Mastering Studio/Service

[Force666]

Gomez, well said dude. That's exactly what i'm looking to achieve. How to actually "premaster", as in track markers, embedded ISRC, and all that jazz, including the final rendering of a redbook cd.

I mean, as you said, at this point you might as well "premaster" on a pair of ipod headphones as probably 50% of consumers will be listening on there.

 

[Gomez]

Gomez, well said dude. That's exactly what i'm looking to achieve. How to actually "premaster", as in track markers, embedded ISRC, and all that jazz, including the final rendering of a redbook cd.

I mean, as you said, at this point you might as well "premaster" on a pair of ipod headphones as probably 50% of consumers will be listening on there.

hey john, that's actually not too hard, takes trial and error and a few boring reads. I recommend you to read about optical media and the rainbow book. Digital audio theory can be a hard read but it'a amazing when you finally put all the pieces together.

Needless to say, Bob Katz 'mastering audio' is a great, well written book with loads of useful info.

As for the headphone subject, i'm lucky enough to have worked on many projects in my suite and therefore trust my monitoring - they translate really well.
Having said that, i recently picked up a pair of auratones (quincy jones's monitor of choice) and i'm loving them, i think they also help on the headphone matter!

 

[Gomez]

Gomez, well said dude. That's exactly what i'm looking to achieve. How to actually "premaster", as in track markers, embedded ISRC, and all that jazz, including the final rendering of a redbook cd.

I mean, as you said, at this point you might as well "premaster" on a pair of ipod headphones as probably 50% of consumers will be listening on there.

i didn't read properly your last bit of your post - i didn't mean that, i think that pristine monitoring and room acoustics are a must for mastering. I't makes a real difference to have the whole 'big picture' in full range, it'a vital to correct stuff.

Mastering in headphonea - baaaaad idea! Starting from the fact that a lot of the bass we hear on them is psychoacoustic! However, having a set of headphones handy when mastering is a gooooooood idea. Can be a saviour to identify small noises and checking fades.

 

[Fragle]

+1 to everything said above.

another dangerous thing about mixing AND mastering the same project on your own is that you're still listening in the same room, through the same setup, and also you are really adjusted to what your hearing (as you mixed it, duh). let's say your room has a null at 80hz, and you consequently overdid it in that 80hz region to compensate for your room. when mastering the session in that very room, it's likely that you once again will be overemphasizing that region.
the point i'm trying to make is, it's not only the gear and experience in mastering that makes dedicated mastering so useful - it's also the set of fresh ears, which often puts things into the right perspective.

sadly, it hasn't only happened once that a huge budget production, where lots of attention to detail was spent all over the tracking through the mixing stage, gets sonically annihilated by a lazy/inexperienced/whatever ME. as you said, it's the final link between the production and the public - a great responibility, in my book!

 

[Force666]

Gotcha. The headphone bit was kind of a snarky remark on my part and I didn't really mean that. I know good monitoring (and acoustics) is essential.

I do have, and have read most of Mastering Audio by Bob Katz, but it seems the book is alot more direct in the theory/idealogy than it is in the practicality of how to do it. And it seems it's more directed towards the use of SaDie and other dedicated mastering programs. I guess generally a lot of it goes over my head.

This thread has turned into some very good points. Regardless, sorry to the OP for taking over your thread.

 

[Gomez]

+1 to everything said above.

another dangerous thing about mixing AND mastering the same project on your own is that you're still listening in the same room, through the same setup, and also you are really adjusted to what your hearing (as you mixed it, duh). let's say your room has a null at 80hz, and you consequently overdid it in that 80hz region to compensate for your room. when mastering the session in that very room, it's likely that you once again will be overemphasizing that region.
the point i'm trying to make is, it's not only the gear and experience in mastering that makes dedicated mastering so useful - it's also the set of fresh ears, which often puts things into the right perspective.

+1000

Although it works for some people to master their own stuff... I find it very hard.

 

[Gomez]

Gotcha. The headphone bit was kind of a snarky remark on my part and I didn't really mean that. I know good monitoring (and acoustics) is essential.

I do have, and have read most of Mastering Audio by Bob Katz, but it seems the book is alot more direct in the theory/idealogy than it is in the practicality of how to do it. And it seems it's more directed towards the use of SaDie and other dedicated mastering programs. I guess generally a lot of it goes over my head.

Although these programs are useful for the job, they are not essential. I've always (and still) used Pro Tools to do my processing, Peak for cleaning up and Jam for assembling the album. Although using Peak a little more these days. Never had a problem.

This thread has turned into some very good points. Regardless, sorry to the OP for taking over your thread.

Damn right, apologies.

 

[Raptor7]

Ah, no worries, guys. I like too a good read.