Dark Star Audio

Electronic Music Specialists

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193 Reviews (182 Verified)
Dark Star Audio on SoundBetter

FINISH YOUR TRACK WITH US! Mixing, Mastering, Production + More

We offer a full range of audio services & artist development through one-on-one personalized interaction with our industry professionals. We deliver prestine audio that translates across all audio systems, making your music radio, club & festival ready.

EDM | POP | HIP HOP | R&B | TECHNO | HOUSE | TECH HOUSE | TRAP | TROPICAL
DEEP HOUSE | FUTURE BASS | FUTURE HOUSE | TRANCE | DANCE | + MORE

With over 30 years of experience, we have worked with the most sought after brands, labels and artists in the industry. With our help, our clients have earned #1 chart positions on Beatport, several TOP 10 releases and hundreds of TOP 100 tracks, which are supported and played by the largest touring artists in the world. Our finished music also has millions of streams on Spotify and Apple Music. We are here to share our expertise with you!

SONY | ULTRA | SPINNIN | TOOLROOM | INTEC | DEFECTED | DOWNTOWN RECORDS
NIKE | EMI | ABLETON | SONIC ACADEMY | PYRAMIND | SAMPLE MAGIC | + MORE

Click the 'Contact' above to get in touch. Looking forward to hearing from you.

193 Reviews - 39 Repeat Clients

Endorse Dark Star Audio
  1. Review by GALAFUNK
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    Wonderful job, takes care of your needs & listens to you. Will be back soon for more!

  2. Review by Roland R.
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    Great second session,

    Made great progress and enjoyed the time spent.

    I’m taking what I’ve learned into my next project and noticing the differences already.

  3. Review by Roland R.
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    High value, you have the opportunity to learn while Ryan mixes (if you want)
    Ryan is personable, and an excellent teacher with a wealth of knowledge.

    Just one session has been enough to elevate my game and uncover some points for me to improve on.

    I recommend this service to anyone that takes dance music production seriously and wants to improve.

  4. Review by Eternal Art Cult
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    Ryan's easy to communicate with and makes it fun to share a creative space🪐 Look forward to working with him more!

  5. Review by Lucas D.
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    Good Job <3

  6. Review by GALAFUNK
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    A pleassure working with Dark Star Audio. Proffesionalism, high-end results & smooth communication. Simply perfect!

  7. Review by David S.
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    Ryan did an excellent mix and master for my song and he was a real pleasure to work with. I highly recommend him.

  8. Review by Luna Studio LA
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    Always a pleasure working with these guys! They always come through!

  9. Review by Luna Studio LA
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    Always a pleasure working with Ryan, he always kills it and always understands the assignment!

  10. Review by William E.
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    Professional and knowledgeable. Attentive 2-way communication which is great for mentoring. I'm learning a lot and am being steered in the right direction towards more professional sounding music. You can tell he has lots of experience in the industry and it is money well spent on my end as he helps me take my amateur skillset to the next level.

    For reference, I'm a 37-year-old sales manager in the live events industry. And Dark Star aligns well with what I consider to be higher-end service

  11. Review by Christian F.
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    Another great experience with Dark Star Audio. Ryan always goes the extra mile.

  12. Review by Chris S.
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    Mac and Ryan are amazing! Super down to earth, very talented, and really go the extra mile to make sure that you are satisfied. My experience with them felt very personal. I highly recommend!

  13. Review by Luna Studio LA
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    Love this team, they are so responsive, and attentive to our needs!

  14. Review by Jeremy
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    Really enjoyed working with Ryan - He elevated the sound of my track and walked me through his process. Incredibly knowledgable and great to work with. Looking forward to our next project together!

  15. Review by Luna Studio LA
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    another great product from Ryan at Dark Star Audio! Always a pleasure

  16. Review by Luna Studio LA
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    We always love working with these guys! They are fast, communicative, professional, and ALWAYS deliver a high quality project that we have found lacking with previous mixing / mastering engineers. Will / have always highly recommended Dark Star to any of our musical connections looking for new engineers!

  17. Review by Matt D.
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    Never fails that you will get exactly what you are looking for from these guys. Always a pleasure working with Dark Star Audio.

  18. Review by Luna Studio LA
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    Always awesome working with these guys! They always get the project done in a timely, and professional manner! Never been let down by Dark Star, would 100000/10 recommend them to anyone!

  19. Review by Luna Studio LA
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    Always great to work with these guys!

  20. Review by Matt D.
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    Doesn’t matter what genre you are working with, Dark Star Audio will work wonders every time . Always a pleasure doing business with these guys!

Interview with Dark Star Audio

  1. Q: What's your strongest skill?

  2. A: Listening! Understanding and delivering on our clients needs while exceeding their expectations is our focus. We customize the production, mixing and mastering experiences for each client.

  3. Q: Describe the most common type of work you do for your clients.

  4. A: Dark Star Audio is an Electronic Music focused studio that specializes in music production, mixing, mastering, mentoring, and artist development. No matter what stage of the song writing process you are at, no matter what your skill level is, we will personally work with you to not only help mix, master or produce your music, we will also make sure your music career is on the right path! We have helped hundreds of artists take their ideas, sketches, projects, finished songs and branding to a new level of professionalism, get signed to today’s top labels and reach their music goals.

  5. Q: Tell us about your studio setup.

  6. A: We have 2 custom studios in the San Francisco Bay Area that host in person & remote sessions via Skype. Both of our rooms have been properly treated with GIK paneling throughout. At the heart of Studio 1 is the Antelope Audio 32+. Studio 2 hosts the RME Fireface 802 and Black Lion Micro Clock.

  7. Q: What other musicians or music production professionals inspire you?

  8. A: There are simply too many in the industry to mention by name. However, we find ourselves inspired each day by watching our clients reach their goals.

  9. Q: What are you working on at the moment?

  10. A: We just finished up an album for 1 artist, a 6 track EP for another artist, 4 tracks in which we Co-Produced with 2 other artists. We are always working on Sound Design & Sample Packs.

  11. Q: What was your career path? How long have you been doing this?

  12. A: Mac Vaughn, the lead Engineer began his passion for music as a bass player. From there, moved on to DJing. Then decided to become a producer. Being a producer made him want to know everything he could about perfecting music, and it was that intensive learning that inadvertently opened the door to becoming a mastering engineer. "I've been a mastering engineer now for over 7 years now. I started off mastering music for my dance label "Fierce Animal Recordings". Other labels started to ask me who was doing my mastering and the rest is history." -Mac Vaughn Dark Star Audio has grown year over year since the start. We have recently opened a 2nd studio and have big plans for the upcoming years.

  13. Q: Tell us about a project you worked on you are especially proud of and why. What was your role?

  14. A: We worked on the music and sound design for a University of Phoenix commercial with Giancarlo Esposito. It was an intensive project, but I am still very happy with the results.

  15. Q: Analog or digital and why?

  16. A: Some analog, but mostly digital. Most mastering engineers are using plugins these days. Maybe it's laziness, but for us- it's that we can achieve relatively the same result but much quicker. Because we are able to do this, We transfer the savings on to our clients.

  17. Q: What's the biggest misconception about what you do?

  18. A: A major misconception is that if someone has a limiter plug in, they can master their own music. Mastering is much more than just using a limiter.

  19. Q: What questions do you ask prospective clients?

  20. A: We normally ask them for reference tracks so we can get an idea of what sound they are looking for. For production clients, we ask them what their expectations are for their music careers and what goals they have.

  21. Q: What type of music do you usually work on?

  22. A: We primarily work on electronic music. The reason for this is simple. Rather than being a broad based, we narrow our focus to one area so we can provide the greatest expertise and experience.

  23. Q: What's your typical work process?

  24. A: Magic!

  25. Q: What's your 'promise' to your clients?

  26. A: We promise you will get what you want or you will get your money back. Simple.

  27. Q: What do you like most about your job?

  28. A: We love to say "Your track is ready for the world". Being the studio our clients trust is a huge honor and we are very grateful.

  29. Q: If you were on a desert island and could take just 5 pieces of gear, what would they be?

  30. A: iMac Desktop, Soundcard, Headphones, Blender and Coffee Machine. Hopefully it's a tropical island where we can have access to fresh fruit and coffee beans!

  31. Q: What do you bring to a song?

  32. A: We specialize in electronic/dance music, and bring decades of experienced ears.

  33. Q: Is there anyone on SoundBetter you know and would recommend to your clients?

  34. A: Not that I know of.

  35. Q: What questions do customers most commonly ask you? What's your answer?

  36. A: When can I have this back? How soon do you need it?

  37. Q: What advice do you have for a customer looking to hire a provider like you?

  38. A: 1. Can you hear examples of their work? 2. Have you emailed them questions and how soon did they respond?

  39. Q: How would you describe your style?

  40. A: Simple, Colorful, Transparent.

  41. Q: Can you share one music production tip?

  42. A: If it sounds good, it is good.

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Cassady - Shame

I was the Mixing/Mastering Engineer in this production


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Terms Of Service

We will do up to 2 revisions on all our work. Turn around time ranges from 2-14 days depending on project.
For our complete Terms & Conditions please visit: https://darkstaraudio.com/pages/policy

Gear Highlights
  • Antelope Audio Orion 32+ GEN 3
  • RME Fireface 802
  • Dangerous Audio AD+
  • Dangerous Source
  • Burl B32 Vancouver
  • BetterMaker Bus Compressor
  • BetterMaker Mastering Limiter
  • Black Lion MKII
  • Dynaudio LYD 48s
  • Ears
  • Experience.
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