Mastering for
electronic music.
Stays on your machine.

Drop a WAV, MP3, or FLAC. Acetate analyzes the genre, sketches a chain, and renders a finished master in seconds. No uploads. No AI guessing. Just predictable DSP you can read.

Download for macOS → How it works ↓

Why Acetate

Built for people who already know what a good master sounds like.

Private & offline

Audio never leaves your machine. No account required to master and preview - only to export, with a one-time license.

Genre-aware

Spectral targets tuned per family - techno, deep house, microhouse, IDM, minimal. Acetate listens before it touches anything.

Read the chain

Every EQ move, every comp ratio, every clipper stage shown step-by-step. No black-box "AI master" - you can see what changed and why.

A/B preview

Hear before and after, sample-aligned, inside the app. Catch regressions before you export.

One-time purchase

Pay once at launch, use forever. Not a subscription. Final price TBD - beta testers get the early-bird discount.

14-day refund at launch

No questions. If it doesn't work for your material, email and walk away - your masters are yours to keep.

See it work

From rough mix to club-ready, on one screen.

Drop a trackSee the whole pictureCaught before it's baked inA/B, then export
  1. 01

    Drop a track

    Drag a WAV, AIFF, FLAC, or MP3 onto the window. Your recent masters stay one click away - each with its loudness gain and the style Acetate picked.

  2. 02

    See the whole picture

    LUFS, true peak, crest, and a five-band spectral read - then the exact processing chain Acetate proposes. Every move shown, nothing hidden.

  3. 03

    Caught before it's baked in

    Acetate flags a clipped or no-headroom source before you master - so you re-bounce instead of shipping distortion no master can undo.

  4. 04

    A/B, then export

    Audition before and after, sample-aligned. When it sounds right, export 16/24-bit WAV or AIFF - ready to test on a rig tonight.

Made by

Scott Young.

Hong Kong-born producer, DJ, sound artist.

Why Acetate

Most mastering tools flatten everything electronic into the same loudness-war brick wall. Microhouse and minimal lose their breath when they get squashed to -8 LUFS. IDM falls apart when the transients get clipped to nothing.

Acetate is the mastering tool I wanted: genre defaults tuned to the records I actually play and DJ - microhouse, deep house, techno, IDM, broken beat. Every move in the chain is visible and editable. Nothing leaves your machine.

Built in Hong Kong · 2026

FAQ

Common questions.

What is the public beta?

Acetate is in open public beta on macOS (Apple Silicon). Download it free. Windows (x64) lands shortly.

Each install gets 1 free master. Your export opens a short feedback form - genre, DAW, what worked, what didn't. That's how the next build gets tuned. Further exports need a license; v1.0 is one-time $63, lifetime.

macOS says "Acetate is damaged and can't be opened." How do I run it?

The beta isn't signed with an Apple Developer ID yet, so Gatekeeper blocks it on first launch. To open it, strip the quarantine attribute from the app bundle in Terminal: 

xattr -cr /Applications/Acetate.app

Then double-click the app normally. You only need to do this once per install. Code signing + notarization lands before the public release - this step goes away then.

Windows says "Windows protected your PC." How do I run it?

The beta isn't signed with a Windows code-signing certificate yet, so SmartScreen blocks it on first launch with a blue "Windows protected your PC" dialog. To open it:

  1. Click More info on the SmartScreen dialog.
  2. Click the Run anyway button that appears.

You only need to do this once per install. After that, Acetate launches normally from the Start menu or desktop. A signed installer lands before the public release - this step goes away then.

Will there be a Linux version?

Linux isn't on the roadmap yet - write in if it matters to you. The Tauri stack supports it, so it's a "when there's demand" thing rather than a "never" thing.

How long a track can I master?

Anything up to about 30 minutes works comfortably on most machines. Longer tracks may exhaust RAM during analysis - split into halves and master each. Streaming pipeline is on the v1.x list.

Does Acetate need an internet connection?

Only for activating your license (one-time) and checking for updates. All audio processing runs locally and never leaves your machine.

What if I don't like it?

Email hello@acetate.lol within 14 days and we'll refund you, no questions. Masters you've already exported are yours to keep.

Launch list

Get notified when v1 ships.

Public beta is open now on macOS - download it free. Drop your email below to hear when v1.0 lands, when Windows goes up, and when the early-bird launch price opens.

Planned launch pricing

TBD

One-time purchase at launch. Not a subscription.

Used to send launch news. Never shared. Unsubscribe link in every send.

  • ✓Unlimited masters - no per-export cap
  • ✓All current and future genre profiles
  • ✓A/B preview + chain reasoning view
  • ✓Free updates within v1
  • ✓14-day refund at launch, no questions
  • ✓Email support (best effort)

What to expect in the public beta

  • ·macOS (Apple Silicon, M1 or newer) available now. Windows (x64) shortly.
  • ·Unsigned builds for now. First launch needs a one-time unblock step on each OS - macOS instructions / Windows instructions.
  • ·1 free master per install. Your export asks a few questions about your setup - that's how we tune the next build.
  • ·Things may change between builds. Email hello@acetate.lol if something breaks.