The test mix is one section of your song — a verse, a hook, or about eight bars — mixed for $50 and returned within 48 hours. It exists so you can hear how we treat your vocals, your low end and your arrangement before committing to a full project. It is not a separate service tier: order a full mix or master within 30 days and the $50 is applied as a discount code at checkout.
What the full service includes
- First full mix in 3–5 business days; release-ready delivery in 7 business days — dates given at booking and held.
- Unlimited revisions inside the agreed direction; revision scope confirmed with your quote.
- Every mix checked in four playback environments (car, headphones, phone speaker, low volume), left for a day, then re-heard.
- Scope, quote and schedule in writing before work starts. If the first mix is off: we revise it — or you cancel and get a full refund.
Pricing
Single mix $150 · mix + master $195 · EP $399 · album $1,170/$1,350 · monthly subscription $299/month.
Quick answers
What is the $50 test mix?
The test mix is one section of your song — a verse, a hook, or about eight bars — mixed for $50 and returned within 48 hours. Order a full mix or master within 30 days and the $50 is applied as a discount code at checkout. It is not a separate service tier.
Do you offer revisions? How many?
Unlimited rounds inside the agreed direction. The revision scope is confirmed with your quote; collecting notes into one clear set (with timestamps) makes rounds faster.
What if I don’t like the first mix?
If the first mix is off, we revise it — or you cancel and get a full refund. Nothing ships until you approve the first full mix.
What a test mix actually tells you
A test mix is a small purchase that answers a large question: does this engineer's taste line up with yours? That is worth knowing before a full project, and it is also a narrow question. Being clear about what a short section can and cannot show you makes the decision easier.
What it shows
- Tonal direction. Whether the vocal sits forward or back, how bright the top end is, how much weight the low end carries.
- Low-end philosophy. Whether the engineer treats an 808 or a kick as the anchor, and how much of the low end they are willing to give away for clarity.
- Vocal treatment. How much compression, saturation and effects are applied, and whether the result still sounds like your voice.
- Communication style. How notes are handled and how clearly the process is explained. On a remote project this matters as much as the mix.
What it does not show
A single section cannot demonstrate how an engineer handles the transitions between sections, how a whole record holds together dynamically, or what happens when the arrangement needs rebalancing across eight tracks. Those only appear on a complete song. A test mix is a check on direction, not a preview of the finished record.
It also cannot tell you much about the revision process, which is where most projects are actually won or lost. That part is better judged by the written revision terms than by the test itself.
Human mix engineer vs automated mixing tools
Automated mixing and mastering services have become a real option, and they are a reasonable choice for some jobs. Where they fit, and where they do not, is worth understanding before deciding how to spend money on a record.
Where automated tools genuinely work
- Plain loudness and level matching. Getting a mix to a competitive average level is a well-defined problem, and automated tools handle it consistently.
- Broad spectral balance. Matching overall tonal shape against a large body of reference material is something these tools do well.
- Speed and cost. For a demo, a scratch reference or a rough idea you want to hear louder, an automated pass can be enough.
- Format delivery. Generating a consistent set of output files is now largely automatic in both approaches.
Where the difference shows up
The difference is less about processing quality than about judgement in situations where the correct answer is not the average one.
Arrangement problems. If a record has a frequency collision caused by how the parts were written, the fix is a decision about which element should win — sometimes involving re-arranging or re-recording. Automated processing balances what it receives; it does not question it.
Unusual material. A voice with an unusual formant balance, a non-standard 808, a deliberate lo-fi texture: these are cases where matching a statistical average works against the record.
Vocal presence as a creative choice. How far forward a vocal should sit is a taste decision that varies by record and by artist. Tools optimise toward a norm; an engineer asks what this song needs.
Revision against intent. "The vocal is too aggressive" or "the low end lost the warmth it had" are notes that require understanding what the artist heard. This is the point at which a human process earns its cost.
Accountability. A person can explain a decision, take a note and change their mind. That is the substance of what a service agreement is buying.
How to decide
The practical test is whether the record has problems that are already solved by the material itself. If the arrangement is strong, the recording is clean and the low end is already coherent, an automated pass may well be enough. If the record has collisions, an arrangement that needs rebalancing, or a vocal whose place in the mix is a real decision, the work that needs doing is judgement — and that is what an engineer is for.
How to compare options before you commit
Most affordable mixing services look similar on a pricing page. The differences that matter are visible before you buy, if you know what to ask for.
Five things worth checking
- Hear a mix of a song like yours. A published example on a different genre tells you less than you think. Ask for a record with a similar vocal density and a similar low end.
- Ask what the revision terms are, in writing. Generous-sounding revision promises mean different things in different places. The useful question is what happens when the direction itself changes.
- Check whether the low end is treated as a decision or a preset. Ask how 808 and kick are handled. The answer tells you whether there is a method behind the price.
- Confirm what happens if the first mix is not right. A clear answer here is a signal about how the whole project will run.
- Look at turnaround dates, not estimates. A stated date that is held is worth more than a fast estimate that moves.
What the numbers usually mean
Below a certain price level, the work is either automated, delivered without a revision process, or priced on volume. None of those is automatically wrong — it depends on what the record needs. What is worth avoiding is paying an automated price and expecting a judgement-driven result, or the reverse: paying for revisions you did not need.
Wondering what a full mix costs after the test? The price breakdown covers it, and mixing vs mastering explains which step you need.
Related: how long a mix takes, our unlimited revisions policy.
Hear published work on the portfolio page, or start with the $50 test mix. Direct contact: WhatsApp · email.
Ready to start the $50 test mix? Send one section of the song plus the reference through the contact form — one section is all the test mix needs. See what a full mix costs after that.