If the hosts of the competition are going to master it...perhaps just concentrate on getting your mixdown sounding how you want and let them deal with the rest. If you think you've nailed the mixdown, then raising the volume through gain staging can be a simpler process for you i.e. less distortion ...

if your tune is too loud they'll think "fuck we cant get this mastered anymore" -> they cant release it -> you dont win.

in those competition its about a lot of things, but definetly not how loud/phat your tune sounds. they have the money and gear to fix that shit, make sure your mixdown is clear ...

benjaminC wrote:Yes!!! Read this its quality, doesn't matter if you dont have ozone either
http://izotope.fileburst.com/guides/Mas ... _Ozone.pdf

Thanks, this was really helpful

Basically I have finished a remix for a competition and obviously the mixdown and mastering is the next stage to make it sound phat (without killing it), but I am no expert on mastering and have no idea about it. The hosts of the remix say they would get it professionally done if it did indeed win ...