Mixing vs Mastering

being mixing the art of setting two ore more audio tracks to sound properly together as a whole, coherent stereo track (as you like), mastering is the art of making this final stereo track to sound fine (as the average listener would like)... so easy to explain so hard to do... mastering is quite often meant to fix poor mixes, but sadly you'll never get a good master from a bad mix. running a little backward, you'll never get a good mix from a crap recording as well... ok, help... anyone?? edit: Glennbo was faster to click...

Simply, Mastering is the last step in the process, where your final (or premaster) mix is polished.

I've read a lot of posts where this difference has been made. And always i've asked myself: what does that mean? But it seemed to me as if this was self-evident for everybody who's reading but me +1 for the question.

When you miks, you miks on monitors that you like work with. You also mix in a plase witch not allways is acousticly plane. That's why your mixes are colorised by "how you heard it". Mastering is a process in a acousticly neutral place on a reference monitoring system witch gives to your mix desired long-term frequency response. For example if your target is a punk teenager, he propobly would have a boom-box gear or some kind of cheap MP3 player, so your master should make your mix sound the best on those equipments. It's just one of example. Second is that the best mastering studios has radio audio chain witch gives his own influence, so you have to do a mastering to your mix witch will sound like it should in radio after this influence. Second part of a mastering is a maximisation of loudness, equalizing the spectral, spacial, laudness impression of all mixes on the same CD to the same level, so that the CD is a solid musical product. Sometimes (20 years ago it was a usual case of mastering) the mastering has to inverse, what the tape casette will do to the mix if you want to distribute it on a tape. The same with vinyl discs.

Turd polishing - of course some turds need less polish :D Sorry, couldn't resist

I thought I had an ideal about Mastering until I read Bob Katz book on "The art of Mastering" Wow! Really blew me away. Most of it was WAY over my head. But all very intresting. Bardo

found this interview on another great forum.. I think it sheds some light on the idea of mastering from the pro's standpoint

For a really good example of the mastering process gone completely and totally awry...check out metallica's new cd. oh...my...god...it...hurts...

I guess I would prefer being paid - who am I to argue with the client!

OK, thanks for all the answers and comments. From this thread I was pointed to this which pretty much explains it to me; especially the posting by IIRs. Now I understand more... Mastering is "a technical process, not a creative one", as mentioned by eduardo_b in the KVR-thread.