I've got one more question...
We have put a lot of effort in making this website as clear and easy to understand as we could. We encourage you to ask any questions you might have - here are some that have been answered in advance:
1. Can you keep the dynamics AND cut our record as loud as xxx?
2. How do I prepare a mix for mastering?
3. What is the best delivery format for my mixes?
4. How should I label my mixes?
5. Why is a Master CD more expensive than a REF CD?
6. What type of codes do you need to cut a Master?
7. Can you bounce our (digital) mixes to analog tape?
8. Why don't the track names show up on my computer - we thought you were doing CD Text?
9. Can you do 'Stem Mastering'?
10. Should I convert the sample rate of my mixes so they stay the same for the entire project?
1. Can you keep the dynamics AND cut our record as loud as xxx?
No, if xxx stands for Metallica's 'Death Magnetic' and the source does have some dynamics left... Loud CD's and natural dynamics usually don't match very well. The Loudness Wars have been much discussed during the past couple of years and while it looked like loudness has finally peaked in late 2008 and things where up for a change, the majority of the releases in 2009 don't look much more quiet at all! Of course we can deliver anything ranging from very dynamic to very agressive masters, but for obvious reasons our Engineers definitely prefere to work staying at sane levels - they care for great sounding music!
2. How do I prepare a mix for mastering?
Make them sound as good as possible!!
Seriously, this is ALL you should care about. If printing to digital use the highest quality AD converter you can afford - and please DON'T use a digital peak limiter! Never try to 'catch just a couple of peaks'. Lower the overall volume instead - the resulting Master will sound much better. EQ's and compressors are a lot easier to use before peak limiting, while making those changes afterwards are either less effective or impossible (since 0.5db can already dramatically alter a squashed master). This is not a matter of trying to 'educate' you about making quieter records - if you want it loud, we will adress this where it should be adressed: as the last process in the chain...
3. What is the best delivery format for my mixes?
Please deliver your mixes either as stereo .wav or .aif files using the highes possible resolution (up to 24 bit 96 kHz) or analog tape. While we can also accept split mono we clearly prefer interleaved files. In case you that you bring them on tape please also make sure to supply a 24 bit digital copy as well. Files may be delivered on CD, DVD, hard drive or via our secure ftp server. While you can bring USB sticks, please make sure you have a backup with you in case it fails. Please avoid bringing Audio CD's, DAT, MD, MP3's or other compressed file formats, files on iPods and 32 bit float files and sample rates above 96kHz since the dissadvantages outweight the advantages (find out more about this: http://www.lavryengineering.com/documents/Sampling_Theory.pdf).
4. How should I label my mixes?
TrackName_Description_Rev#
seems to be the most effitient format. If you already know the sequence you could include the track ID (01, 02, ...., 14, 15) before the TrackName. Filenames like Final Mix 01 are not very helpful... In case you supply more than one version make sure to add useful comments on how to use them (Things like: Use TV_Mix for the DVD, Edit2 for the eSingle and Rev2 for the Album). Please also avoid abbreviations like 'CITW' for 'Candle In The Wind'.
Examples for Labeling:
Thriller_Vocup_03
02_LetItBe_Instrumental_Rev1
5. Why is a Master CD more expensive than a REF CD?
We use the same (highest quality) blanks for both REF CDs and Master CDs, using the optimum speed for highest data integrity. The main difference is the ammount of quality control - Master CDs are digitally error checked and personally listened to (QC Listening) by the Mastering Engineer to ensure that the Master is ready for replication. Also, a Master CD includes all the necessary meta-data like PQ, ISRC, and UPC codes. Of course we include a PQ sheet and a QC log with each Master CD.
If you are on a budget you can just get a Basic Master (including meta-data coding and digital error check), leave out the QC listening time and do this yourself - however, in this case we cannot take any liability for the quality of the master.
6. What type of codes do you need to cut a Master?
You need the 12 digit ISRC:
CC-XXX-YY-NNNNN (example AT-UM7-09-00256)
while CC is the 2 digit ISO identifier for the country
XXX is a unique code for the label
YY identifies the year
NNNNN is the unique id identifying this particular recording
and the UPC_code identifying the product (CD, DVD, ...).
Usually you get these codes from you record label. If you have your own label you need to register them thru organisations like RIAA (US), GVL (Germany), LSG (Austria) or simmilar to get these codes. You may not need those codes to replicate depending on where you are located though...
7. Can you bounce our (digital) mixes to analog tape?
Yes, we can transfer you digital mixes to analog tape and in many cases the results are rewarding. But keep in mind that analog tape certainly isn't a magical fix for every (digital) recording. One common misconception is that transferring digital mixes to analog tape makes the mixes sound warmer or more analog, which is not always true. In any case it does take some time and patience to try and evaluate, which also adds to the total cost...
8. Why don't the track names show up on my computer - we thought you were doing CD Text?
OK, this is important - CD Text and track names on your computer (iTunes, ...) have nothing to do with each other. CD Text is embeded meta-data used by certain CD players like car stereos, but the track names and artist information that come up when you put a CD into a computer come from an online database like Gracenote. CD's have to be registered with the online database, there is no automated process!
Whenever you put a CD in your computer it checks with the online database and the previously supplied information pops up. There is no way this information can be embeded during mastering since this information has nothing to do with meta-data, we can however assist you with registering the CD as a part of the mastering process.
9. Can you do 'Stem Mastering'?
Yes, we do offer Stem Mastering and while our Engineers have grown up on large format SSL consoles and definitely know their craft we firmly believe that a dedicated mixdown yields superior results to this mixing/mastering hybrid... In some cases however Stem Mastering can be the cure, the last moment rescue, saving the release of a product. Keep in mind though, that since the amount of time needed varies greatly Stem Mastering can only be done 'on clock'.
10. Should I convert the sample rate of my mixes so they stay the same for the entire project?
NO!
Since we use two different DAWs, each with an independant clock and our workflow includes an analog loop there is no need to sample rate convert. We simply chose the final sample rate on the AD converter.
In mastering we try to avoid to unnecessarlily degrade a signal. Since every process tends to degrade a signal, unnecessary sample rate conversion should be avoided as well...