Mastering engineers apply objective technical skills but aesthetic outcomes vary — choose one whose taste aligns with yours

Objekt notes that giving the same premaster to three different mastering engineers produces three drastically different results, none of which is objectively right or wrong. The mastering process applies technical tools (limiting, EQ, dynamics) but the aesthetic decisions within those tools are highly subjective. For the producer, this means two things: (1) clearly communicate what you want; (2) choose a mastering engineer whose previous work you respect, because their taste will shape your master as much as their technique. For mixing, the scope of creative change is even greater — a mixdown can recontextualize a whole track.

Examples

Listening to three different masters of the same track and noticing how differences in loudness ceiling, low-end balance, and stereo width each create a different emotional impression, despite all being technically valid.

Assessment

Why can three competent mastering engineers produce three valid but different masters of the same track? What should a producer communicate to a mastering engineer before the session?