Mastering is the process of preparing a finished mix for distribution. It is the last creative step before your music reaches listeners, and it involves setting appropriate loudness, refining the final frequency balance, and ensuring the track translates across playback environments.
This post covers the fundamentals. You do not need to become a mastering engineer — but understanding the basics means your releases sound intentional rather than amateur.
What Mastering Is (and Is Not)
Mastering does not fix a bad mix. A poorly balanced mix that is mastered will be a loud, poorly balanced mix. Mastering enhances and finalises what is already there.
What mastering actually does:
• Sets the final loudness level appropriate for streaming or other formats
• Makes minor EQ adjustments for tonal balance and translation
• Applies gentle compression for cohesion
• Adds limiting to prevent clipping and achieve commercial loudness
• Checks stereo width and mono compatibility
FL Studio's Mastering Window
Go to File > Mastering to open FL Studio's dedicated Mastering window. This is where the built-in AI mastering lives.
In the Mastering window, you can:
• Set a target LUFS (loudness) level
• Adjust the master EQ
• Preview the mastered output in real time (as of FL Studio 2025, the preview updates live as you change parameters)
• Compare before/after
The Mastering window is a usable tool for independent releases, especially on the FL Cloud plan which unlocks more advanced options.
LUFS: What Target Level Do You Need?
LUFS (Loudness Units Full Scale) is the standard measurement for loudness in streaming. Different platforms normalise playback to different levels:
Platform: Spotify; Playback Target: -14 LUFS
Platform: Apple Music; Playback Target: -16 LUFS
Platform: YouTube; Playback Target: -14 LUFS
Platform: Tidal; Playback Target: -14 LUFS
Platform: SoundCloud; Playback Target: No normalisation
Most mastering engineers target -14 LUFS as a general streaming target. If your track sits louder (say -10 LUFS), Spotify will turn it down during playback anyway, and you have just used a lot of compression unnecessarily.
For club music where loudness is part of the aesthetic, some producers target -8 to -10 LUFS, accepting that platforms will normalise it down. The subjective punch is still present.
A Basic Manual Mastering Chain
If you prefer manual control over the AI tool, here is a starter chain for the Master track:
1. Parametric EQ 2: Gentle high-pass at 20–30 Hz (removes subsonic content), slight high-shelf boost (+0.5 to +1 dB above 12 kHz for air), any narrow cuts for resonant issues
2. Maximus or Fruity Limiter: Compression on low/mid/high bands, then limiting with ceiling at -0.3 dBFS
3. Stereo Shaper: Very minor mid-side width adjustments if needed
Less is more at the mastering stage. Major changes indicate a mix problem, not a mastering opportunity.
Emphasis and Emphasizer
The Emphasis plugin (All Plugins Edition) and Emphasizer (all editions, from FL Studio 2025.2) are Image-Line's purpose-built mastering compression tools. They are designed to add loudness while maintaining transparency — less pumping and distortion than general-purpose compressors at mastering levels.
If you have either available, place one before the final limiter in your master chain and apply gentle gain reduction (no more than 3–4 dB of reduction).
Before and After Comparison
The simplest mastering check: use the Mixing window's bypass toggle, or temporarily set the master chain to bypass. A/B between the processed and unprocessed version. The mastered version should sound:
• Louder (obviously)
• Slightly fuller and more cohesive
• Marginally brighter
If it sounds significantly different in EQ, more processed than the original, or obviously compressed, your master chain is doing too much.
Using AI Mastering on FL Cloud
If you use FL Cloud, the AI mastering option in the Mastering window applies a full mastering chain automatically, targeting your chosen LUFS level. This is a genuinely useful tool for quick reference masters and for releases where you want a baseline quality without manual work.
Use the AI master as a starting point, listen critically, and adjust manually if something sounds off. It is not a replacement for good ears — but it is a faster starting point than building a mastering chain from scratch every time.
Get Owsey's free FL Studio Starter Kit
Free FL Studio resources to use alongside Zeverb tutorials.
GET THE STARTER KIT · More about the free FL Studio starter kit