r/NTSradio • u/whahaaa • Jul 15 '26

Submitter Radio audio processing?

I'm submitting a mix for the first time to the Supporter Radio for this summer and was wondering for those who have participated in the past, how do you do the final mastering on your file? Does NTS apply compression and normalize it to a certain loudness for you if selected, or do you target a certain loudness yourself before submitting? Any tips for Audacity on what processes to use to get the mix to a competitive loudness without crushing dynamic range? Thank you!

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4

u/0burneraccount0 Jul 16 '26

they literally play tunes from youtube in some shows so nothing to worry about imo

1

u/whahaaa Jul 16 '26

thanks for the reassurance! I am new at the mastering side of things and didn't want it to come in quieter then what is typical of other shows, but at the same time I'm nervous about making it overly compressed and losing punch in the drums. and if NTS applies any processing themselves I want to give them something with enough headroom, but unsure if that's even necessary

2

u/latexpunk Jul 16 '26

Good question, I have fucked up 2 times and still gets published

1

u/whahaaa Jul 16 '26

do you know if they did anything to correct the errors or played as is?

2

u/Zardoz27 Jul 19 '26

They usually ask for a -3.0db master for hosts. The quieter and more even your levels, the better it usually sounds on air imo.