How to know when your mix is done

No meter tells you a mix is finished. Producers often stop for one of two reasons: they run out of time, or they start going in circles. Neither tells you whether the mix works.

A more useful test: a mix is done when the important parts are clear, it holds up on different systems, and the changes you're making now are too small for a listener to notice. This guide gives you a checklist for that, a way to stop, and a way to get an outside opinion.

Done doesn't mean perfect

Finished tracks usually have things their producers would still change. Finished means the track does its job, not that nothing could be better. If you wait until it feels perfect, you can keep tweaking forever.

So don't ask whether it's perfect. Ask whether a listener would notice if you kept going.

Signs you're tweaking, not improving

• You undo today what you did yesterday.
• You can't pick out your last few changes in a blind A/B.
• You're polishing a part in solo that nobody will notice in the full mix.
• You keep adding plugins to fix something a different sound would fix.
• You're on version 14 and can't say how it differs from version 12.

These usually mean your ears are tired or too used to the track. The guide on ear fatigue covers what to do about that.

The checklist

Go through this after a break, at a moderate volume, on the system you know best.

Balance

• The part the track depends on most (the kick, the vocal, the lead) is clear at low and at moderate volume.
• No part disappears or jumps out from one section to the next.

Low end

• The kick and bass each have their own space and don't blur together.
• The low end stays steady between sections. It isn't huge in one and thin in the next.
• It holds up in mono. Ableton's manual notes that low frequencies can change color when they're played back in mono, which is why many producers keep the bass centered.

Top end

• Nothing sounds harsh at a moderate volume. Your ears are most sensitive between about 2,000 and 5,000 Hz (HyperPhysics), so check hats, claps and the "s" sounds in vocals.

Arrangement

• Play it start to finish without stopping. Note where your attention drifts. Transitions should land, and no section should drag.

Headroom and loudness

• Nothing on the mix bus clips.
• If someone else is mastering, leave the loudness to them.
• If you master it yourself, Spotify recommends -14 LUFS integrated with true peaks below -1 dB, or below -2 dB if your master is louder than -14 LUFS. The Spotify app turns louder masters down, so going louder doesn't make your track louder there. Any meter that follows ITU-R BS.1770 can read both values.

Translation

• Listen on at least three systems: your main speakers or headphones, earbuds, and a phone or a car.
• Nothing important disappears on any of them, and nothing turns harsh on any of them.

Reference

• Next to a released track in the same style, at the same loudness, nothing in your mix sticks out as clearly wrong.
• Match the loudness first. At higher levels your ears hear more of the lows and highs (HyperPhysics), so the louder track will sound fuller even if it isn't better.

Set a stopping rule

Decide how you'll stop before you start the last round.

• List what's left. Write down the specific problems you still hear. Fix them. When the list is empty, bounce.
• Limit the rounds. Give yourself a set number of revisions, or a date.
• Compare versions fairly. Bounce each version, match their loudness, and listen without looking at which is which. If you can't reliably tell the new one from the old one, stop.

A rule you set while you're calm is easier to follow than a decision you make while you're tired and attached to the track.

If you're sending it to mastering

Done for a mix isn't the same as done for a master. A mastering engineer needs a balanced mix with room to work. Leave the limiter off your mix bus unless they ask for one, and ask what file format and level they want before you bounce.

Get one outside opinion

By the time you're asking if a mix is done, you've heard it more than anyone else ever will. One fresh listener can tell you what you've stopped hearing.

Make it easy for them to help:

• Ask specific questions. "Where did you lose interest?" works better than "what do you think?"
• Ask for timestamps, not general impressions.
• Tell them what you already plan to fix, so they spend their notes on things you can't hear.

If you want a first pass before you send it to anyone, Slapback gives you notes, not a score. Engineering Feedback measures your mix against a released electronic track and sorts what it finds into critical, important, minor and praise, with a summary of what to work on next. Your collaborators can then comment on the same timeline.

The short version

• Run the checklist after a break.
• Compare against a reference at the same loudness.
• Set a stopping rule before the last round.
• Get one outside opinion, with timestamps.
• When the list of problems is empty, bounce it and start the next track.