I always begin by listening to the music and asking myself, “What’s special about this piece?” and “How can mastering highlight its best features?”

After careful listening to your music and the references you share with me, I shape the music with some of the best mastering hardware in the business.

Even though plugins have come a long way, analogue hardware imparts a richness and depth that algorithms simply can’t replicate yet. My mastering chain weighs more than fifty pounds—that’s a lot of tubes, transformers, and circuitry. They work together to create magic.

My chain begins with Lynx Aurora (n) converters, which are famous for pristine, transparent conversion.

Next comes the Neve Master Bus Transformer—one of the last works of genius that Rupert Neve helped design. Its Super Silk circuit creates harmonics that add top-end sheen and low-end weight. It also excels at widening the stereo image.

Then, the signal hits the Manley Massive Passive EQ. This monster of tubes and transformers makes a track sound better just by turning it on. From there, subtle adjustments are usually enough to balance a track. But this EQ can be cranked beyond the pale of sanity without stirring up harshness or artifacts.

Finally, the music reaches the Manley Variable Mu. There’s a reason why this unit can be found in most high-end mixing and mastering studios. It’s simply a magic box. Its gentle, warm compression soothes harshness, brings out subtle details, and adds punch and snap to transients. Manley estimates that the majority of professionally mastered music worldwide has passed through a Variable Mu.

After hardware has done the heavy lifting, I use a handful of premium plugins to finish the process.