Honesty said:
Mastering 1 song is completely pointless.
Mastering is the final process to make sure all the songs on an album are at the same level... there's more to it than that... but that's the basic premise...
a good mix is all you need when submitting tracks...
Exactly, also just make sure have the multitrack, that way if you did want a completely pro mix you can take your stuff to studio and have it professionally mastered or mixed, I want to also add this if you get mixing or mastering done at a big studio and they ask you for an arm and a leg, ask them can you listen to some of their end product and mixes first.....protools does not = pro sound you need an engineer that knows how to mix also there is a local studio here in my area that have about 3 or 4 protools engineers certified on it but sad thing is someone forgot to tell them how to mix hip hop so it knocks (I have sat in on sessions they mixed also and heard the end product even after they had the multitrack) they do a lot of rock and other Genres etc but applying the same principles to something that has bottom and 808's and is bass heavy like hip hop etc doesn't always come out the way you want it......also truly pro mastering will use a combination of hard outboard gear in conjunction with protools or some other software app for a truly pro mastering job it might be expensive if you talking about going to a REAL studio that does it right though, I have seen prices from 80dollars and hour to 1000 to master an entire CD.