Address: New York City, New York, U.S.A
Fiounder: Lee Hulko
Current Status: Active
Sterling Sound is one of the world’s most renowned audio mastering studios, synonymous with clarity, depth, and precision in recorded music. Established in New York City in 1968 by mastering engineer Lee Hulko, Sterling Sound became a benchmark for excellence in the art of final sound preparation for vinyl, CD, and digital releases. Over the decades, it has mastered thousands of hit records across every genre, shaping the sonic identity of modern music. The studio has employed many of the most respected engineers in the industry, including Ted Jensen, George Marino, Greg Calbi, Tom Coyne, and Randy Merrill, whose collective work defines much of the world’s most celebrated recorded sound.
Notable Recordings from Sterling Sound
Sterling Sound was founded during the rise of the high-fidelity era in late-1960s New York, when mastering evolved from a technical necessity into a creative discipline. Lee Hulko, already known for his meticulous vinyl cutting, created a facility that prioritised musical integrity and accuracy across playback systems. The studio’s combination of custom analogue equipment and exceptionally tuned monitoring rooms made it the premier mastering destination for artists and labels seeking commercial and artistic perfection.
During the 1970s and 1980s, Sterling Sound became the finishing touch for legendary albums by Led Zeppelin, The Rolling Stones, Stevie Wonder, Bruce Springsteen, and Billy Joel. The arrival of Ted Jensen and George Marino helped modernise the facility’s approach as recording formats shifted to digital, ensuring Sterling Sound remained at the forefront of technological innovation.
In the 1990s and 2000s, Sterling Sound expanded under engineers such as Tom Coyne, Chris Gehringer, and Greg Calbi, mastering landmark releases from Madonna, U2, Beyoncé, Coldplay, and Daft Punk. In 2017, the company relocated from Chelsea, Manhattan, to two state-of-the-art locations: Sterling Sound Nashville, led by Ted Jensen, and Sterling Sound Edgewater, led by Ryan Smith and Joe LaPorta. Both facilities were built from the ground up with acoustics designed by Fran Manzella, ensuring exacting sonic precision in every format, from vinyl to immersive audio.