Oak Tapes is Alon Benjamini's mastering studio in New York.

Grammy-nominated engineer.

I master stereo mixes and stems for jazz, indie and singer-songwriter records through a hybrid chain of tube and valve hardware. Sessions are online, so you can send music from anywhere.

Here are some of the records I've mastered. See rates or send me your project.

Full credits on Muso.AI and AllMusic.

Rates

Mastering rates in US dollars
Single	$100
EP or albumper track	$80
Stem masteringper track, up to 8 stems	$140
Instrumental or alternate versionper track	$20
Vinyl premasterper project	$75
Delivery within 48 hours	+50%

Every project includes two rounds of revisions, high-resolution and 16-bit/44.1 kHz WAV files, and a DDP for CD. Most projects are delivered within 3–7 business days. Prices are in US dollars.

Book a project

How a session works

Send me a link to your mixes, a few words about the record and one or two reference tracks. I'll reply with a quote and a date.

When the masters are ready you get a private link to listen on your own systems. If something needs changing, you have two rounds of revisions. The final files are ready for any distributor, CD plant or vinyl cutter.

Not sure whether to send a stereo mix or stems? Here's how to decide.

The chain

Monitoring: HEDD Type 20 MK2, three-way main monitors; Dynaco A250, vintage passive speakers, for hearing a master the way most people will; HEDDphone, Air Motion Transformer headphones, for detail work and a second opinion
Compression: Thermionic Culture Phoenix, valve compressor; Audioscape E, VCA bus compressor
Equalization: Hendyamps Michelangelo, tube equalizer; Goly NetEQ, equalizer

More about the studio

About

Before focusing on mastering, I spent years recording and mixing records at New York studios like Big Orange Sheep, Sear Sound, Power Station and East Side Sound. That work taught me how records get made, and what a mix needs from mastering to sound finished.

I'm also a drummer, a graduate of The New School, and I've played with Reggie Workman, Omer Avital, Avishai Cohen and Gilad Hekselman. When I master, I listen the way I do behind the kit: for the groove and the space around it, and for the point where louder stops helping the song.

What is the difference between stereo mastering and stem mastering?

Stereo mastering works from one finished stereo mix per song. Stem mastering works from 4 to 8 grouped stems, such as drums, bass, music and vocals, so the engineer can fix balance problems like a buried vocal or harsh cymbals that can't be fully corrected in a stereo mix.

How should I prepare my mix for mastering?

Export a 24-bit or 32-bit float WAV at your session's sample rate, with nothing on the master bus that limits or maximizes level. Leave a few dB of headroom, with peaks around -3 to -6 dBFS. Add a short note about the record and one or two reference tracks you like the sound of.

How loud will my master be?

As loud as the music can take without losing its punch. Spotify, Apple Music and YouTube turn loud tracks down to a normalized level, so a heavily limited master usually sounds smaller on streaming.

Do you offer mixing?

No, Oak Tapes is mastering only. If your mix has a balance problem you can't fix yourself, stem mastering lets me adjust things like vocal level or low end without a remix.

All questions

Start a project

Use the project form or email me at alon.benjamini@gmail.com.