Founded in 2024 and located in a converted stables in one of Kreuzberg’s most buzzing restaurant and bar districts, Tuff Mastering is Berlin’s premier, boutique audio mastering house and home to the Grammy, MPG and multi-platinum award-winning mastering engineer, Kevin Tuffy.

kevin tuffy

Kevin was voted the UK Mastering Engineer of the Year in 2022 by the Music Producers’ Guild, he first began his career as a recording studio engineer in 2006, then as a tape specialist on remastering projects before dedicating his focus solely on mastering since 2014. He has previously worked out of some of London’s most prestigious mastering houses including Metropolis and Alchemy Mastering (where he learnt to cut lacquers for vinyl under the tutelage of legendary mastering engineer Barry “Bazza” Grint) and has appeared as a guest lecturer on mastering at BIMM’s university campuses in London & Berlin and the Off The Record music conference in Manchester in 2018. He has mastered records by many artists around the world from a variety of genres including Headie One, Chaka Khan, Matt Maltese, Kelly Rowland, Soft Play, CKay, Litany, Bob Vylan, AJR, MØ, Nines, Alfie Templeman, Orla Gartland, The Big Moon, Jason Derulo, Pa Salieu and Wes Nelson (see selected discography below, for more). At the 2019 Recording Academy awards Koffee’s “Rapture”, which Kevin mastered, won the Grammy for best reggae album. His favourite album is The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill, he possesses a life-long obsession with the songs of Bob Dylan, his favourite rapper is Big L and his favourite Beatle is George.

Contact / Rates:

For our full rate card or for any other enquiries, please don’t hesitate to say hi at:

hello@tuffmastering.com

the lab

Acoustically-tuned and treated for optimised listening, with audiophile quality ADC and DAC for transfer and the finest reference monitor, full-range loudspeakers from ATC. We blend vintage, analogue, classic equalisers and compressors from the likes of Sontec, Rupert Neve & API all housed in a custom Predki mastering desk with the most cutting edge in audio production software to deliver records that sound vibrant, immersive and dynamic.

Selected Discography:

Cover art for Deco's 'Destination: I don't know'

Cover art for James Smith's 'Common People'

Cover art for Litany's single 'Playlist'

Cover art for gglum's 'Once the edge has worn off'

Cover art for MØ's 'Motordrome (The Dødsdrom Edition)'

Cover art for Sabina Ddumba's 'Blow My Mind'

Cover art for Sundara Karma's 'Oblivion'

Cover art for JC Stewart's 'I Need You To Hate Me'

Cover art for Elsas's 'The Art of Concrete'

Cover art for Alfie Templeman's 'Mellow Moon'

Cover art for Alfie Templeman's 'Like An Animal'

Cover art for Pixey 's 'Million Dollar Baby'

Cover art for WOOZE's 'Get Me To A Nunnery'

Cover art for The Staves's 'Home Alone Too'

Cover art for Santino Le Saint's 'Beatufiul Disaster'

Cover art for Hunter & The Bear's 'Paper Heart'

Cover art for King Charles's 'Out Of My Mind'

Cover art for modernlove.'s 'On My Mind'

Cover art for Liang Lawrence's 'Letters to Myself'

Cover art for Leith's 'Birthdays in July'

Cover art for 49th & Main's 'Must Be Nice'

Cover art for Joe Hertz's 'Kiss From The Sun'

Cover art for Wyldest's 'Monthly Friend'

Cover art for Django Django's 'Under Fire'

Cover art for The Dawdler's 'Sign of Growth'

Black and white picture of Keir laughing with a red background and KEIR written across their face. Cover art for Keir's album 'Keir'

60s style illustration of a one-eyed being with geometrical forms. Cover art for Sharky's 'People Are Strange'

Sparkly landscape with mountains, dragon flies and a hooded figure. Cover art for Wyvern Lingo's 'Awake You Lie'

Illustration of a person getting off a train. Cover art for Alex Amor's 'The Art of Letting Go'

Woman looking into a warm light. Cover art for Nell Mescal 's 'Can I Miss It For A Minute'

Emoji of a broken heart in a square speech bubble. Cover art for T2's 'Heartbroken 2022'

Surreal painting featuring a flower, a butterfly and a window in the desert. Cover art for Jim Lockey & the Solemn Sun's 'Colour'

A doctor in a white lab coat standing on stage in front of a red curtain. Cover art for Girl and Girl's 'Call A Doctor'

Two kids in hoodies sitting on a wall with a factory in the background. Cover art for Kodaline's 'Brother EP'

Three people standing next to a big purple figure. Cover art for Haich Ber Na's 'When We Knew Less'

Old-fashioned business sign next to a street lamp. Cover art for Cock Sparrer's 'Hand on Heart'

Cover art for Norah Hendriks's 'Every Single Thing'

Cover art for Haich Ber Na's 'The Everyday'

Cover art for Gabriel Gifford's 'Hailstone King'

Cover art for Wes Nelson, French Montana's 'Fly Away'

Cover art for James Smith's 'Tell Me That You Love Me'

Cover art for Florence + The Machine's 'You've Got The Love (Jamie xx Rework)'

Cover art for Joy Crookes's 'Yah / Element'

Cover art for RuthAnne's 'Matters of The Heart'

Cover art for Jordan McKampa 's 'Welcome Home Kid'

Cover art for Alfie Templeman's 'Sunday Morning Cereal'

Cover art for SOFY's 'Bored in Colour (Pt 2)'

Cover art for WOOZE's 'what's on your mind?'

Cover art for Katy B's 'Peace and Offerings'

Cover art for The Staves's 'Nothing's Gonna Happen (Demo)'

Cover art for Santino Le Saint's 'Rage of Angels'

Cover art for Crazy Cousinz, M.O's 'Feelings (Wifey)'

Cover art for Henry Green's 'Familiarity'

Cover art for Lexie Carroll's 'You Look Lovely When You're Living'

Cover art for Drauve's 'No Hope For Anything'

Cover art for Carmody's 'Imperfect Constellations'

Cover art for Wings of Desire's 'Life is Infinite'

Cover art for Mega 's 'Honour and Glory'

Cover art for Nick Wilson's 'Now I'm Falling'

Cover art for AKA Block's 'All My Favourite Socks Have Holes'

Cover art for Aby Coulibaly's 'At The End of the Day It's Night'

Samuel Jack sitting in an armchair looking up. Cover art for Samuel Jack's 'The Gold and The Glory'

Blue old-fashioned letters spelling TNSW on red background. Cover art for These New South Whales' 'TNSW'

Cover art for Erasure's 'The Neon Remixed'

Woman turning on a road in a leather jacket. Cover art for Chloe Slater's 'You Can't Put A Price On Fun'

Young woman wearing sunglasses in a dark room looking into the camera. Cover art for Cole Bleu's 'Delete My Feelings'

Bright colours bleeding into eachother. Cover art for House Gospel Choir's 'Re/Choired'

Woman wearing a beanie sitting in a bathroom showing her middle finger to the camera. Cover art for The Blessed Madonna's 'Fuck What You Heard'

A man half in the shadow looking at the camera in front of a dark red background. Cover art for August Charles' 'Blessed'

A spine in the dark. Cover art for Harvey Causon's 'Vertebrae'

Young woman in a denim jacket with cloudy sky in the background. Cover art for Paige Fish's 'In Another Lifetime'

Cover art for Rat Boy's 'Suburbia Calling'

Cover art for Naima Bock's 'Below a Massive Dark Land'

Cover art for Litany's EP 'Single Player Mode'

Cover art for Stormzy, Headie One and AJ Tracey's 'Ain't It Different'

Cover art for Jesse Quinn's 'While The World Sleeps'

Cover art for Litany's EP 'Adult Movies'

Cover art for Conor Albert's 'Collage 2'

Cover art for Eyelar's 'Say It With Your Eyes'

Cover art for JC Stewart's 'Lying That You Love Me'

Cover art for Jodie Abacus 's 'Mild Cartoon Violence'

Cover art for Alfie Templeman's 'Don't Go Wasting Time'

Cover art for SOFY's 'Bored in Colour (Pt 1)'

Cover art for Elizabeth M Drummond's 'Congratulations'

Cover art for Sasha Keable's 'Intermission'

Cover art for Orla Gartland's 'Freckle Season'

Cover art for Dapz on the Map's 'Champion Settings'

Cover art for Henry Green's 'Half Light'

Cover art for tinyumbrellahs's 'Somewhere To Fall Asleep'

Cover art for Lewis McLaughlin's 'Feel The Ground You Walk Upon'

Cover art for Kaiser Chiefs's 'How 2 Dance'

Cover art for L'objectif's 'The Left Side'

Cover art for Thomas Headon's 'Victoria'

Cover art for Beth McCarthy's 'She Gets The Flowers'

Cover art for Alex Amor's 'Love Language'

Woman with closed eyes in front of flowers and butterflies. Cover art for Sonia Stein's 'Lessons From Earth'

Cover art for Hoogenboom's 'Good For Nothing'

Illustration of a woman in a floral gown carrying a candle in front of a spiral staircase. Cover art for Linying's 'There Could Be Wreckage Here'

Young man standing in a convertible car with his eyes closed. Cover art for Alex Gough's 'Forever Classic'

Person sitting in the grass with two goats. Cover art for Searows' 'End of The World'

Black and white photo of a male neck. Cover art for Josef Salvat's 'The Close / Le Reveil'

Young woman looking into the camera with her curls falling into her face. Cover art for Lizzie Reid's 'Mooching'

Surreal image of a window showing a sunset at sea and a keyboard with cables on the ground. Cover art for Viscardi II & Duo Magnetico's 'Elka Mare'

A woman turned sideways in front of a brick wall. Cover art for Nadia Rose's 'WUT2'

A man in a suit wearing sunglasses in front of a red background. Cover art for T Truman's 'Guaranteed To Shine'

Cover art for Avelino with Haile and Kojey Radical's 'Bad Britain'

Cover art for A Certain Ratio's 'ACR:Loco'

Cover art for Pa Salieu's 'Mister Lennon'

Cover art for James Smith's 'District Line'

Cover art for Sundara Karma's 'Better Luck Next Time'

Cover art for MILYMA's 'Only Lovers Left A Lie'

Cover art for Alfie Templeman's 'Happiness in Liquid Form'

Cover art for WOOZE's 'The Magnificent Eleven'

Cover art for Lauren Faith's 'No Path To Follow'

Cover art for Santino Le Saint's 'No More Icons'

Cover art for Dapz on the Map's 'Landed'

Cover art for modernlove.'s 'Night Life'

Cover art for Joel Baker's 'Hush Now My Fears'

Cover art for Alice Auer and Conor Albert's 'Smile'

Cover art for Edie Bens's 'Playing Pretend'

Cover art for Hifi Sean & David McAlmont's 'Happy Ending'

Cover art for Thomas Headon, Lizzy McAlpine's 'Bored'

Cover art for Cian Ducrot's 'Started in College'

Monochromatic geometric shapes. Cover art for Yann Tiersen's 'Kerber (Remixes)'

Silhouette of a woman looking over a landscape under a cloudy sky. Cover art for Mt Desolation 's 'Through Crooked Aim'

Double exposed picture of a bearded man wearing a cap. Cover art for Ryan Sheridan's 'Americana'

Woman with flowers in her hair wearing a dark blazer looking into the camera. Cover art for Hannah Grace's 'Remedy'

Handcuffed blue figure on a police car. Cover art for Barry Can't Swim's 'Kimbara'

Vinyl record. Cover art for D Mob's 'We Call It Acieeed (2019 Remaster)'

Comic style illustration of the band. Cover art for Yard Act and Mad Professor's 'The Overdub'

Illustration of a faceless man carrying a pig on his back. Cover art for The Soup Dragons' 'Love is Love'

Abstract collage of colourful faces. Cover art for Sterling Press's 'Baby Steps'

A young child looking into the camera resting its head on his forearm. Cover art for Tiggs Da Author's 'Glenville Grove'

Cover art for Spinn's 'Oh My God I Am So Alone'

Young woman sitting with her back against a wall, holding her stomach. Cover art for Siobhán Winifred's 'Don't Do Well Alone'

Cover art for Pa Sheehy's 'Maybe it was all for this'

Cover art for Bob Vylan's 'Humble as the Sun'

FAQs

What Is Mastering?

Mastering is the final stage of the production before a record is released (record buyers and digital streaming platform users listen to “Masters” every day). It entails applying the final stages of processing to a mixdown to ensure your record is of the correct volume, packs the desired intensity and punch and isn’t too bright or too bassy but perfectly balanced for listening in all contexts and on all systems from a concert venue front of house to a bluetooth speaker. It’s the final opportunity to remove any unwanted clicks, noises, hums and hisses so that the recording sounds as professional and clear as possible so that the art can reach the listeners, optimised to the make the greatest impact. We sequence songs into EPs, mixtapes and albums and ensure a degree of consistency and seamless playback through longer form projects with multiple songs so that they immerse the audience from start to finish. We publish final master files appropriate for all of the various commercially available audio formats and with all the necessary metadata embedded.

Can I Attend Mastering?

Clients are welcome to arrange attending their mastering sessions at our studio in Berlin in advance via telephone or email.

How should I deliver my mixes?

Mixes should be delivered in fully uncompressed PCM, audio formats (usually AIFF or WAV) at the native sample rate of the recording and with a bit depth no lower than 24 bit. Undithered is preferred but not essential. Mixes should be supplied without any mix bus limiting (although a limited version of the mix, for reference, is always welcomed) and the loudest peaks should not exceed -0.1 dBFS. Other mix bus processing is fine to be included. About 3 to 6 dB of headroom is a good ballpark, if you have more than 10 dB of headroom into your mix bus, it never hurts to turn it up and use the dynamic range available to you.

We’re always happy to listen to mixes pre-mastering for any final notes before the session.

Can I make revisions?

The first three revisions on any record are always included in the price. For further revisions or for the supply of new mix files for mastering, additional costs may apply. We’re always happy to discuss this throughout the process.

What are ISRCs?

ISRCs are unique identifying codes for every piece of commercially available audio and are very important to help keep track of streams/plays/downloads to ensure the authors receive their royalties. If these are not being provided by your distributor or label, you can apply for codes via the IFPI. We may request these codes for embedding into metadata during mastering.

How Do I Check Test Pressings?

You should usually receive more than one Test Pressing from the pressing plant. Firstly, you’ll want to check that the tracks are on the correct sides and in the correct order. Always try to listen to your Test Pressing on the best available turntable with the playback stylus properly mounted and the best listening environment available. If you notice a click, noise or playback issue like a skip in the audio, check to see if it occurs in the same place on another of the Test Pressings or is localised to that single disc. We’re always happy to advise on any problems you might have with a Test Pressing issue so please do get in touch and we’ll be happy to advise further.