Knowing how to export a song from your DAW is the final step that turns your project into a file you can share, upload or send for mastering. The process is similar in every DAW — it’s usually called Export, Bounce or Render — and the choices that matter are file format, sample rate, bit depth and the section you’re exporting. This guide covers all of them.
Get these settings right and your track will sound exactly like it did in your project, with no clipping, no missing tails, and the right quality for its destination.
Find the export command in your DAW
The wording differs, but the function is the same:
- Logic Pro / GarageBand — Share or Bounce.
- Reaper — File > Render.
- Ableton Live — File > Export Audio/Video.
- FL Studio — File > Export.
- Studio One / Cubase / Pro Tools — Export Mixdown or Bounce.
If you’re still choosing a program, our roundup of the best DAWs for music production compares the main options and how each one handles exporting.
Choose the right file format
Pick the format based on where the song is going:
- WAV or AIFF — uncompressed, full quality. Use this for masters, for sending to a mastering engineer, and for uploading to streaming platforms.
- MP3 — compressed and small. Use it for quick demos, email and previews, not for the final master.
- FLAC — compressed but lossless. A good archive format.
Always keep a WAV master even if you also make an MP3 to share.
Set sample rate and bit depth
Export at the same sample rate your project was recorded in — usually 44.1 kHz or 48 kHz — to avoid an extra conversion. For bit depth, choose 24-bit for masters and files you’ll send for mastering; it gives more headroom and detail than 16-bit. Only render to 16-bit when a delivery spec specifically requires it. If those terms are new, our sample rate and bit depth explained guide breaks them down.
Set your render range and check levels
The most common export mistakes are exporting the wrong section or cutting off reverb tails. Before you render:
- Set the time/loop selection to cover the whole song, plus a beat or two of silence at the end so reverb and delay tails ring out fully.
- Check your master meter. The mix should peak below 0 dBFS — leave a little headroom (around -1 dB) so nothing clips, especially if a mastering engineer will work on it.
- Make sure no tracks are accidentally muted or soloed.
If your master is peaking too hot, revisit your gain staging rather than just pulling down the master fader. And if the render itself comes back with audible distortion, our guide on how to fix a distorted or clipping recording walks through where it usually creeps in.
Real-time versus offline (faster-than-real-time) bouncing
Most DAWs let you render offline, processing the audio as fast as your computer allows rather than playing it back in real time. Offline is quicker and is fine for the vast majority of projects. There are a couple of situations where you should switch to a real-time bounce instead:
- You’re using external hardware — an outboard compressor, a hardware synth or an analogue effects unit. Those signals have to pass through the interface as the song plays, so an offline render can’t capture them.
- A plugin behaves differently offline, which occasionally happens with certain older or modulation-heavy effects. If your render sounds wrong compared to playback, try a real-time bounce and compare.
After any export, play the finished file back from start to finish outside your DAW. It’s the only reliable way to catch a dropout, a missed mute or a tail that got clipped before you send the file anywhere.
Mono, stereo and stems
For a finished song you almost always want a single interleaved stereo file. Two cases call for something different. If you’re delivering for a mastering engineer or a collaborator, they may ask for stems — separate audio files for drums, bass, vocals and so on, all starting from the same point so they line up perfectly when imported. Export each group with the same start and end so they stay in sync. The other case is mono: some podcast and broadcast specs, or a club system you know sums to mono, benefit from a mono check, but for music releases stick with stereo unless you’re told otherwise.
Loudness and mastering
An exported mix is not the same as a master. Streaming platforms target a loudness level measured in LUFS, and a dedicated master brings your track up to a competitive, consistent loudness. Read LUFS explained: how loud should a master be and what is mastering to understand the final stage. If you’d rather hand the WAV off, one of the best online mastering services can take it from here. For a quick check, compare your export against a commercial reference track.
Common export mistakes to avoid
- Leaving a limiter or loudness plugin on the master while exporting for mastering. If someone else is mastering the track, give them a clean, unprocessed mix with headroom — not a squashed one.
- Up-sampling on export. Rendering a 44.1 kHz project at 96 kHz doesn’t add quality; it just makes a bigger file. Match the project rate.
- Exporting the master MP3 as your only copy. MP3 is lossy and can’t be turned back into a true master. Keep the WAV.
- Forgetting tail silence. A render that ends on the last note clips the reverb. Add a couple of seconds.
- Normalising without thinking. Normalising raises a file to a fixed peak, but it doesn’t make a track competitively loud and can interfere with a mastering engineer’s work. Leave it off unless you have a reason.
Frequently asked questions
What format should I export for Spotify and Apple Music?
Upload a high-quality WAV or AIFF at the project’s native sample rate and 24-bit depth. The platform handles its own compression, so you don’t need to make an MP3 yourself.
Why is my exported song quieter than commercial tracks?
Because your mix hasn’t been mastered. Mastering raises and controls the overall loudness to a competitive level. Don’t just crank the master fader — that causes clipping.
Why does my export cut off at the end?
Your render range probably stops right at the last note. Extend the selection by a couple of seconds so reverb and delay tails have room to fade out naturally.
Should I dither when I export?
Only when you’re reducing bit depth — for example, rendering a 24-bit project down to a 16-bit file. Dither adds a tiny amount of noise that smooths out the rounding and keeps quiet detail clean. If you’re exporting at 24-bit, you don’t need it.
