Here’s how to accurately compare and evaluate mastered recordings. As you’re listening, please follow these guidelines before generating a creative note, or drawing any conclusions.

Volume-match when comparing different masters to each other

In order to avoid volume bias creeping into your notes, make sure you compare different masters while listening at the same apparent volume, before deciding on which sound you prefer.

If you’re comparing two different masters to each other, and one is a little softer than the other, just turn it up a little to match the volume of the louder one, before you generate a note.

Listen on a variety of playback systems, and avoid built-in phone and computer speakers

Check your masters on 3-5 different types of playback systems, mixed between earbuds/headphones and speakers.

You don’t need to go super fancy: a nice, consumer-grade earbud like an AirPod, your home stereo system, and a high-quality set of studio headphones would all work great as your 3-5 different systems, when used in combination.

Before generating a note, check to see that what you’re hearing shows up consistently across all of your different playback systems.

Avoid using phone speakers or built-in computer speakers to generate a note. These tiny speakers can’t reproduce bass frequencies accurately, so any notes generated using them will be inaccurate as well.

The higher the quality of your listening environment and playback systems, the higher the quality your creative notes can be.