Final-mix QC is a repeatable verification process, not a last casual listen. Separate creative approval from technical inspection so that story decisions, format compliance and file integrity are each checked deliberately.
Perform QC from the exported masters whenever possible. The printed file can contain an offline bounce problem, wrong start time, missing tail or channel-order error that was never present on the live mix bus.
First Pass: Story and Continuity
Watch the programme without stopping and note intelligibility, balance, perspective, transitions and distracting edits. A continuous pass reveals emotional discontinuities that are easy to miss while looping individual cues.
Confirm that dialogue remains understandable without sounding detached from the location, that music handovers are intentional, and that ambience carries smoothly across editorial cuts.
- Dialogue intelligibility and perspective
- Music entrances, exits and editorial joins
- Background continuity and scene changes
- Effect sync, scale and narrative focus
- Credits, logos and end tails
Second Pass: Technical Compliance
Measure integrated loudness, true peak and any required short-term or loudness-range limits. Verify sample rate, bit depth, frame rate, start timecode, duration, channel count and channel order against the delivery sheet.
Listen to every discrete channel and stem. Check for silent or duplicated channels, accidental LFE content, centre leakage, polarity problems and print paths that do not null or reconstruct as expected.
Free utilities for timecode, frames, samples, file size and delivery-related calculations.
View ResourceFile and Version Control
Confirm that filenames, version numbers, language codes and episode identifiers match the delivery manifest. Compare stereo, 5.1, Atmos renders, M&E and stems for identical sync and programme boundaries.
Keep a signed-off QC log stating the file examined, date, meter result and any accepted exception. If a master changes after QC, increment the revision and repeat the affected checks.
Minimum Delivery Gate
- Exported master auditioned from beginning to end
- Loudness and true peak measured after export
- Channel order and content verified by soloing
- All versions share start, duration and sync
- Manifest, filenames and checksums agree
Mixing perspective: A master that needs an accompanying verbal explanation is not ready for unattended platform QC.
Use a written checklist for every project. Familiarity with a mix makes the brain overlook errors; a fixed QC sequence restores objectivity.