Pro Tools Mastering Chain: Stock Plugins in Order, With Settings (and Where the Fade and Dither Go)

The short answer: a Pro Tools mastering chain runs on stock plugins, on the inserts of the stereo audio track that holds your bounced mix, in this order: EQ III (7-band) for a 20 to 30 Hz high-pass and small cuts, Pro Compressor (or Dyn3 Compressor/Limiter) at 1.5:1 to 2:1 for 1 to 2 dB of glue, an optional Pultec EQP-1A for tone and Pro Multiband Dynamics on the low band only, then Pro Limiter last, with the Ceiling at -1.0 dBTP and its own readouts for integrated loudness and true peak. Keep the track fader and the Master Fader at 0 dB, automate any fade-out on the Master Fader so it happens after the limiter, and put POW-r Dither on the Master Fader only when you export at 16-bit. If your tier doesn't include the Pro series, Dyn3 Compressor/Limiter and Maxim cover the same stages, with a free meter checking true peak.

Mixing into a light bus chain, then mastering as a separate step, is how I work on my own releases (Sony, Universal, Ultra, Dim Mak, 50M+ streams). This is the stock Pro Tools version; the Ableton mastering chain, the Logic Pro mastering chain and the FL Studio mastering chain do the same job in those DAWs. There's no Pro Tools build of my mastering chain, but two of them run inside Pro Tools, disclosed at the end.

First: where the chain goes in Pro Tools

Master in its own session, not inside the mix. Import the bounced mix onto a stereo audio track and build the chain on that track's inserts. Two Pro Tools details decide where everything else goes:

• Audio track inserts are pre-fader. The plugins don't care where the track fader sits, but the fader comes after the limiter, so anything above 0 dB pushes the output past the ceiling you just set. Leave it at 0 dB.
• Master Fader inserts are post-fader. It's the one Pro Tools track where the fader comes before the plugins. That makes the Master Fader the right home for two things: the fade-out, automated on its volume, and dither on its last insert, which then processes the final level, fades included.

The fade placement matters more than it looks. A fade drawn on the clip happens before the inserts, so it runs into the limiter: the limiter keeps holding the level up while the gain reduction runs out, and the fade sounds like it starts late and then drops away. Automate the fade on the Master Fader instead, and the limiter never sees it.

The chain, in order (settings chart)

Avid's guide gives Pro Limiter an Input Trim of -30 to +30 dB, a Threshold of -30 to 0 dB and a Ceiling of -30 to 0 dBTP. Shift-dragging Threshold or Ceiling links the two at the same value, which is a quick way to hear the limiter's sound at unity gain. Its loudness readouts (Integrated in LUFS, Range in LU, True Peak and Short Term) follow ITU-R BS.1770-3, so you don't need a separate meter to read the master, though a second one never hurts. Read the numbers against how loud your master should be, and see what true peak is for why the Ceiling is measured that way.

Why Pro Compressor and not BF-76? BF-76 is modeled on the 1176 and grabs transients; it belongs on a drum group or a vocal. If your tier includes Impact, Avid's console-style compressor, it's a good alternative for slot 2: 2:1 (its lowest ratio), attack at 30 ms, release on Auto, and the same 1 to 2 dB of reduction. And if you'd rather add density with tape than with the limiter's Character knob, Reel Tape Saturation at low drive can sit between the compressor and the limiter; how it compares with the paid and free tape plugins is in the best tape saturation plugins.

No Pro series? The Dyn3 and Maxim route

Pro Compressor, Pro Limiter and Pro Multiband Dynamics come in Avid's Complete Plugin Bundle, which Avid includes with Pro Tools Studio and Ultimate subscriptions and support plans. The bundled set on other tiers has changed across versions, so check your plugin menu. If they're missing:

• Slot 2: Dyn3 Compressor/Limiter. Ratio 2:1, knee around 5 to 10 dB, attack 10 to 30 ms, release 100 to 300 ms, threshold for 1 to 2 dB of reduction, and the optional side-chain high-pass around 60 to 100 Hz. The same settings as the Pro Tools mix bus chain, doing the same job on the finished file.
• Slot 5: Maxim. Avid's guide describes a 1024-sample look-ahead and a zero attack time. Pull the Threshold down for 1 to 3 dB of attenuation on the loudest section, then set the Ceiling. Avid's guide suggests about -0.5 dB as a maximum ceiling, but it doesn't describe Maxim's ceiling as true peak, so for streaming set it lower, around -1.0 to -1.5 dB, and confirm the true peak on a meter after it. Use longer release times when you limit harder, as Avid advises, to avoid pumping.
• Metering: the free Youlean Loudness Meter ships an AAX version, so it loads last on the Master Fader for integrated loudness and true peak.

Maxim has its own dither switch. Use it or POW-r Dither, never both: dither once, last, and only when the bit depth goes down.

How to master a song in Pro Tools, step by step

1. Bounce the mix right first. A 24-bit or 32-bit float WAV with peaks around -6 to -3 dBFS, no limiter and no dither on the mix bus. The full checklist is in how to prep a mix for mastering.
2. Open a new session at the mix's sample rate and import the file onto a stereo audio track. Add a commercial reference track on a second track, muted for now.
3. Load the chain on the mix track's inserts in order: EQ III (7-band), Pro Compressor, the optional Pultec EQP-1A and Pro Multiband Dynamics, then Pro Limiter. Leave the track fader and the Master Fader at 0 dB.
4. Set the EQ and compressor on the loudest section. Loop the chorus or drop, high-pass, make only the cuts you can hear, then bring the compressor's threshold down to 1 to 2 dB of reduction and match the Makeup to bypass.
5. Set the limiter. Ceiling to -1.0 dBTP, Auto Release on, then lower the Threshold until the loudest section shows 1 to 3 dB of gain reduction. Reset Pro Limiter's analysis and play the whole song before you read Integrated.
6. Compare against the reference at matched loudness. Switch between the two often; how to use reference tracks shows the loudness-matching step.
7. Check mono. Turn both of the mix track's pan knobs to center, listen for anything that vanishes or thins out, then return them to hard left and right. The free Ozone Imager at Width -100% does the same job.
8. Fade and dither on the Master Fader. Automate the fade-out on its volume. If you're exporting a 16-bit file, put POW-r Dither on its last insert at 16-bit; for a 24-bit file, leave dither off. What dithering is explains the one rule.
9. Bounce. Open Bounce Mix (File > Bounce Mix; called Bounce to Disk in older versions), choose your main output as the source, and bounce an interleaved WAV at the session's sample rate: 24-bit for distributors that accept it, or 16-bit with POW-r Dither on for CD and any service that asks for 16-bit. Check your distributor's spec before you export.
10. Check the file, not the session. Play the bounce from start to finish through a meter, or run it through Masterproof, which runs a free check on the finished file: loudness, true peak, and the issues distributors flag.

Pro Tools mastering mistakes

• Mastering on the Master Fader of the mix session. Its inserts are post-fader, so every fader move changes what the compressor and limiter hear. Master the bounced file on an audio track instead.
• A fade drawn before the limiter. Clip fades run into the chain and change shape. Fade on the Master Fader.
• Dithering twice, or dithering a 24-bit export. Maxim's dither plus POW-r is twice. A 24-bit bounce from a 24-bit or float session needs none.
• A track fader above 0 dB after the limiter. It raises the output past the Ceiling you set.
• Trusting the channel meter for true peak. Read Pro Limiter's True Peak display or a free meter that shows it.
• Expecting VST plugins to load. Pro Tools only loads AAX. Free VST-only limiters such as LoudMax won't appear; the LoudMax guide covers where it does run.
• Fixing the mix in the master. More than 2 dB of EQ anywhere, or a compressor working hard, means the mix should go back a step. How to master a song walks through what mastering can and can't fix.

The finished chain (and the disclosure)

There's no Pro Tools stock build of my own mastering chain. Two of my chains run inside Pro Tools instead: the Ultimate Master Chain for Ozone loads in any DAW that runs Ozone 9, 10, 11 or 12 (Standard or Advanced) as a plugin, Pro Tools included, and the Ultimate Master Chain for Waves runs through Waves StudioRack. The Ozone stages are explained in the Ozone mastering chain, and the Waves stages in the Waves mastering chain. I'm biased; the stock chain above, set with care and checked against a reference, will master a release.

Quick answers

Can you master in Pro Tools with stock plugins? Yes. EQ III, Pro Compressor (or Dyn3 Compressor/Limiter), an optional Pultec EQP-1A and Pro Multiband Dynamics, and Pro Limiter (or Maxim) cover every stage, with POW-r Dither for 16-bit exports.

What is the best stock limiter in Pro Tools for mastering? Pro Limiter, where your tier includes it: its Ceiling is measured as true peak, and it reads integrated loudness, loudness range, short-term loudness and true peak on the same screen. Maxim works too; set its ceiling lower and confirm true peak on a meter.

Where do you put the mastering chain in Pro Tools? On the inserts of the stereo audio track that holds the bounced mix, with the track fader at 0 dB. Fades go on the Master Fader's volume automation and dither on the Master Fader's last insert, because Master Fader inserts are post-fader.

Should I dither when mastering in Pro Tools? Only when you export at a lower bit depth, such as a 16-bit file for CD. Put POW-r Dither last on the Master Fader, once. A 24-bit export needs no dither.