Great Mastering.
Mastering is a meticulous art, its purpose is to ensure that your track is compatible (i.e sounds the same) on a variety of monitoring environments, from clubs to EarPods all the way through to home speakers and a workman radio.
To accomplish this consists of a lot more than just “increasing volume” by throwing a limiter on the 2-bus. Without a controlled monitoring environment and trained ears, its all too easy to smash the dynamics of the music and ruin the transient energy without noticing because louder always sounds better.
The price, however, is increased signal density that results in ear fatigue for your listeners that will reduce the playability, impact and quality of your music.
