Common
questions.

Two fees, added together: the room at $22 an hour, plus your engineer's hourly rate. With Eric that comes to $67 an hour all-in; with Dillon it comes to $52 an hour. Longer sessions cost less per hour — book 8 hours with Eric and it works out to about $56 an hour. Both fees are itemized at checkout on EngineEars, so you see the full number before you pay anything. The room isn't rented on its own — every session includes an engineer at the desk.

Tap Book, then pick it all right here: the engineer, the day and hours, or the service and how many songs, with the price at every step. Type your artist name and tap Book now, then pay on the EngineEars checkout. How much you pay up front depends on the engineer and the service — some take a 50% deposit, others are paid in full at booking. EngineEars shows you the exact amount before you confirm. You get a confirmation email as soon as it goes through.

Dolby Atmos is spatial audio. Instead of a mix that only lives left and right, elements are placed around the listener. Apple Music and Tidal both stream it. Dillon is Dolby Atmos certified and mixes in Atmos at $200 a song. The honest answer on whether you need it: worth it if you are chasing Apple Music placement, or if the record is headphone music where space is part of the point. If you are dropping a single that has to hit on a phone speaker, put the money into a better stereo mix first. Ask us and we will tell you straight.

Mixing and mastering are fully remote, worldwide. You upload your files through EngineEars and we deliver back through the same place — you never have to be in the room. Recording is the exception: that happens in person at the studio in Knightdale, NC.

24-bit WAV or AIFF at the session sample rate. Export every file from the same start point so everything lines up when it lands. Group and label them clearly: drums, bass, instruments, vocals. For a 2-track mix, send the stereo beat file plus your vocal comps. Wet and dry vocal versions are welcome if you have both. Mastering is different: it starts from a finished mix, so send one final stereo bounce rather than stems — 24-bit WAV or AIFF at your session sample rate, ideally with no limiter on the master bus and peaks around -6dB.

A 2-track mix is one stereo instrumental file plus your vocals. A full-stem mix is every element as its own file, so each one can be moved on its own. One thing to know before you book: if the instrumental needs more than one file — beat switches, sound design, separated elements — that is a full-stem mix and it is billed as one. With Eric that is $499 rather than $199; with Dillon it is $130 rather than $100. With Eric, a full-stem mix is also delivered mastered and publish-ready — or plain, with no master, if you prefer. No other service includes free mastering. If you are not sure which one you have, ask before you pay.

Standard mixing turnaround is 3 to 5 business days from the day we have your files. Rush work is available. Ask when you book so we can confirm the date up front instead of guessing at it later.

It depends on the engineer. With Eric: 2 free revisions on 2-track mixes and masters, 3 on full-stem mixes, then $49 each. Every revision with Eric happens as a live MUSE session at no extra charge — you talk with him, hear the audio in high quality, and watch the Pro Tools screen in real time. With Dillon: 1 free revision on full-stem mixes ($6 each after), 2-track mixes ($5 each after) and Dolby Atmos mixes ($10 each after). His mastering has no free revision — those are $5 each. Send all your notes in one list — that counts as a single revision.

Studio A is in Knightdale, NC 27545, just east of Raleigh. Sessions run from 2 to 8 hours with a 2-hour minimum. Book at least 24 hours ahead with Eric and 12 hours ahead with Dillon. We leave at least 15 minutes between sessions so nobody gets rushed out.

Then you are in good company — plenty of people book their first-ever session here. Bring your files or bring an idea. Your engineer runs the technical side, sets your headphone mix, and tells you what to do next. Ask questions, including the obvious ones. If the booking part is what is putting you off, here is how it works, step by step.