What’s the Difference Between Mixing and Mastering — and Why Both Matter

Christos Tsantilis
Nov 4
3 min read

Updated: Nov 5

by Christos “Stos” Tsantilis | MixByStos.com

What’s the Difference Between Mixing and Mastering — and Why Both Matter?

What’s the Difference Between Mixing and Mastering — and Why Both Matter?

By Christos “Stos” Tsantilis | MixByStos.com

In my professional opinion, mixing and mastering are two of the most critical stages in creating a finished record that can compete with today’s top releases. Both steps serve unique purposes — and each has its own technical and emotional responsibilities.

The Art of Mixing

Mixing begins once the production is complete — when all instruments, vocals, and sounds have been recorded and arranged.

At this point, the mix engineer’s job is to make everything sound cohesive and musical. A professional tracking engineer will already be thinking about the mix during recording — utilizing a clean, professional tracking chain, organizing the DAW session, labeling tracks, and ensuring every sound is captured cleanly.

Once it’s time to mix, the mix engineer either opens the same session or imports the stems into their preferred DAW.

The goal of mixing is to:

Clean and enhance individual tracks
Balance frequencies, dynamics, and spatial depth
Create a sonic “soundstage” that feels natural and emotionally connected

Using tools like EQ, compression, gating, reverb, delay, and FX, the engineer sculpts each sound so it works harmoniously with the rest of the production.

Throughout this process, playback translation is checked across multiple systems — from high-end monitors to consumer earbuds — ensuring the song feels consistent everywhere.

A great mix engineer also listens critically against other top songs in the same genre, not to copy the tone or loudness exactly, but to ensure the mix holds up sonically when played back-to-back.

Perhaps most importantly, mixing is about emotional flow. Subtle automation and tone changes make verses more intimate, hooks more explosive, and transitions more dynamic — giving the mix a sense of life and movement.

Once the mix is finalized, the engineer will create several versions: Main mix, instrumental, a cappella, TV track, 15-, 30-, and 60-second sync versions, and stems or Dolby Atmos files if required.

Learn more about my Mixing & Mastering Services.

The Precision of Mastering

After mixing comes mastering, the final stage before release.

This is where another professional takes the finished stereo mix and brings it to commercial loudness, tonal balance, and technical compliance.

The mastering engineer’s job is to:

Perform the final quality-control listen
Adjust LUFS, RMS, and peak levels
Ensure tonal consistency across an album
Prepare songs for all major streaming platforms

Each streaming service (Spotify, Apple Music, Tidal, etc.) has its own loudness and file-format requirements.

A proper mastering process ensures your track translates perfectly once these platforms transcode it. If the master isn’t done correctly, the result after conversion can be unexpectedly dull, harsh, or unbalanced.

Mastering also includes embedding critical metadata such as:

Artist name
Song title
Label and publishing details
ISRC and product codes
Song length

Why Mixing and Mastering Should Be Separate

While some independent artists ask one person to handle both, it’s always ideal to have two different specialists.

A fresh set of ears in mastering brings objectivity and balance — revealing details the mix engineer may have become accustomed to.

That said, many engineers (myself included) occasionally handle both for smaller projects or tight budgets. However, when possible, separating the two roles always yields the most professional and competitive results.

Final Thoughts

Mixing and mastering aren’t just technical stages — they’re creative extensions of the artist’s vision.

Each requires precision, taste, and years of experience to deliver a song that not only sounds incredible but also meets modern commercial standards.

In today’s competitive industry, the difference between a good track and a great one often lies in how well it’s mixed and mastered.

Ready to Elevate Your Next Project?

Visit MixByStos.com to book a session or studio consultation today.

👤 About the Author

Christos “Stos” Tsantilis is a Grammy-nominated engineer, mixing/mastering specialist, and Dolby Atmos studio designer with over 20 million records sold and multiple RIAA Gold and Platinum awards.

He is the founder of MixByStos — a Brooklyn-based studio specializing in mixing, mastering, and acoustic consulting for major labels, artists, and networks worldwide.