Dithering/mastering: what the pros are doing?

[Enrico Donner]

I need a big suggestions from you pros.

For the first time in my life (please be nice!!!) I have to "master" a track.
The track is in AIFF 44.1/24 bits and i need a final AIFF 44.1/16 bits master.
It's a house music production which will be printed on vinyls.
They ask me for a "pushy" sound.
I have a couple of Genelec 1030 + subwoofer 7060A (good 29Hz)


Where do I start????

Which plug-ins should i use and especially: IN WHICH ORDER?

Apogee Mastertools better than Waves L1?

After i have bounced the master should I normalize it at -0.1 dB?

How can I compare my final result with some other productions on vinyls to understand if the final "level" is acceptable?

Thanks in advance for your patience.

[medievil]

TC MasterX5

5 band compressor with soft limiting and multiple dither options. It sounds frighteningly good.

Unfortunately they don't do an HD version, it's Mix only.

[Doug Ring]

Hi, well while I don't know a whole lot about disc-cutting, I'd be surprised if the level of the digital file you gave the cutting room would be of paramount importance. They're not going to translate it to the same level on a vinyl disc the way you would if it were a CD. They'll have gain controls on the cutting-head amplifiers, so as long as it's within a few dBs of what they expect, they'll adjust accordingly.

So don't concentrate on getting stuff to 0.1dB off digital full scale, just get the sound to be as punchy as you want it with your plug-ins but leave a few dBs headroom. You won't lose any resolution and you'll get a cleaner sound by not approaching clipping.

Of course, that's just my take. A call to the cutting room to ask about levels wouldn't go amiss.

[Kelly M. Pieklo]

I wouldn't worry about normalizing the song - you'll be adding another calculation which can degrade the quality of the mix and it won't do anything to improve the sound quality. SNR won't improve, etc. Definitely don't normalize before mastering - you'll want to have every option open to you during the mastering process. Check out section on mastering in "Mastering Audio" by Bob Katz. Great book to have around the studio.

[medievil]

The only thing I know about vinyl is that you can't have any out of phase bass frequencies, because it will make the needle jump right off the record deck.

[DHS]

well man i hate to be the one to bust your bubble. But i own a label and have a few house music releases under my belt. If you dont master for vinyl everyday you had better leave it to someone who does. If i knew your clients i would reccomend not using someone who is posting a "how to" on a forum to master a 12". The limitations of the medium are very different from a cd. plus length is also a issue. i never go over 13 minutes per side. And the medium can't handle the energy that cd's can. First thing you need to do is read up on that. I dont have any links available becuase im out of town but there should be some out there. Chris Alexander Masters for us and works at heathmans in the UK. I highly rec. heathmans. They understand dance music and dance floors. Do the right thing man. Offer to master the cd release. But let the pros handle the plates.

[missilanious]

even alot of good mastering houses aren't good for vinyl mastering, go to someone with experience with vinyl, theres many factors you got to be aware of too other than the ones poated, mono compatabilty, to much or little bass info, you can't master supper hot like you can to CD or the needle will skip out of the grove cause it will be one huge ditch............

[Enrico Donner]

thanks all,
ok, got the message for vinyls.


but what about dithering for cds?

so far i know personally some pro tools users who:

- dither using waves L2 plug-in (OS9/OSX). they say waves do the job properly.
- dither using apogee mastertools plug-in (OS9 only). they say there's nothing better than UV22.
- dither exporting first to alesis masterlink at 24 bits and then dithering INSIDE alesis masterlink to 16 bits and re-exporting later the stereo file back to the mac (via AES EBU). they say they don't know why, but alesis masterlink sounds simply amazing.

are there other options?
and is it really one option better than another or more or less they are all equivalent?
(i'm doing house music)

thanks!

[brian jacoby]

Your choice of dithering is quite dependant on the source material, I've found that what works for one type of master doesn't always work for another. IDR and it's variations (noise shaping, etc.), UV22 found in the Apogee converters, or sometimes even simple truncation inside our HHB burner...

Beyond that, the L2 is simply the best (IMO) solution for loudness maximizing that I have personally used. I generally set the ceiling to -0.1, ARC On, and adjust the threshold approriately. Use it sparingly, it can sound nasty (like any digital limiter, limiting basically turns to clipping) if abused, but it can greatly increase apparent volume without too many artifacts if used correctly. This is of course a final step after judicial use of compression and EQ.

There is no "end-all-be-all" Mastering techniques, the most important thing you can do is use your ears, and for god's sake don't make it sound worst. Too many times I've had clients send something off to a Mastering house and the master comes back sounding smaller than the original due to overcompression.

Oh yeah, and please, avoid SR conversion between non-divisible Sample Rates at all cost.