Hello, I have a question in regards to exporting the final master file for streaming services.
So, I have finished mastering inside Cubase Pro 11,
and if there are any engineers out there exporting their final masters straight from Cubase like my case, could you give me some advice on exporting different formats?
- So my project has been at 96 kHz / 32 bit (float)
- On my signal chain, I have inserted a few, experimented with it, and finally reached the loudness and color of my taste.
So, for distribution, I am planning on exporting it in various rates and formats.
(FLAC 4416, FLAT 4824, FLAC 9624, MP3 320k, WAV 4416, WAV 4824, WAV 9624)
Um, here are my 2 big questions I am uncertain about:
-
With Waves L2, and Fabfilter Pro-L2, there are ‘dithering’ option, do I only apply on ‘one’ of them? or only at last of the mastering chain? or just one of them in whichever order?
(*also do I ‘only’ apply dithering option if the rate is different from project sample rate…? this here I gest confused the most) -
So, I have set True Peak limit to 0 dBFS on Fabfilter Pro-L2 and I am willing to compromise some inter-sample peaks… (Here what I mean by compromising is that, the inside Cubase master sound slight harmonic distortion that I am willing to compromise but! my worry is that, at the stage of conversion to lower sample rates and lower formats, would it cause unpredictable harsh digital distortion…?)
if I like the end-result sound, is it ok to keep my true peak limit as just 0 dBFS or you hardly discourage it and keep it down to at least -0.1 dBFS…? -
In regards to exporting different formats, since my project was at 96 / 32, is it better to use other tool or Cubase exporting option is totally good enough…?
Hope I made myself clear but I am really trying to learn the best about ‘dithering’ and exporting right to avoid any lossy file unwanted distortion 
Thanks in advance.