What File Type Do I Send My Mixing Engineer?!
Prepping your files for mixing is one of the best things you can do to make sure you and your mix engineer are on the same page and best prepared to put out the best song possible. File prep is not an overly long process and will save you tons of time by not having to do the back and forth email explanations. This process involves a few steps, but today we’re focusing on the end of the process, the TYPE of file one should export. It is important to check with your mix engineer to see if they have any specific requests. The following files are what I prefer to receive from MY clients. Different mixing engineers may have different approaches. When in doubt, just ask. We (session musicians, mixing engineers, mastering engineers, producers) are all here with the same goal - to make your music sound the best it can!
Send Files - Not the Entire Session.
With today’s technology, mixing engineers are working in many different digital audio work stations. While Protools, Logic, and Ableton, are the most common, there are plenty of great records being made on other DAWs. Sending a session can be helpful in certain scenarios, but the safest bet is to send the actual files from the session. These can be opened in any DAW and give your engineer the most flexibility. Making sure you send a high resolution file of your audio is imperative to getting a great mix on a record or single.
Let’s look at some common audio file types that are readily available and what they are used for!
Lossless File Types Are Best
Not all file types are created equal. Some file types are purposely low quality to reduce file size. Others are uncompressed and represent your work in the original form. These “lossless” file types give your mixing engineer a blank slate to work from and high-quality audio.
MP3 Files (lo-res): By far the most popular file type in terms of casual listening, but not usable for mixing or post-production work. This file type is overly compressed and is considered a very lossy file type. Good for listening to music on a phone, but bad for serious audio work.
AAC Files (lo-res) - Apple's alternative to MP3 and used for Apple Music streaming. This is a lo-res audio file and is hard to work with. These files are mainly found within iTunes.
AIFF Files (hi-res) : Apple's alternative to WAV., which we’ll talk about next. This file type comes with better metadata support than WAV. and is a hi-res audio file. This file type is available within GarageBand’s export options and GarageBand is where many people first come across AIFF Files. Final Cut Pro can also export in AIFF should you be working with a video element that needs audio mixing. While this file IS hi-res, being an Apple specific file type can sometimes make it more difficult to work with. Best to check in with your mixing engineer before sending this file type.
THE WINNER:
WAV Files (hi-res): The standard format in which all CDs are encoded. Great sound quality, but it is uncompressed, which means the file size is considerably larger. This is not a problem for most studios as they work with these files day in and day out. This is the preferred file type for most all mixing engineers.
Every DAW I have worked with has had an option to export in WAV. - this includes free and paid versions.
Making sure you are sending your mixing engineer the correct (hi-resolution) files is the first step to getting a great mix. This small step can save hours of headaches and back and forth emails, texts, and calls. If you have any questions on file types, as there are quite a few more that are not listed in this post, drop a line in the comments and let’s chat about your recording and mixing session!
