| § | Mastering FAQs
This page answers most frequently asked questions about our music mastering process. |
| 1. | | What is Music Mastering? | top | Mastering is the process of optimizing all individual frequency levels to meet Industry Standards. Read more.
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| 2. | | What is the Industry Standard? | top | At present the Industry Standard sound quality is based on the CD specifications of the Red Book Convention which is a sampling rate of 44.1 kHz and a word resolution of 16 bits. |
| 3. | Stands for 'Pre Mastered Compact Disc'. The pre-master CD was originally developed jointly by Sonic Solutions and Sony. The PMCD has the advantage of being easily played on an ordinary CD player prior to the creation of a glass master. |
| 4. | | What's the Advantage of Mastering to PMCD? | top | Using a CD-R format for storage (Compact Disc Recordable) is a better medium and more reliable than 1610 & 1630 pre-mastered tape (DDP), or any 4mm/8mm tape format. The reason is due to magneto-optical technology which has no tape head friction.
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| 5. | | How do I get started? | top | If you are interested in a free (no risk) mastering demonstration, click here. If you are familiar with our services and are ready to order mastering, click here. table of contents |
| 6. | | Why are your prices lower than other online services? | top | Basically, we have created a method that allows us to cut down the time it normally takes for mastering without sacrificing quality and detail. Our precision tools and excellent work results have been praised by hundreds of artists, bands and record producers all over the world. We also reward those companies and individuals that send good mixes for processing. Make sure to ask for a special rate to see if your mix(es) qualifies for it. Another reason why we appear to be more affordable is that, since this work flow comes from the internet, it's done at our earliest convenience. Mastering online works for both, our online facility and the artist(s).
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| 7. | | What does M.D.P. mean? | top | Maximum Delivery Potential, a term created by Edward Vinatea to describe his mastering process (not listed on audio engineering books):
"Mastering is the art of aligning audio frequencies to the best dynamic shape and harmonic balance in order to obtain a maximum delivery potential". This statement is often misunderstood by the large majority of mastering engineers. The definition is nothing but another way of explaining the main purpose of mastering: good playback system translation. |
| 8. | | What are your mastering fees? | top | Please, go to Price/Rates on our site and select your choice for delivery or click here |
| 9. | | What is your turnaround? | top | If you upload: 1 mix, is ready next business day.
2 mixes usually in 2 business days
3 mixes usually in 3 business days
4 to 9 mixes will usually take 5 to 7 business days.
10 and more mixes usually takes 10 business days.
Disclaimer: The table above is not *guaranteed* turnaround time. Mastered mixes maybe rendered ready for download earlier or later than what is stipulated and depending on our work schedule.
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| 10. | | What is *good* frequency alignment? | top | It means that a mix has a well balanced harmonic and frequency spectrum within the three major densities (low, mid-range & high end). Their frequency transients are not overshooting the normal limits, allowing for higher overall output levels without compromising dynamic range and minimizing the addition of distortion. Our mastering process checks the alignment on 30 frequency bands and although good frequency alignment and harmonic balance does not always guarantee a great sound, it is necessary for accomplishing the best mastering results or a smoother translation on all playback systems.. |
| 11. | | Does equipment make a difference? | top | Yes! It does make a difference working with professional tools. However, if the engineer doing the mastering is not very experienced, you won't get a quality mastering job. |
| 12. | Everyone, especially indie artists and producers. They require mastering work the most since their mixes come from recording situations where budget is always an issue and major compromises in production time/quality had to be made.
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| 13. | | What's Your Mastering Equipment List? | top |
Our best value process: where all audio is digitized on ProTools HD or 24 Mix TDM System with DSP by:
Focusrite,
Lexicon,
TC Works and
Waves mastering tools.
Avalon Superb A/D converters by:
Apogee,
SONY DMX -R100 A/D/DA
Other Conversions by:
MasterLink ML9600,
Tascam DA-45HR 24 bit,
Panasonic 20 bit,
Marantz CDR610 MKII,
Sony DAT machines,
Playwrite CD recorders. Genelec
Your music is handled with care and at an affordable price (ITB).
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If you need more information, go to our general discussion forum to sign up and to post questions or create a new topic. |
