Can you master in FL Studio?
Yes, and Image-Line’s own manual says where to start: mastering “primarily uses equalization, multi-band compression and or limiting on the Master mix”, the Master mixer track. It also gives the advice most people learn the hard way: “It’s not a good idea to both mix and master at the same time.”
So finish the mix first. A master works on the whole song at once and can only move all of it together; if the vocal is too quiet or the bass too boomy, that is a mix fix. Mixing vs mastering explains where the line falls.
The chain on the Master mixer track
In this order, each one doing a little:
- EQ, gently. Fruity Parametric EQ 2: a small cut where the mix is crowded, a small lift where it is dull. If you need more than a few decibels, go back to the mix.
- Multiband compression, lightly. Fruity Multiband Compressor, for which the manual recommends the FIR mode in mastering. A couple of decibels of gain reduction on the loudest parts holds the song together; it is not where the loudness comes from.
- A limiter last. The manual suggests Fruity Limiter in the last FX slot of the Master track, or, in Producer Edition and up, Maximus, which it recommends as the last effect on the Master track for a final master. Set the ceiling below 0 dB, so the peaks that encoding rebuilds stay clear of full scale, and raise the gain until the song is as loud as you want and no further. Emphasis, included with the All Plugins Edition or sold separately, adds true peak limiting.
Soundgoodizer, which Image-Line describes as free and based on Maximus, gives you loudness from one knob. It is quick, and it makes the decisions the chain above lets you make yourself.
Measure the loudness
Image-Line warns that peak meters are deceiving as a guide to loudness. Wave Candy has an ITU-R BS.1770 metering mode that averages over a few seconds; for the integrated figure of the whole song, Emphasis shows one while it plays.
Or export first and measure the file itself, which is what ships: our free LUFS and true peak meter reads both in your browser without uploading it. Compare it against a released song you like at the same loudness; how to use a reference track explains how.
Export it
- WAV, from the File menu’s export option, with the mode set to the whole Song rather than the current Pattern.
- 24-bit integer or 32-bit float for the file you keep. The manual says dither belongs once, on a final 16-bit render, if at all.
- Enable master effects on, so the chain on your Master track is in the file.
- The tail left as it is. The default, Leave remainder, keeps the reverb and delay that ring past the last bar.
FL Studio’s own AI mastering
FL Studio also has automatic mastering built in, through FL Cloud: Image-Line describes it as mastering “right inside FL Studio”, with genre presets and customization, as part of its paid Plus and Pro plans, free for 30 days.
Or hand the mix to a mastering service
To have someone else’s ears on it, export the mix instead of the master: the same WAV settings, with Enable master effects off, or with the limiter and anything else you added for loudness bypassed, so the master has room to work.
Euphona’s mastering takes that file and delivers it under a true peak ceiling. Without a reference it changes your mix’s tonal balance only where it falls outside the range finished records occupy, and it can play the master at the streaming standard beside its default level, at matched loudness, so you choose by ear.
Questions
How loud should the mix be before mastering?
There is no single number. What matters is that nothing clips and no limiter is doing the work yet. Image-Line’s manual points out that recorded sounds can peak at −12 dB or less “and there is nothing wrong with that”: the master sets the final level.
What loudness should I aim for?
Streaming services turn loud songs down to their own playback level, so loudness past that point buys nothing for most listeners. LUFS for Spotify explains how one service does it.
Can I master in FL Studio Mobile?
The same order applies: EQ, compression, a limiter last, then measure. FL Studio Mobile’s Analyzer reads loudness over 0.4 and 3 seconds, true peak, and an integrated average of whatever played while it was measuring, so play the whole song through before you trust it.
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