Export Settings for Bass Music – Stems, Mixes and Masters

Why Export Settings Matter

You have spent hours crafting the perfect track. The bass is heavy, the drums are punchy, and the mix sounds incredible on your monitors. But then you export it, upload it to SoundCloud or send it to a label, and it sounds flat, quiet, or distorted. The problem is almost always in your export settings.

Getting your export settings right is the final step in production, and it is just as important as the sound design and mixing that came before it. Different formats and destinations require different settings, and knowing what to use in each situation will ensure your music sounds as good to others as it does in your studio.

Exporting Your Final Mix

File Format

For your master bounce, always export as WAV. Never export your final mix as an MP3. WAV is a lossless format that preserves every detail of your audio. MP3 is a compressed format that throws away information to reduce file size. For a master that you plan to have professionally mastered or that will be distributed on streaming platforms, WAV is non-negotiable.

Use 24-bit depth for your export. 24-bit gives you more dynamic range and lower noise floor than 16-bit. Even though the final distributed version might be 16-bit, keeping your master bounce at 24-bit preserves quality for mastering. The mastering engineer (or your mastering plugin chain) will handle the final bit depth conversion.

Sample Rate

Export at whatever sample rate your project is set to. If you have been working at 44.1kHz, export at 44.1kHz. If you have been working at 48kHz, export at 48kHz. Do not upsample when exporting because it does not add quality. It just makes the file bigger.

For most bass music production, 44.1kHz is the standard and there is no benefit to using higher sample rates unless you have a specific technical reason. Streaming platforms and CDs all use 44.1kHz, so working and exporting at this rate avoids unnecessary conversion.

Headroom

If you are sending your mix to a mastering engineer, leave headroom. Your peaks should sit around -3dB to -6dB. Do not put a limiter on your master bus. Let the mastering engineer handle loudness. If you are mastering yourself, you can push levels harder, but still avoid clipping on the export. Any sample that hits 0dBFS or above will clip and distort.

Exporting Stems

Stems are individual elements or groups of elements from your mix, exported as separate files. Labels often request stems, and having them ready is essential for remixes, live performances, and professional mastering.

How to Organize Stems

The standard stem groups for bass music are: Kick, Snare/Clap, Hi-hats/Percussion, Bass/Sub, Leads/Synths, Pads/Atmosphere, Vocals (if any), and FX/Transitions. Some people break it down further, but these groups cover most situations.

Solo each group and export it as a separate WAV file. Make sure all stems start at the same point (bar 1, beat 1) and are the same length. This way, anyone who imports all the stems into a new project can line them up perfectly and they will sync.

Stem Processing

A common question is whether to include bus processing on your stems. The answer depends on who is receiving them. For mastering engineers, export stems with bus processing included but without master bus processing. This gives them the sound you intended for each group while leaving room to adjust the overall balance.

For remix purposes, export stems as dry as possible. Remove reverb, delay, and heavy compression so the remixer has maximum flexibility. Keep basic EQ and essential processing that defines the character of the sound, but strip away anything that locks the sound into a specific mix context.

Mastering Export Settings

If you are mastering your own tracks (which many bass music producers do), your final master export has specific requirements depending on where the track will be distributed.

Streaming Platforms

Spotify, Apple Music, and other streaming platforms normalize loudness to around -14 LUFS (integrated). This means if your master is louder than -14 LUFS, it will be turned down. If it is quieter, it may be turned up (depending on the platform settings). For bass music, mastering to around -8 to -12 LUFS is common. It gives you enough loudness to sound competitive while not being so crushed that the dynamics suffer.

Export as 16-bit 44.1kHz WAV for distribution through aggregators like DistroKid, TuneCore, or CD Baby. Some platforms accept 24-bit, but 16-bit 44.1kHz is the universal standard.

Club and DJ Use

For tracks intended for DJ play, loudness matters more. DJs mix tracks together and a quiet track will sound weak next to louder ones. Master to around -6 to -8 LUFS for club tracks. This is louder than streaming-optimized masters but still leaves some dynamics intact.

Export at 16-bit or 24-bit 44.1kHz WAV. Many DJs also appreciate receiving tracks at 320kbps MP3 as a backup format for USB drives and CDJs.

Common Export Mistakes

Avoid these common errors that can ruin an otherwise great track. Do not export with dithering applied multiple times. Dither should only be applied once, as the final step when converting from a higher bit depth to a lower one (like 24-bit to 16-bit). Applying it multiple times adds cumulative noise.

Do not normalize your export. Normalizing adjusts the overall level to hit 0dBFS, which removes the headroom you carefully maintained during mixing. If your mix is at the right level, just export it as is.

Always listen back to your exported file in a different media player before distributing it. Compare it to your DAW playback. Check for any clicks, pops, or artifacts at the start and end of the file. A quick quality check catches problems before they reach your audience.

Get Your Exports Right

Proper export settings are the bridge between your studio and the listener. Taking the time to set them correctly ensures that all the work you put into sound design, mixing, and mastering translates faithfully to every playback system.

Starting with high-quality source sounds makes every stage easier, from mixing to mastering to export. Grab the Free Serum Taster Pack for professional-quality starting points. Then explore the Preset Drive shop for a full range of production-ready bass music sounds.