ABSTRACT
In general, mastering is the process of preparing a final mix for manufacturing. It is the last chance to add that final sheen to polish the sound. Typically, it is done on a stereo mixdown file and not a multi-track mix. At the mastering stage you add overall equalization, compression or other sonic enhancements to smooth out the sound. If the target media is CD, mastering ends with a final dither and resample to 16-bit/44.1kHz (CD sampling rate).
