What is the difference between mixing and mastering?

What is the difference between mixing and mastering?

Mixing balances the individual parts of a recording. Mastering works on the completed mix to prepare its overall tone and level. If a vocal is too loud compared with the drums, adjusting that relationship in the mix is usually more effective than treating the entire stereo file.

Try this workflow

1. Listen for balance problems before processing the full mix.
2. Use the original tracks or estimated stems for group-level adjustments.
3. Apply Basic Mastering only after the musical balance works.

What to check before you finish

SurStudio's mastering tool applies basic EQ, compression and peak normalization. It does not replace detailed mix decisions or guarantee delivery specifications. A stronger preset cannot reliably fix every problem in a recording.

A practical example

If a guitar masks the voice, adjust their relationship in the mix or available stems before mastering. Raising the master brightness boosts both sources in that region and can make the conflict worse. Once the vocal balance works, apply modest full-mix processing and compare the result rather than trying to solve every source problem at the final stage.

More questions

Can mastering remove a bad instrument part?

Not reliably. A full-mix processor affects the combined audio; repair or replace the part earlier when possible.

Should I master each individual stem first?

Usually start with the musical balance. Processing every part aggressively can make the combined result harder to control and reduce useful headroom.