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Phantom Overview

AI Audio Analysis for Mixing and Mastering

What is Phantom?

Phantom is an MCP (Model Context Protocol) server that gives AI coding assistants professional audio analysis tools. It runs locally on your machine and connects to Claude, Cursor, or any MCP-compatible assistant.

When connected, your AI assistant gains access to 20 audio analysis tools: spectral analysis, loudness measurement, dynamics profiling, stereo imaging, phase coherence, problem detection, stem separation, reference comparison, and corrective processing.

For assistant setup, use the MCP configuration below or the configuration guide. The Python analysis package must be installed in a supported environment.

What does it actually do?

You talk to your AI assistant about audio. It calls Phantom’s tools to measure your files and returns results with interpretation.

You ask Claude:

Analyze the frequency balance of my vocal track at vocals.wav

Phantom returns:

Spectral Analysis Centroid: 2,847 Hz Rolloff: 8.2 kHz (85th percentile) Flatness: 0.0012 Contrast: [0.61, 0.70, 0.65, 0.59] Dissonance: 0.23

Interpretation: Centroid at 2.8 kHz indicates a bright vocal — typical for pop/rock leads. Rolloff at 8.2 kHz suggests controlled high end without excessive air. Low flatness confirms tonal (not noisy) content.

Your assistant can use these measurements to explain differences and propose changes. Listen to the result: a measurement can show excess energy without establishing whether it is a problem for the song.

Phantom 1.6.0 also includes setup for a separate Ableton Live MCP bridge. See assistant and DAW configuration for Ableton and REAPER prerequisites.

Who is it for?

  • Audio engineers who want measurement-backed decisions during mixing and mastering
  • Producers who want quick diagnostics on tracks without opening a metering plugin
  • Musicians who want their AI assistant to understand audio technically, not just conversationally

What tools are available?

Phantom provides 20 tools organized by workflow stage:

Pre-mix analysis — Understand your material before touching faders:

  • Spectral analysis (frequency balance, centroid, rolloff)
  • Loudness measurement (LUFS, true peak, range)
  • Dynamics profiling (RMS, crest factor, dynamic range)
  • Phase coherence (per-band correlation, polarity)
  • Problem detection (clipping, DC offset, sibilance, mud, resonances)
  • Full diagnostic and batch diagnostic

During mixing — Make informed decisions while mixing:

  • Stereo imaging (width, balance, mid/side ratio)
  • Frequency masking analysis between stems
  • Multi-stem masking comparison
  • Phase comparison between sources

Mastering prep — Compare and match to targets:

  • Compare against genre profiles (pop, rock, hip-hop, EDM, ambient, etc.)
  • List the available genre profiles
  • Load a genre profile’s full target data
  • A/B comparison against a reference track
  • Automated spectral/loudness/width matching

Remediation and processing — Fix problems and apply corrections:

  • Auto-fix detected problems with corrective EQ and filtering
  • Apply custom processing chains to files

Utilities:

  • Stem separation (vocals, drums, bass, instruments via Demucs)
  • Read the Phantom Studio plugin’s live meter snapshot

Pro tip

You don’t need to memorize tool names. Just describe what you want to know about your audio — your AI assistant picks the right tool.

The full workflow

A repeatable file-based workflow:

  1. Analyze — batch-diagnostic your stems to understand what you’re working with
  2. Fix — use fix_audio for supported EQ corrections such as DC offset, hum, and sibilance; handle clipping and phase alignment separately
  3. Process — use apply_processing to apply EQ curves and compression chains during mixing and mastering
  4. Master — compare against references and genre profiles, optionally process a copy with Matchering, then verify

Keep the measurements for each render so you can compare the result of a change with your starting point.

How is it different from a plugin?

Phantom’s CLI and MCP server analyze files without opening a DAW. You can compare a reference, batch-check stems, and save the results as part of a repeatable workflow. A real-time metering plugin serves a different need: watching the signal while it plays. Phantom Studio, the planned plugin and snapshot producer, is still in development.

Next steps

Ready to try it? Install Phantom and run your first analysis.

Want to see every tool in detail? Browse the tools reference.