At ‘The Art of Mastering’, a sell-out evening hosted earlier this month by London’s iconic high-end audio retailer KJ West One, Metropolis Studios’ mastering engineer Tony Cousins enlightened guests with a fascinating talk on the huge changes that current technologies have brought to the role of mastering – and how these are affecting both hi-fi product design and, ultimately, the listening experience. 

Tony Cousins, a renowned British mastering engineer with more than 40 years’ experience, is known for his work with artists including The Rolling Stones, Peter Gabriel, Elton John, Adele and Massive Attack.

In his talk for KJ West One, Tony took the audience back further still, in a journey from the beginnings of mastering right up to the present day. While the essential goal of the mastering engineer – to both preserve and enhance the integrity of the music – has remained constant, the technologies available to do so have evolved considerably, as have those used at the listening end.

As a result, while mastering was in large part a ‘transformative’ job back in the earlier days of vinyl, today the role is vastly more creative, and arguably more important than ever, as the tools available to the engineer – and hence what the engineer can do in terms of tidying up the mix and creating the ‘perfect sound’ – would have previously been inconceivable.

At the same time, the rise in the popularity of music streaming and the effect of that on both mastering decisions and hi-fi design cannot be under-estimated.

The evening’s talk, which was hosted by KJ West One’s MBL specialist Sebastian Taber, was illustrated using original studio tracks, brought in from Tony’s studio and played to guests on an MBL system which included the company’s celebrated Radialstrahler 101 E MKII omnidirectional loudspeakers, powered by MBL’s Noble Line electronics including the latest release, the already multi-award winning C41 network player, incorporating streamer, DAC and preamplifier.

Tony also shared that MBL is his system of choice for personal use. He said, “I feel that my MBL system offers a rare insight into the intricacies of a recording and so, at home, when I want to sit back and listen to music in its fullest gamut of elements, that’s where I turn.”

Find out more about MBL’s pioneering omnidirectional Radialstrahler loudspeakers – which feature a spherical, 360°, pulsating sound wave construction that remains unique in the world – as well as their superbly-crafted high-fidelity audio electronics – and keep an eye out for further event announcements – at www.mbl.de/en and www.kjwestone.co.uk