Mix Bus
The final bus where all tracks meet, the overall control point of a mix
Related
The mix bus is the final stereo bus where all tracks and groups meet, also called the master bus. Processing here acts on the whole mix at once: bus compression, gentle EQ and saturation all belong to this stage.
It differs from a group bus: a group sums one family of sounds, while the mix bus sums everything. Bus compression is usually light, just enough to glue the parts together; if one instrument needs a big change, go back to its channel or group.
The usual mistake is to treat the mix bus as a universal repair shop. Bus processing magnifies an existing balance rather than replacing it; the harder it is pushed, the less headroom remains for mastering.
Sources
- 混音总线的处理与余量，参 Bob Katz, Mastering Audio 与 Bobby Owsinski, The Mixing Engineer's Handbook；本文为原创表述
Used for fact-checking only; all prose is original.