DESCRIPTION:
Stephen Marsh is a highly sought after provider of custom mastering services to the production communities of Los Angeles and beyond. He has mastered Grammy winners and multiple gold and platinum albums and his clients include:

Jeff Beck
The Donnas
Marianne Faithfull
Ginuwine
Incubus
Los Lobos
Kenny Loggins
Keb' Mo'
The Pharcyde

His soundtrack and compilation credits include Elf, Sideways, The Notebook, The Wedding Crashers; plus Barenaked Ladies, Black Eyed Peas, Bonnie Raitt, David Gray, Def Leppard, Elvis Costello, Fiona Apple, Rob Thomas, and Sheryl Crow.

According to Stephen, what separates good mastering from great mastering is the mix -- the main ingredients going into the sauce -- and sometimes there is conflict in the kitchen! "Mastering is at the end of the production chain yet we're eternally in the middle between the artists and mixing engineers. We are the person that the bucket is passed to it we have to deliver the good or bad news as it's been handed down to us."

From an equipment standpoint, Stephen chooses things he can count on. "Reliability and product consistency is critical. KRK speakers have universality to them so I can go to any studio with KRKs and know what I am hearing. When I'm listening in a room with clients, they aren't so pretty that they fool you into thinking you are getting one thing and you really hearing another. Nor are they so dull and boring that I have to make excuses or explain to people what they are hearing. They make my room more translatable helping me to understand what the music is going to sound like outside my room. I tell clients all the time that my VXTs are a vital link to what things sound like in the real world."

In an industry driven by technological evolution and process revolution, it is clear that artists and engineers always have an eye on what's next. "Whatever is going on with the shape and design of the VXTs is killer. They literally don't sound boxy, you can close your eyes and the sound just emanates from them. I don't know if every speaker in the future will sound like them but I'm certain they will look like them."