CloudBounce Review

What Is CloudBounce?

CloudBounce is an automated mastering service you can use to put the finishing touches on your audio recordings.

Under the hood, CloudBounce’s tech uses:

• machine listening
• classification
• EQ
• compressor
• limiter
• and stereo imaging
  

It refines audio recordings in order to make them good enough for commercial use.

Independent musicians can benefit from it the most. If you don’t have the budget to hire an experienced sound engineer, CloudBounce is a viable alternative.

With this mastering app, you can have polished tracks you can distribute on streaming platforms in no time.

CloudBounce’s usefulness isn’t limited to songs.

You can use it on any audio recordings whose quality you need to enhance before releasing them to the public.

You can use this music mastering app to refine your private concerts and/or live DJ performances. It can make your speeches and band practices sound more crisp and professional too.

According to its LinkedIn page, CloudBounce is a small company with about 10 employees. It has offices in the United Kingdom and Finland.

CloudBounce has produced more than 1.7 million master recordings since 2015. It has a user base of no less than 300,000 registered users from across 130+ countries.

CloudBounce Reviews

Its global popularity and its fairly long presence in the business are unquestionable. You’d be hard-pressed to find user-written CloudBounce reviews, however.

At the time of writing this CloudBounce review, there’s not a single testimonial on Capterra and G2.

On Trustpilot, there were 16—and most of them were negative. Ninety-four percent of CloudBounce reviews on this site rated the service as either bad or poor. The company hasn’t responded to any testimonials about it for the past 12 months.

Does it not care about what its users have to say?

Not necessarily.

CloudBounce hasn’t claimed its Trustpilot profile yet. So, it can’t reply to reviewers. It may not even know about the grievances of the said alleged users.

Is this a sign of the quality of service you will experience? Maybe.

It would be unfair to declare a six-year-old app a waste of money based on 15 negative CloudBounce reviews, though.

So.

Is this software worth your while?

How does it stack up against LANDR?

Keep reading this CloudBounce review to find out.

CloudBounce Features

Here’s what CloudBounce brings to the table.

Cross-Platform Software

The original web-based app is accessible via Chrome, Firefox, or Safari. But the souped-up CloudBounce desktop app works on Windows 7 and up.

If you’re an Apple user, you can download the CloudBounce Mac app for macOS 10.7 and up. 

Multi-Format Support

You can polish any WAV, AIFF, and MP3 files with this song mastering app.

Without a CloudBounce subscription (Infinity), you can export your output as:

• CD-quality 16-bit WAV
• high-res 24-bit WAV
• and 320kbps MP3 tracks.

But if you sign up for the Infinity plan, you can download your masters as AIFF, FLAC, and OGG files.

You don’t have to pay extra for any file format.

Upload by Batch

With the CloudBounce Mac or Windows app, you can upload multiple audio files all at once. This means you can master entire albums and song libraries simultaneously.

Reference-Based Mastering

As an Infinity subscriber, you can use reference tracks to compare the qualities of your tracks with other mixes. You can upload an external file or use the existing genre references in the app.

Genre Settings

Using the CloudBounce online mastering engine, you can make tracks sound as good as your favorite tunes.

Either of the two Infinity plans can give you access to all of the desktop app’s options.

But if you’re fine with the browser-based software, you can still use the genre-specific mastering styles below:

• Default
• Hip Hop / R&B
• Drum & Bass / Bass Music
• EDM
• Techno
• Rock / Pop
• Metal / Punk
• Classic
• Jazz / Blues
  

And more!

CloudBounce Mastering Options

You can specify which characteristics of your audio file to enhance.

Again, an Infinity subscription is a must to access all CloudBounce mastering options. But the PAYG service provides a decent selection. As follows are the audio traits you can pick.

• Louder/Less loud
• Warmer/Less Warm
• Mid Boost
• Mid Dip
• Brighter/Less bright
• More /Less Bass
• Stereo Width
  

Output Loudness Control

CloudBounce gives you total control over the LUFS (Loudness Unit Full Scale) level of your masters.

The CloudBounce desktop app comes with a loudness dial. It’s a handy tool to achieve your desired output volumes, which may vary by use case.

Limitless Track Length

In the CloudBounce app, the duration of audio recordings doesn’t matter. You can master average-length songs or hours of jam sessions at no extra charge.

Instant Previews

The CloudBounce online mastering service doesn’t take forever to analyze and process audio recordings.

When a mastered track is ready, you can listen to its full length as much as you want.

The software’s player enables you to seamlessly switch between mastered and original tracks and hear the difference. If you’re unhappy with the result, you can start over and edit until you’re satisfied.

Shareable Player Page

With CloudBounce, you can easily share your mastered tracks with your peers and fans.

Each player page keeps tabs on social signals. This way, you can see exactly how many times your tracks have been played and liked.

Track Statistics

This music mastering app highlights the key figures about your tracks, so you can make data-driven decisions.

Cloud Storage

If you sign up for an Infinity plan, you can have a cloud backup of your tracks for a lifetime.

You can enjoy cloud storage if you take the PAYG route. You have to eventually download and save your masters elsewhere, though.

As a non-subscriber, you may only use CloudBounce’s storage solution for seven days.

Ease of Use and Interface

The people behind CloudBounce designed it to be as intuitive as possible.

It doesn’t matter if you use the original web-based mastering engine or the new CloudBounce desktop app. Its interface is painless to navigate either way.

Design

CloudBounce is a drag-and-drop app.

In the cloud, you can start the process with one click after uploading your recording. In the desktop app, the engine would go to work immediately after feeding it your audio files.

The desktop version is packed with features, but its interface is clean. It displays multiple icons, each revealing a myriad of configuration options upon clicking.

Performance

When it comes to speed, CloudBounce can master a raw mix in seconds. The desktop app is super fast. The web-based one can take one or a couple of minutes to master a track.

CloudBounce’s player is on auto-repeat. It can loop endlessly so that you can critically assess the sound without having to hit play when a track ends.

Signup

The best part is that you can test the web-based song mastering app out without signup. You can create an account for free. But one isn’t necessary unless you intend to download the finished product.

Creating your CloudBounce profile is a piece of cake.

You can connect your Facebook account or page. Or, you can enter your email and type in your password on the spot. Your profile is instantly set after you confirm your email.

After you purchase mastered track or a CloudBounce subscription, checkout is just a breeze as everything else.

CloudBounce Support

In case you have questions, you can find the answers to them by consulting the company’s FAQ page and Blog.

If you want to speak to somebody, you can email the CloudBounce support team.

We reached out to them to see how fast they would get back to us. We heard from a CloudBounce customer service representative in less than 24 hours. This rep provided us a straightforward answer with no nonsense script or marketing pitch.

Other than email, you may seek CloudBounce support via Facebook or Twitter.

How Does CloudBounce Work?

As an automated music mastering app, CloudBounce can serve as your personal audio engineer on demand.

You can specify which areas you want to improve. You don’t have to, though. It can decide which audio processing ingredients to apply in order to make your recordings crystal-clear.

If you’re not a subscriber, you may have to make a payment for each mastered track you wish to download. But if you’re an Infinity plan holder, you can immediately export files to your heart’s content.

So.

How good is CloudBounce, when compared to the competition?

CloudBounce vs LANDR

CloudBounce and LANDR only have one thing in common. They both are web-based mastering engines with dedicated Windows and macOS app versions.

LANDR’s mastering engine Synapse is driven by artificial intelligence (AI). It’s supposed to get better as it gets exposed to more mastered tracks.

The developers of CloudBounce Mac, Windows, and web-based apps use AI too. The company just doesn’t emphasize it as much as LANDR does.

File Support

CloudBounce supports more audio file formats than LANDR does. With LANDR, you can only export masters in MP3 and WAV.

Free Plan

You can test both apps at no cost.

LANDR’s free plan is more limited, however. Intensity is the only characteristic you can adjust during preview. It lets you listen to just a portion of the mastered track too.

CloudBounce is more generous in this respect. This song mastering app enables you to experiment with multiple genres and styles and preview the entire track without upgrading.

Range of Functionality

Outside of mastering, LANDR offers so much more.

LANDR Distribution allows you to put your music on the market right away. This service can help you release your tracks to over 150 stores, streaming platforms, and social networking sites.

LANDR Network is a marketplace where you can meet and do business with music professionals across the globe.

Sessions enable you to stream your collaboration in high quality. It’s useful when remotely producing records, mixing tracks, teaching music lessons, writing songs, and sharing masters.

LANDR sells samples and tools too.

You won’t find any CloudBounce plugin counterparts. CloudBounce may occasionally promote third-party plugins from partner brands.

The CloudBounce app, on the other hand, is one-dimensional. It does mastering and nothing else.

Plans

In terms of plans, LANDR naturally provides more options since it offers more services. Even its mastering plans are more diverse.

LANDR offers four subscriptions: Basic, Advanced, Pro, and Studio. Each one comes with monthly and annual billing options.

Only Studio offers unlimited mastering. Basic, Advanced, and Pro limit master downloads to 2, 5, and 15, respectively.

In addition, LANDR likes to charge different prices by format.

Aside from subscriptions, LANDR sells mastered tracks a la carte. The cost of a mastered track depends on your chosen format.

CloudBounce offers a PAYG option and one plan with two billing options. It values different file formats the same. So, you’d appreciate the uniformity of the CloudBounce pricing.

CloudBounce is almost always more affordable than LANDR. The only times you’ll save more on LANDR is when you want to export masters in MP3.

Customer Support

LANDR wins this round.

Both companies provide email support. You’ll have to submit a ticket on LANDR, whereas you have to email CloudBounce directly.

When it comes to self-service options, LANDR’s FAQ page is much more substantial. It’s a rich library of bite-sized answers to common questions. CloudBounce’s FAQ page covers only 10 issues.

LANDR has a chatbot too. The LANDR Rescue Squad can return relevant reads from its knowledge base based on your query.

It won’t connect you to a live agent, though. If none of its recommendations resolve your request, it will simply answer you to phrase your concern differently.

The CloudBounce online mastering service doesn’t have a chatbot yet.

CloudBounce Pricing

As implied earlier in this CloudBounce review, the license of the web-based software is free.

There’s no free CloudBounce trial. There’s no limit to the use of this app as long as you don’t export any mastered track. 

The company doesn’t issue refunds (more on this later), but its service is risk-free to try.

The CloudBounce pricing is affordable and flexible. Infinity (the sole CloudBounce subscription at the moment) is available in two billing options.

Here’s a brief look at the key similarities and differences between CloudBounce’s PAYG and Infinity.

CloudBounce accepts PayPal and major debit cards and credit cards, including:

• • Visa
  • Mastercard
  • American Express
  • Discover
  • JCB
  • and Diner’s Club
    

When you create a profile without a CloudBounce subscription, you can top up your account.

You can upgrade to the Infinity plan at any time. Its monthly and annual subscriptions are subject to auto-renewal.

Any payment made to CloudBounce is nonrefundable.

You may discontinue the monthly or annual plan whenever you wish. But you won’t be able to receive credits for the unused portion of your canceled plan’s term.

Moreover, you can use CloudBounce to remotely use Abbey Road Studios to master your audio recordings. This service will set you back $120 per track. The recording studio guarantees a turnaround time of five business days.

Also, CloudBounce offers free downloadable resources like the A Crash Course in Mixing ebook to help you improve your craft.

CloudBounce Review - Verdict

Contrary to what most unsolicited CloudBounce reviews say, this service isn’t a scam.

We’re not saying that such negative testimonials are unfounded. But we had a pretty pleasant experience.

Actually, this is a solid mastering app.

Its drag-and-drop design makes it painless to use. The ecosystem isn’t as extensive as LANDR’s, but its wider file support renders it suitable for more use cases. The simplistic pricing model can offer enough flexibility without causing any confusion.

It still has room for improvement, though. Expanding its knowledge base is a small change that can have a huge impact on customer experience. 

It’s always bad news when a subscription doesn’t come with a money-back guarantee. Fortunately, CloudBounce’s free plan can offset the risk of not being able to apply for a refund. Full-length previews are just one of the pluses of using the free CloudBounce trial.

Is it better than audio engineers?

Anyone with a trained ear might say that CloudBounce’s mastered tracks aren’t superior to the work of elite music professionals yet. But it’s not a waste of money.

It’s worth your while. We recommend that you give it a try and judge its masters yourself.