Studio Stuff

Studio Stuff Podcast #43 The Da Vinci Problem: Knowing When to Let Go of Your Mix

You've been in the mix for hours. It sounds pretty good. You think it sounds pretty good. But you keep going back in, tweaking, adjusting, making that one last pass. Sound familiar? In this episode, we dig into the question MCC member Frank Robinson sent our way: how do you know when to stop? And is anyone ever actually happy with their final mix?

We also get into a comment from our friend KP, who wants to know whether mixing in Cubase versus Pro Tools actually makes a sonic difference. Spoiler: it's mostly about who's driving.

You'll Learn:

Why the last five percent of a mix can take longer than the first eighty percent

What "pushing food around the plate" actually means as a creative signal

How the sleep test, the scrolling listen, and the AirPods check each serve a different purpose

Why time-constraining your mix sessions might be the most practical habit you can build

Whether your DAW choice genuinely affects your sound, and what actually does

Topics and Stories:

The Da Vinci problem: why art is never finished, only abandoned

Chris's graveyard of mixes he refuses to listen to anymore

Moving furniture in a prison cell as the perfect metaphor for overmixing

Steve's logic-to-Pro Tools workflow and why he uses two different tools for two different jobs

The rich guy with thirty cars: which one do you take to church, the track, and the road trip?

Why Chris drives a Volvo and Steve has a Ferrari, a Bugatti, and several Hondas

Listener Q&A:

Big shoutout to Frank Robinson from the MCC! His question: how do you decide when to stop tinkering and call the mix done? And is anyone really fully happy with their final mix? We spend a good chunk of the episode on this one because it deserves it.

We also dig into a comment from KP, who floated the idea of a Cubase vs. Pro Tools mix-off. We address the DAW question seriously, and then immediately give KP a hard time about the competition idea.



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Studio Stuff Podcast #42 | Mixing, Mastering, and the Mindset That Separates Them

You finish the mix, you're happy with it, you slap Ozone on the master bus... and now what? Do you keep tweaking? Do you bounce and walk away? Do you send it somewhere? One listener question about Tonal Balance Control opened up a conversation we've been circling around for a while, and this episode is where we finally went there.

We're talking about the mixing vs. mastering mindset, whether tools like Ozone belong on the mix bus, how AI mastering services fit into a real workflow, and why your answer to all of this probably depends more on your personality than your plugins.

You'll Learn:

Why Tonal Balance Control works great as a monitoring tool, not a mix bus effect

What separates a "mix-mastering" workflow from a proper two-stage process

When it makes sense to leave Ozone committed and keep tweaking the mix around it

Why Chris and Steve approach this completely differently, and why both approaches hold up

What AI mastering tools are actually good for, and where they fall short

Why mastering your own music is one of the best kept secrets for getting better at mixing

Topics and Stories:

Edward Stashko's listener question about Tonal Balance and Ozone on the mix bus

The Cubase control room advantage and why Steve is smug about it

Chris's recent shift toward mix-mastering and why he's owning it

Sending mixes out: Nashville, Montreal, Winnipeg, and Sterling Sound in New York

What happened when three mastering engineers got the same single

Steve officially becoming a grandpa in the Denny's parking lot

Listener Q&A:

Big shoutout to Edward Stashko for this week's question. He asked whether running a mix through Tonal Balance Control before using Ozone as an automated mastering tool produces a better result, and whether tweaking after the mastering stage creates problems that could have been caught earlier. Edward, you cracked this one wide open. Great question.



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Studio Stuff Podcast #41 | NS10 Translation in 2026: Emotion, Mixing, and What Actually Works

What does emotion in music actually mean? And does your mix have to make someone cry to count as art? We got a comment on our Angine de Poitrine episode that sent us down a rabbit hole, and we're not mad about it.

In this episode, we're responding to a listener comment that challenged whether technical genius can actually be a form of emotional expression. Then we pivot into something every home studio mixer has wondered about: is the old NS10 translation theory still valid in 2026?

Two very different conversations. One throughline: what does it mean for something to actually work?

You'll Learn:

Why awe and admiration are legitimate emotional responses to music

How the NS10 theory made perfect sense in its era and why it needs more context today

What mix translation actually means with AirPods, Bluetooth speakers, and modern monitoring in the picture

Why "sounds good on bad speakers, sounds good anywhere" now comes with a few asterisks

Topics and Stories:

The Dirk Campbell comment calling Angine de Poitrine's playing "musical parkour" and why we pushed back

Why cathedrals, the Olympics, and a guy spilling wine while distracted by a YouTube clip all ended up in the same conversation

Chris's confession about borrowed NS10s appearing in his old YouTube videos

Why the speakers in your car and living room all basically sounded the same thirty years ago, and how that changed everything

Listener Q&A:

Shoutout to Mastermind on YouTube for the NS10 question. We get into the full translation theory, why it made sense in its day, and how monitoring has evolved enough that it's now more of a checkpoint than a rule.



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Studio Stuff Podcast #40 | The Omelet Crisis and How Many Reverbs You Actually Need

Alright, the steak omelets are gone and the vibes are… fragile. But despite the breakfast tragedy, we’re digging into a topic that separates the bedroom demos from the pro records: Reverb. Specifically, are you using it to make things "wet," or are you using it to create a 3D space?

In this episode, we answer Cornelius’s question about how many reverbs are too many. We talk about why we’ve moved away from the "one size fits all" reverb buss and how we use EQ and compression on the reverb itself to keep things clean. Plus, we address a listener who thinks Steve is crazy for needing to "acclimate" to his mixing headphones. (Spoiler: Steve might be crazy, but he's right about the headphones).

You’ll Learn:

Why reverb is actually a dimension tool, not just an effect

The "Feel vs. Hear" rule for modern vocal processing

How to EQ your reverb returns to stop them from eating your mix

Why "Critical Listening" requires a different brain state than the gym or the car

The reason professional reference headphones feel like "learning a new language"

Topics & Stories:

The tragic loss of the Denny’s steak omelet (and Chris’s resulting mood)

Steve’s philosophy on "sub-spaces" for snares vs. toms

Why high-passing your reverb is the fastest way to a pro sound

The difference between AirPods and reference-grade monitors

Why Steve thinks you need to "re-learn" your ears every time you switch gear

Listener Q&A: A massive shoutout to Cornelius for the reverb deep dive and to Rome 81 for calling Steve out on his headphone habits! We break down the technical difference between "casual listening" and "data-driven mixing."



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Studio Stuff Podcast #39 | The Band That Broke the Internet (And What It Means for You)

We lost the Denny's steak omelet. But we found hope for music.

There's a band from Quebec called Angine de Poitrine, that stopped us mid-conversation and made us ask a question we hadn't thought to ask in a while: what does it actually sound like when human creativity has no ceiling?

That's where this episode starts. And honestly, it's one of the more hopeful conversations we've had on this show."

You'll Learn:

Why micro-tonal, math rock music is so disorienting at first listen, and why that's exactly the point

What makes this Quebec duo different from just "weird for weird's sake"

How real, raw talent is the most durable weapon against AI-generated music

Why the next generational band might already be building an audience right now

How Steve trained his ears to trust the low end on reference headphones after years on speakers

The EQ-boost technique that bridges the gap while your brain catches up

Topics and Stories:

The band from deep Quebec with more frets than you've ever seen on a guitar

Why loop stations, quarter tones, and impossible time signatures somehow groove

What Genesis, Rush, and 2112 have to do with a sold-out show in San Francisco

Chris's daughter Kayla and son-in-law now casually listening to micro-tonal math rock in the car

How Denny's became the emotional villain of this episode

Listener Q&A:

Huge shoutout to Ryan, who asked a great question about mixing on headphones after years of doing live sound. When you're used to feeling the PA in your chest, reference headphones can feel like mixing in a vacuum. Steve breaks down exactly how he made that mental shift, including the boosted EQ phase, why he gradually pulled it back, and the moment he realized he actually trusted his ears again.



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It really helps more home studio folks find Studio Stuff.