a target loudness for the platform you choose, the −1 dBTP ceiling, AI artifact cleanup for the marks generators leave, and the before-and-after report. The daily allowance is 1 free master per day per device. Checking a file is free and needs no account.
What it cannot fix
Mastering helps with the whole track, so it cannot solve a problem that lives in one part of the mix. The table below sorts common problems.
| Problem | Can mastering fix it? |
|---|---|
| A vocal that sits too low under the guitar | No. Fix the balance in the mix |
| A track that is too quiet next to released music | Yes, it is brought to streaming loudness |
| Muddy low end or a dull top | Partly. Tonal balance is set for the whole track |
| Room echo, hiss, hum | Not really. Use noise reduction or record again |
| Short clipped peaks in the export | Partly. Short peaks can be rebuilt, see the clipping guide |
| One instrument too loud | No. Only the mix can move it |
Prepare the mix before you upload
The export you upload decides how much the master can do. Five checks help:
- Take the limiter off the master bus. Mastering needs the peaks that a limiter would remove. Aim for peaks around −6 to −3 dBFS.
- Export WAV or FLAC at 24 bit, at the sample rate of your project. An MP3 is accepted, but its losses cannot be undone.
- Listen to the export, not the project. Clicks and clipped peaks in the file stay in the master.
- Trim silence and keep the natural fade. Leave a short silence at the start.
- Check the numbers. A true peak above 0 dBTP in the mix file usually means the export is clipping.
As an illustration, take a bounce that the checker shows at +0.4 dBTP. The problem is in the export, not in the loudness, so the fix is to lower the level or remove the limiter and export again before you master. Mastering a clipped bounce only makes the clipping part of the master.
For a home recording, the same logic applies in more detail in mastering home recordings: what it can and can't fix. If you want the master to follow a record you like, reference mastering matches the loudness and tone of a reference track you upload.
Choosing the right service
Use a free online mastering tool when you have a finished mix and want it ready for release. Use a mixing engineer, or work in your DAW, when the balance itself is the problem. If you are not sure which one you need, listen to the export on two sets of speakers. If one part is missing or too loud, the answer is a mix change, and no master will fix it.
FAQ
Can Echoteka mix a song from its stems? No. Echoteka masters a finished stereo file. If you split a song into stems and mix them yourself, master the result. Stem splitting is covered in the stem splitter guide, and the split-stems article in this blog shows how to use it.
Is the free master really free? Yes. You get 1 free master per day per device, and no account is needed. Signing up adds 3 bonus masters. Basic analysis is always free.
What if the checker shows a true peak above 0 dBTP? Re-export the mix with the limiter off the master bus, then master the new file. A master cannot undo clipping that is already in the file.
Master your track free
1 full master every day, no account needed. Upload a WAV or MP3 and get a streaming-ready master with a before/after report.
Master a track free