Mastering for Spotify, YouTube, Tidal, Amazon Music, Apple Music and other Streaming Services

Estimated reading time: 14 minutes

Mastering for Spotify, YouTube, Tidal, Amazon Music, Apple Music and other Streaming Services


Does audio streaming platforms also require a special master?

Introduction

Streaming platforms (Spotify, Apple, Tidal, Amazon, Youtube, Deezer etc.) are hot topics in the audio community. Especially since these online services suggest concrete guidelines for the ideal loudness of tracks. To what extent should you follow these guidelines when mastering and what do you have to consider when interacting with audio streaming services? To find the answer, we have to take a little trip back in time.

Do you remember the good old cassette recorder? In the 80s, people used it to make their own mixtapes. Songs of different artists gathered on a tape, which we pushed into a tape deck of our car with a Cherry Coke in the other hand in order to show up with suitable sound before hitting at the next ice cream dealer in the city center. The mixtapes offered a consistently pleasant listening experience, at least as far as the volume of the individual tracks was concerned. When we created mixtapes, the recording level was simply adjusted by our hand, so that differently loud records were more or less consciously normalized by hand. 

Back to the Streaming Future. Time leap: Year 2021.

Music fans like us still enjoying mixtapes, except that today we call them playlists and they are part of various streaming services such as Apple Music, Amazon Music, Spotify, YouTube, Deezer or Tidal. In their early years, these streaming services quickly discovered that without a regulating hand on the volume fader, their playlists required constant readjustment by the users due to the varying loudness of individual tracks.

So they looked for a digital counterpart to the analog record level knob and found it in an automated normalization algorithm that processes every uploaded song according to predefined guidelines. The streaming service Spotify for example, specifies the number -14 dB LUFS as an ideal loudness value. This means if our song is louder than -14 dB LUFS, it will be automatically reduced in volume by the streaming algorithm so that playlists have a more consistent average loudness. Sounds like a good idea at first glance, right?

Why LUFS?

The problem with different volume levels was not just limited to the music area. In the broadcasting area, the problem was also widespread. The difference in volume between a television movie and the commercial interruption it contains sometimes took on such bizarre proportions that the European Broadcast Union felt forced to issue a regulation on loudness. This was the birth of the EBU R128 specification, which was initially implemented in Germany in 2012. With this regulation, a new unit of measurement was introduced, the LUFS (Loudness Units relative to Full Scale).

Whereby 1 x LU (Loudness Units) equals the relative value of 1 dB and at the same time, a new upper limit for digital audio was defined. A digital peak level of -1 dB TP (True Peak) should not be exceeded according to EBU speecification. This is the reason why Spotify and Co provide a True Peak limit of -1 dBFS for music files. 

Tip: I recommend to keep this limit. Especially if we do not adhere to the loudness specification of -14 dB LUFS. At higher levels, the normalization algorithm will definitely intervene in a moderating way. Spotify refers to the following in this context: If we do not keep -1 dB TP as limiter upper limit (ceiling), sound artifacts may occur due to the normalization process.

This value is not carved in stone, as you will see later. Loudness units offer a special advantage to the mastering engineer. Simply spoken, we should be able to use LUFS to quantify how “loud” a song is and thereby compare different songs in terms of loudness. More on this later.

Mastering for Spotify, Youtube, Tidal, Amazon Music, Apple Music and other Streaming Services | T-Racks Stealth Limiter

How can we see if our mix is normalized by a streaming service?

The bad news is that some streaming services have quite different guidelines. Therefore, you basically have to search for the specifications of each individual service if you want to follow their guidelines. This can be quite a hassle, as there are more than fifty streaming and broadcasting platforms worldwide. As an example, here are the guidelines of some services in regards to ideal LUFS values:

-11 LUFS Spotify Loud

-14 LUFS Amazon Alexa, Spotify Normal, Tidal, YouTube

-15 LUFS Deezer

-16 LUFS Apple, AES Streaming Service Recommendations

-18 LUFS Sony Entertainment

-23 LUFS EU R128 Broadcast

-24 LUFS US TV ATSC A/85 Broadcast

-27 LUFS Netflix

The good news is that there are various ways to compare your mix with the specifications of the most important streaming services at a glance. How much your specific track will be manipulated by the respective streaming service? You can check this on the following website: www.loudnesspenalty.com

Mastering for Spotify, Youtube, Tidal, Amazon Music, Apple Music and other Streaming Services | Loudness Penalty

Some DAWs, such as the latest version of Cubase Pro also feature comprehensive LUFS metering. Alternatively, the industry offers various plug-ins that provide information about the LUFS loudness of a track. One suitable candidate is YOULEAN Loudness Meter 2, which is also available in a free version: https://youlean.co/youlean-loudness-meter/.

Another LUFS metering alternative is the Waves WLM Plus Loudness Meter, which is already fed with a wide range of customized presets for the most important platforms. 

Waves Loudness Meter

Metering

Using the Waves Meter as an example, we will briefly go into the most important LUFS meters, because LUFS metering involves a lot more than just a naked dB number in front of the unit. When we’re talking about LUFS, it should be clear what this exactly means. LUFS data is determined over a period of time and depending on the length of the time span and this can lead to different results. The most important value is the LUFS Long Term Display.

This is determined over the entire duration of a track and therefore represents an average value. To get an exact Long Term value we have to play the song once from the beginning to the end. Other LUFS meters (e.g. in Cubase Pro) like to refer to the Long Term value as LUFS Integrated. LUFS Long Term or Integrated is the value that is prefixed in the streaming platform’s specifications. For “Spotify Normal” this means that if a track has a loudness of -12LUFS Integrated, the Spotify algorithm will lower this track by two dB to -14LUFS. 

LUFS Short Term

The Waves WLN Plus plugin offers other LUFS indicators for evaluation, such as LUFS Short Term. LUFS Short Term is determined over a period of three seconds when the plugin measures according to EBU standards. This is an important point, because depending on the ballistics, the measurement distances are different in time and can therefore lead to different results. A special feature of the Waves WLM Plus plugin is the built-in True Peak Limiter. Many streaming platforms insist on a true peak limit of -1dB (some even -2dB). If you use the WLM Plus Meter as the last plugin in the chain of your mastering software, the True Peak limit is guaranteed not to be exceeded when the limiter is activated.

Is the “Loudness War” finally over thanks to LUFS?  

As we already learned, all streaming platforms define maximum values. If our master exceeds these specifications, it will automatically made quieter. The supposedly logical conclusion: we no longer need loud masters. At least this is true for those who adhere to the specifications of the streaming platforms. Now, parts of the music industry have always been considered a place away from all reason, where things like to run differently than logic dictates. The “LUFS dictate” is a suitable example of this. 

Fact is: Most professional mastering engineers don’t care about LUFS in practice nor about the specifications of the streaming services! 

Weird stuff, I know. However, the facts are clear and the thesis can be proven with simple methods. We remember that YouTube, just like Spotify, specifies a loudness of -14dB LUFS and automatically plays louder tracks at a lower volume. So all professional mixes should take this into account, right? It’s nice that this can be checked without much effort. Open a recent music video on YouTube, right-click on the video and click on ” Stats for nerds”. The entry “content loudness” indicates by how much dB the audio track is lowered by the YouTube algorithm. Now things become interesting. For the current AC/DC single “Shot in the Dark” this is 5.9dB. Billy Talent’s “I Beg To Differ” is even lowered by 8.6dB. 

Amazing, isn’t it?  

Obviously, hardly anyone seems to adhere to the specifications of the streaming platforms. Why is that? 

There are several reasons. The loudness specifications differ from streaming platform to streaming platform. If you take these specifications seriously, you would have to create a separate master for each platform. This would result in a whole series of different sounding tracks, for the following reason. Mastering equipment (whether analog or digital) does not work linearly across the entire dynamic spectrum. 

Example:

The sound of the mix/master changes if you have to squeeze 3dB more gain reduction out of the limiter for one song than for another streaming platform. If you finally normalize all master files to an identical average value, the sound differences become audible due to the different dynamics processing. The differences are sometimes bigger and sometimes smaller. Depending on which processing you have done. 

Another reason for questioning the loudness specifications is the inconsistency of the streaming platforms. Take Spotify, for example. Do you know that Spotify’s normalization algorithm is not enabled when playing Spotifys via web player or a third party app? From the Spotify FAQs:

Spotify for Artists FAQ
The Metal Mix

This means that if you deliver a metal mix with -14dB LUFS and it is played back via Spotify in a third-party app, the mix is simply too weak compared to other productions. And there are other imponderables in the streaming universe. Spotify allows its premium users to choose from three different normalization settings, with standards that also differ. For example, the platform recommends a default of -11dB LUFS and a True Peak value of -2dB TP for the “Spotify Loud” setting, while “Spotify Normal” is certified at -14dB LUFS and -1dB TP. Also from the Spotify FAQs:

FAQ2

For mastering engineers, this is a questionable state of affairs. Mastering for streaming platforms is like trying to hit a constantly changing target at varying distances with a precision rifle. Even more serious, however, is the following consideration: What happens if one or more streaming platforms raise, lower, or even eliminate their loudness thresholds in the future? There is no guarantee that the specifications currently in place will still be valid in the future. Unlikely? Not at all! YouTube introduced its normalization algorithm in December 2015. Uploads prior to December 2015 may sound louder if they were mastered louder than -14dB LUFS. Even after 2015, YouTube’s default has not remained constant. From 2016 to 2019, the typical YouTube normalization was -13dB and did not refer to LUFS. Only since 2019 YouTube has been using the -14dB LUFS by default. 

The reason why loudness is not exclusively manifested in numbers

If you look at the loudness statistics of some YouTube videos and listen to them very carefully at the same time, you might have made an unusual observation. Some videos sound louder even though their loudness statistics indicate that they are nominally quieter than other videos. How can this be? There is a difference between measured loudness in LUFS and perceived loudness. Indeed, it is the latter that determines how loud we perceive a song to be, not the LUFS specification. But how do you create such a lasting loudness impression?

Many elements have to work together for us to perceive a song as loud (perceived loudness). Stereo width, tonal balance, song arrangement, saturation, dynamics manipulation – just to name a few pieces of the puzzle. The song must also be well composed and performed. The recording must be top-notch and the mix professional. The icing on the cake is a first-class master. If all these things come together, the song is denser, more forward and, despite moderate mastering limiter use, simply sounds louder than a mediocre song with less good mix & mastering, even if the LUFS integrated specifications suggest a different result. An essential aspect of a mastering process is professional dynamics management. Dynamics are an integral part of the arrangement and mix from the beginning.

In mastering, we want to try to further emphasize dynamics while not destroying them. Because one thing is always inherent in the mastering process: a limitation of dynamics. How well this manipulation of dynamics is done is what separates good mastering from bad mastering and a good mix with a professional master always sounds fatter and louder than a bad mix with a master that is only trimmed for loudness.

Choose your tools wisely!

High quality equalizers and compressors like the combination of the elysia xfilter and the elysia xpressor provide a perfect basis for a more assertive mix and a convincing master. Quality compression preserves the naturalness of the transients, which automatically makes the mix appear louder. You miss the punch and pressure in your song? High-quality analog compressors always guarantee impressive results and are more beneficial to the sound of a track than relying solely on digital peak limiting.

You are loosing audible details in the mixing and mastering stage? Bring them back into light with the elysia museq! The number of playback devices has grown exponentially in recent years. This doesn’t exactly make the art of mastering easier.

Besides the classic hi-fi system, laptops, smart phones, Bluetooth speakers and all kinds of headphones are fighting for the listener’s attention in everyday life. Good analog EQs and compressors can help to adjust the tonal focus for these devices as well. Analog processing also preserves the natural dynamics of a track much better than endless plug-in rows, which often turn out to be a workflow brake. But “analog” can provide even more for your mixing & mastering project. Analog saturation is an additional way to increase the perceived loudness of a mix and to noticeably improve audibility, especially on small monitoring systems like a laptop or a Bluetooth speaker.

Saturation and Coloration

The elysia karacter provides a wide range of tonal coloration and saturation that you can use to make a mix sound denser and more assertive. Competitive mastering benefits sustainably from the use of selected analog hardware. The workflow is accelerated and you can make necessary mix decisions very quick and accurate. For this reason, high-quality analog technology enjoys the highest popularity, especially in high-end mastering studios. karacter is available as a 1 RU 19″ Version, karacter 500 – module and in our new super handy qube series as a karacter qube.

Mastering Recommendations for 2021

As you can see, the considerations related to mastering for streaming platforms are anything but trivial. Some people’s heads may be spinning because of the numerous variables. In addition, there is still the question of how to master your tracks in 2021. 

 The answer is obvious: create your master in a way that serves the song. Some styles of music (jazz, classical) require much more dynamics than others (heavy metal, hip-hop). The latter can certainly benefit from distortion, saturation, and clipping as a stylistic element. What sounds great is allowed. The supreme authority for a successful master is always the sound. If the song calls for a loud master, it is legitimate to put the appropriate tools in place for it. The limit of loudness maximization is reached when the sound quality suffers. Even in 2021, the master should sound better than the mix. The use of compression and limiting should always serve the result and not be based on the LUFS specifications of various streaming services. Loudness is a conscious artistic decision and should not end up in an attempt to achieve certain LFUS specifications.

And the specifications of the streaming services? 

With how many LUFS should i master to?

There is only one valid reason to master a song to -14dB LUFS. The value of -14dB LUFS is just right if the song sounds better with it than with -13 or -15dB LUFS!

I hope you were able to take some valuable information from this blog post and it will help you take your mix and personal master for digital streaming services to the next level. 

I would be happy about a lively exchange. Feel free to share and leave a comment or if you have any further questions, I’ll be happy to answer them of course.

Yours, Ruben Tilgner 

The elysia hardware purchase guide

500 vs. 19“ vs. qube | The elysia hardware purchase Guide


The elysia hardware purchase guide | Which hardware version is right for me? 

As you have already found out, we offer you our products in different versions and you may ask yourself: “Which version should I buy? What are the advantages and disadvantages? What are the differences between the 19″ rack versions vs. the 500 Modules and the qube series?” 

Exactly to answer these essential questions and to make your purchase decision as easy as possible I wrote this short, informative and concise blog post for you which includes the ultimate elysia hardware purchase guide, so you can see all differences between 500 Modules, 19″ rack versions and qube series.

Enjoy reading it!


We offer, you choose!

Basically, all our product variants offer exactly the same high-quality audio electronics with all its refinements. Whether xpressor as 500 module, 19″ rack or qube – you will always get the same circuit board.

Power Handling

The voltage is identical on all variants and it’s +-16V. The input and output levels are the same and the usable dynamics are identical. The technical data are the same for all models and you always get the same sound. The main difference is the built-in power supply which has a small but not an unimportant effect on the overall sound.

On one hand, there is an audible hum and noise that you perceive in the direct audio range. Whether the general sound behavior changes, you will hear subtly.

In all our 19″ rack versions we use a classic toroidal transformer with linear regulation for voltage conditioning. In the qube versions, we generate the necessary +-16V from an 18V power supply with two separate switching regulators. These are very low noise and were optimized by me for audio applications. For the 500 module racks, there are a lot of different manufacturers and variants. There are many differences, like for example: How the power supply is built and if it is low noise. Our modules expect a quite clean power supply, otherwise, there will be audible interferences. Unfortunately, most manufacturers do not release any information about the noise and the interference spectrum of their power supplies. 

Lost in Space?

A further and not insignificant important criterion for your decision is of course the space requirement.

Do you already have classic 19″ racks or is your overall space limited? Do you want to install our product permanently in your studio or are you planning an instant mobile use?

Here is a short overview of the different versions with their advantages and disadvantages:

19″ rack versions

These have the best ergonomics. The controller arrangement from left to right is logical, clear, and easy to use thanks to the haptic user interface. If you already have 19″ racks in your studio, this is the perfect solution for you.

The installation into a studio table is great for mastering. Great, because the products are positioned in front of you and you don’t have to leave the perfect and central listening position. 

All our 19″ racks also have an EXT socket for very special and exciting functionalities. The 19″ rack version of the xpressor has an external sidechain and the karacter corresponding to CV (Control Voltage) control sockets for drive and mix. The internal linear power supply with a classic toroidal transformer provides a clean, low-noise, and stable power supply. 

+ Perfect for 19″ rack mounting 

+ Integrated and linear power supply for best sound aesthetics 

+ EXT sockets for special functions 

+ XLR and jack sockets for in- and outputs 

+ Sturdy and lightweight aluminum housing 

+ Optimal ergonomics for mastering and mixing 

+ xfilter available also as Mastering Edition 

– The higher-priced version 

elysia skulpter 500 and mpressor 500 are not available in this model variant

qube

The qube version is the perfect solution for you if you are looking for a very handy space-saving all-round solution. And you can be sure that there is always a place on every desk or kitchen table. Thanks to the vertical arrangement, you can comfortably stack several qubes above each other.

Are you also looking for something for mobile use?

The sturdy aluminum case is almost perfect for a tough stage, rehearsal room, or studio use. If you work at different locations, you should really take a closer look at the qube series. Simply because it fits into any backpack.

The connectors we are using are XLR and jack. Synthesizers and drum machines can be connected directly without an adapter. The jack sockets are perfect for DAW integration via an audio interface for latency free recording.

The qube is perfect for your entry into the analog world – no need to search for the right 500 rack.

Compact 500 formats that can be used immediately 

+ Perfect entry into the world of analog processors 

+ Robust, travel-ready and lightweight housing 

+ Can be stacked vertically to save space

+ Optimal for mobile use (rehearsal room, studio, stage, FOH)

+ Internal low-noise voltage conditioning with switching regulator

+ External universal power supply suitable for all voltages

+ Additional jack sockets 

– no rack mounting possible

500 modules – The classics

If you already own a 500 rack or planning to buy several modules, these classic models are the most flexible and affordable versions. You have a huge selection from different manufacturers and of the 500 racks and you can let your creativity run wild in the assembly. The market offers an excellent choice of options in terms of the number of slots, additional mounting in a 19″ rack, connectors, and much more.

Some manufacturers also offer great features such as summing or SUB25-D multipin connectors for audio connections. How good the respective power supplies are?

Unfortunately, I can’t usually say that because most manufacturers have no or only sparse information in their technical specification.

+ Cheapest versions

+ Individual combinations possible

+ Large selection of racks from different manufacturers available

+ 19″ rack installation possible

+ Nice additional functions selectable 

– Quality of the power supply may vary

– Most racks have only XLR inputs and outputs 

– Empty slots do not look nice

The differences between elysia 500 series, 19" Rack and qube.

elysia on tour

elysia on tour in the United States


Our fine elysia 500 Series audio processors touring from Germany to conquer the United States of America.

Fasten your seatbelts and put your seats in the upright position.

Back in the late summer of 2018 we had a crazy idea. This idea led to a 1,5 years long tour all over the United States and nearly 30 visited mixing&mastering engineers, producers and musicians. But who or better to say what was exactly on tour? Let’s dive in!

elysia on tour case with 500 series analog modules

If you’re reading this – you most likely are in love with analog gear, right? Just like we do!

It doesn’t matter if your studio has several racks loaded with analog jewels or you got a small home recording studio with one beloved mix bus compressor – whenever you get your fingers on analog gear it’s always a happy time. Because we at elysia love what we do, we’re always happy to see you using our gear. We want to see as many people get in touch with it and learn what special things it can do for their music. But what are the options to get this in-depth experience with the gear, maybe even in your own trusty environment? That’s why we decided – let’s send our gear on tour!

We loaded nearly all of our 500-series gear into a Neve R10 rack, to be precise – a pair of our at that time just released preamp elysia skulpter 500, our stereo equalizer xfilter 500, compressor xpressor 500, our transient designer nvelope 500 and our saturation module karacter 500. Each module on its own is a treat, but all of them at once as a channel strip – that’s something you should not forget too fast!

So how much should this hands-on experience cost you? Of course nothing!

We decided to cover all shipping costs. The only investment the participants should make was their precious time.  Honestly, we knew it’s something no-one else did before and that it’s a special offer but would the people react to it the way we hoped they would? Hell, they did! We reached out to so many guys and soon realized it was a mistake. Simply everyone was super excited about it and within two weeks the list was longer than we ever expected.

How did we choose who would get it?

While we all know these big names, the engineers we all look up to and who of course we also wished-for to host our rack – there are so many extremely talented guys climbing up the Olymp but yet maybe not having the resources to get the gear worth of $7000 to try out just like that. So we wanted to make this thing different. We care about everyone – a Grammy-winning engineer and a bedroom producer. That’s when the real work started. We asked ourselves how to ship it, how to make the user experience as easy as possible. How to ease the learning curve of our gear? Because it’s far away from being a one-trick-pony. How to make sure it can be plugged in without missing a cable? How much time should be enough for an unforgettable experience? Many questions and we needed answers.

The best experience for you!

We had this idea of a perfect experience – you get the rack, you plug it in and start immediately enjoying it. So we even soldered our own custom cables, any cable that you’d need, including TT-Phone jacks. We made them durable so they last the tour for sure. How inhuman would it be to plug in the rack that you waited several months for just to realize that one of the cables is broken and you haven’t a spare one? No one wants to live through that – haha!

We made a short video starring our CEO Ruben Tilgner explaining each module and put it on a USB stick. Probably the worst video production of all times but all guys loved it as it really helped to directly dive into the rack. By the way – we should’ve known better – the stick got lost pretty fast along the way. Maybe, it’s still on the desk of one of the guys, maybe even of the one reading this blog.

elysia 500 series rack

We found the right case for shipping, TSA-locks to pass the customs, and even made ourselves a beautiful custom wood box for the cables and accessories. Analog gear and wood – nothing looks better together, right? That’s when we realized that we wanted to do one more really special thing!

elysia uses a state-of-the-art milling machine to build custom parts for its gear. Why shouldn’t we manufacture something really important? A custom coaster!

You can imagine how sad this day is, when the gear has to move. We wanted to give at least something which can stay forever. All the guys couldn’t believe their eyes to see their names engraved in this little but meaningful gifts and we still see many of them actually use it. 

Handmade Custom Coaster as a gift with the names

One last special we’ve added to the case was a little notebook. We kindly asked the guys to write down some words for us. Yes, it’s sentimental but the whole thing was so personal. Each participant would’ve held this notebook in his hands and as it turned out – there were many!

We were simply overwhelmed by getting the rack back to our headquarters and reading all the beautiful messages the guys wrote down for us. No other company has such a book. It’s just us. And we’re proud of it!

With all that said, you know now everything about the development of the tour so let’s dive in and see what the guys thought about it.


Rick King

Rick Kings Notebook entry 1

The first lucky soul was Rick King, a producer, and mixing engineer at his beautiful studio in Paducah, Kentucky. Rick wrote an intriguing introduction to the brand new notebook! Who’s up for an adventure?

“To whomever finds this, you will surely notice a page missing from this book. On it is a map that leads to the elysia gear that I have buried. Find it, and it is yours! – RK”

Rick King

As you can see the first page is really missing. If you ever find this map, let us know! Rick even shared a suggestion for an amazing piece of analog gear that will make any mix better! Thanks for your useful input!

Rick Kings second Notebook entry
Product Idea Rick King

“Elysia. Thank you again for your hospitality and kindness in letting me be a part of this elysia tour. Your gear has been on my radar for a long time, but being able to test it in my own space made all the difference. I can’t wait to put some pieces in my rack permanently! Loved twisting these knobs! – Rick King King Sound”

Rick King

It was a real pleasure to have you as our first host, Rick! Where did you bury our gear?! 


Jack Daniels

The second guy was Jack Daniels, we guess it won’t be hard to memorize his name for most of you musicians out there. ;) By the way, Jack is Rick’s best studio friend. Unfortunately, Jack forgot to sign the notebook but he made this beautiful shot of the rack and we love it! 


Welcome to Nashville

When it comes to music, there are not many places that can compete with Nashville. Though it’s not a huge city, its musical community is one of a kind. There is probably no other place where you’ll find so many music studios so close to each other. And that’s for a reason. It will be hard to find another place with so many musicians, audio engineers and producers so close to each other. So Nashville is simply the right place to continue with, right?

Nashville Map by google
© Google Maps 2020

We visited exiting and talented engineers and producers whose names you probably already saw many times on social media: 

Travis Ball, Colt Capperrune, Kyle Monroe, Michael Frasinelli, Josh Bonanno, Josh Colby, Marc Frigo. 

We really hope we didn’t forget anyone! Because Everyone got the rack for two full weeks so the rack stood in Nashville for over 3,5 months. This is what the guys wrote down for us:


Travis Ball 

“Ruben + Aleg,

Thank you very much for putting this rack together! I have been keen to try some of the offerings from elysia for some time now, very impressed with how everything sounds and put together! Wish I could have spent more time with it! I guess this means I should buy something eventually, haha! Cheers Travis Ball”

Travis Ball

You’re very welcome, Travis! We’ll gladly watch your carrier prosper! And thanks for the beautiful pictures!  



Colt Capperrune

elysia on tour notebook entry Colt Capperrune

“The week gone by far too fast, I will never forget you dear elysia. May your silky smooth goodness bless many waveforms, and tame all the peaks you meet. Until we meet again, Colt Capperrune” 

Colt Capperrune

This is the most musical message we could wish for, Colt! Thank you so much! 


Kyle Monroe “Tiny Tape Room”

elysia on tour | Rack at Kyle Monroe | Tiny Tape Room

“What a wonderful treat to be a part of this elysia tour. I am very excited to pick up some of these EQ’s in the future! Cheers, Kyle TTR”

Kyle Monroe

Our equalizer will fit amazingly in your newly built studio, Kyle!

Such heart-warming comments! And this is just the beginning!


Michael Frasinelli 

elysia on tour | Michael Frasinelli's Notebook entry
elysia on tour | Michael Frasinelli handmade gift

“Well before these 2 weeks I thought I got to hold off on buying an additional 500 series chassis for a while… I  thought wrong.

I demo a lot of gear, but it is rare that I end the demo wanting to buy every single unit that I don’t already own ASAP. Thanks… I think? As always, fantastic work elysia team. Plus, now you can see why I type and rarely handwrite.”

Michael Frasinell

It is all about the message, and we love it, Michael!


Josh Bonanno

elysia on tour | rack at Josh Bonanno

“Can’t say thank you enough for including me in this tour. Incredible gear. Truly enjoyed my time with it and look forward to adding a few to my collection in the future.”  

Josh Bonanno

[layerslider id=”10″]

We’re very happy to be now a part of your setup, Josh! The video you made while using the rack was definitely one of the most special things from the tour!


Marc Frigo

“Thank you so much for letting me try out this wonderful gear. Really appreciate it! Love what you’re doing, keep up the great work!”

Marc Frigo

It was our pleasure to have you onboard, Marc! 


Last but not least – check out the gear in action and see what Travis Ball did with it while mastering a cool pop track! Very nice!

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I hope you guys liked this blog post.

Meanwhile, it would be great if you leave a comment, tell me if you like this touring idea. And if so, please share this blogpost on social media. Thank you.

Cheers, Aleg

xfilter Mastering Edition


The xfilter Mastering Edition

We introduce the new version of our 4-Band Stereo Equalizer

Today we have announced that the extended version of our popular xfilter 4-band stereo equalizer is now available as a Mastering Edition.

The elysia xfilter Mastering Edition is a very sophisticated, handcrafted analog 4-band stereo equalizer, with both channels linked for stereo operation. All four bands provide a precise control range of +/-5dB. The xfilter Mastering Edition produces the high-end sound of a Class A equalizer at an amazing value for the money. This fine analog 4-band stereo equalizer produces an absolutely precise stereo image. This is based on the use of computer-selected components with extremely low tolerances.

The new and special features

A special feature of this analog equalizer shines through its double flexibility! It offers high- and low shelf bands which can be switched to high and low pass filters with resonance control. Two bell filters with narrow and wide Q for the mid frequencies as well as additional passive LC stages with shielded coils to refine the treble frequencies. The extraordinarily open sound, the direct transient reproduction, the solid punch as well as the balanced output stage with up to +27dBu makes the xfilter Mastering Edition the perfect companion in the mastering studio.

4-Band Stereo Equalizer
4 band stereo mastering equalizer
4 band stereo mastering equalizer - back

The xfilter Mastering Edition Highlights

  • 4-band stereo analog equalizer with real stereo link
  • Precise control range for all four bands of +/-5dB
  • A balanced output stage with up to +27dBu
  • High-quality and light construction in aluminium housing | Made in Germany
  • Class-A Topology • Stepped potentiometers (computer selected)
  • High and Low Shelf Bands • Hi- and Low Pass Filter with Resonance
  • Two parametric Mids with switchable Q-Faktor
  • Additional passive high-band

“We are proud that we have been able to continue developing and optimizing our xfilter for optimal studio and mastering usage,” said Ruben Tilgner, chief developer, founder and CEO of elysia GmbH. He adds: “Especially the new and precise control range of all 4 bands from +/-5dB as well as the newly designed output stage are a blast in the studio!“