Good vs. Bad Mastering

[Ptah]

masterin is different for every format and every type o tune. you really need to get the mix right. that is more imortant than mastering.

[twilitez]

Im undecided about this myself. To squash or not to squash, lol.

[fiveone]

Test your mastering on other systems.
It`s the only way of knowing what your mastering is like in the context of a professional system.

good advice, but I'm not asking about professional systems. thanks, for trying to help, though.

I think Electric meant that you should try and listen to the tune that you yourself have mastered on a variety of different systems, to get a feel for how it sounds. For example, when I master I obviously listen back to the track on my studio machine, with the proper monitors. But then I burn a copy onto CD so I can listen to it through the PA system I run my CDJs through in the lounge, and in the car to see how my shitty car stereo speakers handle it.

this 100% - i'm just getting to grips with how things "should sound" on systems when they're not mixed down/mastered properly, and seeing as i don't have professional speakers to produce on, this is my only choice! but i don't mind doing this for the time being, i think of it as training the ears and knowing what should sound "right"