To export a mix for mastering, bounce a 24-bit WAV at your project's native sample rate, leave 3 to 6 dB of headroom below 0 dBFS, and take any limiter or loudness plugin off the mix bus. That is the whole checklist. A clean, uncompressed, un-clipped file gives the mastering process room to work - whether that is a human engineer or Sauce Mastering. Get the export wrong and you bake in problems that no master can undo.
What bit depth should you export at?
Export at 24-bit. Do not bounce your mix at 16-bit, and do not reach for 32-bit float unless the receiving system specifically asks for it. Here is why 24-bit is the sweet spot. A 16-bit file gives you about 96 dB of dynamic range, which is fine for a finished master but throws away resolution in the quiet detail that mastering pulls back up. A 24-bit file gives you around 144 dB of range, so the noise floor sits far below anything you will ever hear, and any level adjustments during mastering stay clean.
The bit depth of your export has nothing to do with loudness - it is about resolution. Think of it as how finely the waveform is described. More bits means more room before quantization noise becomes audible. Mastering involves gain changes, EQ and compression that all benefit from that extra headroom in the file itself, so you always hand off the higher-resolution version.
What sample rate should you use?
Export at your project's native sample rate - the rate the session was recorded and mixed at. If you tracked and mixed at 48 kHz, export at 48 kHz. If everything lives at 44.1 kHz, export at 44.1 kHz. Do not convert the sample rate on the way out.
The reason is simple: every sample-rate conversion is a small quality trade, and the mastering stage is the right place to do the final conversion to the delivery format if one is needed. Streaming platforms want 44.1 kHz in the end, but that final conversion is best handled once, at the end of the chain, by a good converter - not smeared across an export you did in a hurry. Hand off the native rate and let mastering decide.
How much headroom should you leave?
Leave 3 to 6 dB of headroom, meaning your loudest peaks should land somewhere around -6 to -3 dBFS on the mix bus, not slammed against 0. This is the single most important number on this page. Mastering needs somewhere to go. If your mix already touches 0 dBFS, there is no room to add level, shape the top end, or glue the track without immediately running into the ceiling.
Do not confuse headroom with quietness. A mix peaking at -4 dBFS is not a quiet mix - it is a mix with breathing room. The overall loudness of your mix does not matter at this stage because mastering sets the final loudness. What matters is that nothing clips and the peaks are not jammed against the top. If you are unclear on the relationship between peak level and perceived loudness, read gain staging and headroom.
Take the limiter off the mix bus
This is where most home mixes go wrong. Producers put a limiter or a loudness maximizer on the master bus to make the mix feel finished while they work, then bounce with it still engaged. That limiter has already crushed your transients and set a loudness ceiling. Mastering can no longer recover the punch it removed.
- Remove any limiter, clipper or maximizer from the mix bus before you export. If you mixed into one, bypass it for the final bounce.
- Bus compression is a judgment call. Gentle glue compression that is genuinely part of your sound can stay, as long as it is not doing heavy loudness work. If it is just there to get loud, take it off.
- Turn off any metering or analysis plugins that could accidentally alter the signal. You want the raw, finished mix.
If you are fuzzy on where the line falls between mixing moves and mastering moves, read mixing vs mastering. The short version: fix balance and tone in the mix, and leave final loudness and polish to the master.
Should you add dither?
No - not when you are exporting a 24-bit file to be mastered. Dither is a tiny amount of shaped noise added only when you reduce bit depth, for example when you finally render a 24-bit master down to a 16-bit file for CD. Since your mastering export stays at 24-bit, there is no bit-depth reduction happening, so dither is unnecessary and just adds noise. Save dither for the very last step of the chain, applied once, by whoever produces the final delivery file.
File format and naming
Use WAV or AIFF - both are lossless and uncompressed. Never bounce an MP3, AAC or other lossy file to be mastered. A lossy file has already thrown away audio data permanently, and mastering a lossy file means stacking a second round of compression artifacts on top. Even if the source sounds fine to you, the master will expose what the codec removed.
- Format: WAV (or AIFF), 24-bit, native sample rate, no compression.
- Length: include a moment of silence at the start and a natural tail at the end so fades and reverb are not clipped.
- Naming: label the file clearly - song title, version, tempo if relevant. It saves confusion when you have five bounces.
Once you have a clean 24-bit WAV with real headroom and no limiter, you are ready. Upload it and let the master set the final loudness and true-peak ceiling. For the numbers to aim for on the other side, browse the full set of mastering guides.
Free download: run the master-prep checklist before you export - headroom, master bus, and export settings in one place. PNG and printable PDF.
Try it on your own track. Upload a mix to Sauce Mastering and hear it mastered for streaming - your first master is free, no plugins, no card.