Digital mastering offers many advantages over analog!

    I prefer to master CDs in the digital domain for projects which are delivered that way. It is best to not put the audio through all the additional equipment necessary to process in the analog domain. Every audio cable, connector, or converter imposes it's own sonic distortion, and the less the better. In addition, there are several mastering techniques that simply can not be accomplished with the use of analog equipment.  After years of pursuing improvements to digital audio through the use of precise word clocking, custom digital cables, exotic power chords, and various dithers, I now achieve a sound, in my opinion, far better than that possible using traditional analog approaches.

THE PROCESS

    Most projects are now delivered as digital files, either on hard drives (scsi or fire wire) or CD. Practically any file type is acceptable. Clients should not convert files themselves since their conversion software probably isn't of the same high quality available here.


EVALUATION

     After the files are loaded onto the Sonic Workstation and placed with the correct sequence and rough spacing's, a quick sampling of the songs provides a project overview. An evaluation and brief discussion follows. Since it is a matter of personal taste, it is essential to determine the overall degree of audio compression which will be used for the project. High amounts enable louder CDs, but create projects with less dynamics and depth of image.


COMPRESSION

    The songs are processed with high quality outboard digital compressors, as needed. Each song's unique settings are found after critical listening (Automatic modes on audio processors hardly ever yield the best results!) and stored in a data base for possible future changes. By raising low level information, a process only possible with digital processing, mixes sound louder and have increased depth and width. Similar to the effects of analog compression, mixes get tighter and have increased punch, but without the familiar "squashed" sound. An additional limiter is also used to reduce unnecessary peak information and further increase the loudness of the CD.

ADVANTAGES


   → Look ahead control circuitry
   → Raise only low level information
   → No squashed sound for loud CDs

FADES AND TIMINGS

     Because the audio compression essentially brings low level information upward, the character of the fade-outs can change and may need to be modified. For aesthetic considerations, it is not unusual to create or modify fade-ins or outs anyway. Once the fades are in place, the exact timings between songs can be determined.

Editing
Due to the clarity achieved by mastering and improved monitoring, clients often hear previously unheard flaws in their mixes. Replacing or editing between alternative mixes at any point in the mastering process is certainly not unusual.

NoNoise
Technical flaws such as digital clicks or noise are sometimes heard for the first time during mastering, often as a byproduct of comp- ression bringing low level information up. "NoNoise" restoration software can usually fix any problem encountered.

Stems
Using "stems" borrows a production technique from the film industry. During the mix, certain elements such as vocal or bass are kept on separate tracks for greater control while mastering.
EQUALIZATION

       Equalization is used to create a consistency between each song, as well as to make sure the whole project sounds great on all playback systems. There are many reasons that usually make it necessary to some degree. Perhaps most often, is the need to correct for mixes created in rooms with poor acoustics or audio monitoring. Sometimes it's needed to compensate for the effects created by high levels of compression or from 24 bit files being reduced to 16. Mixes created on different days or even by different mixers are often equalized to sound more consistent.

      A much more subtle use of equalization is to compensate for the following psycho acoustic effect. Your brain subconsciously compares the sound of the song you are currently listening to with the previous one. For instance, a song following a particullarly bright song, uncompensated, will sound dull.


FINALIZING

     When all of the previous processes have been completed, the "PQ" or index points are added. Finally, dither qualities are considered and applied to the output, and reference or final CDs are created at one time speed by a special external scsi burner.  (CDs burners in computers rarely burn at 1x and don't sound very good.  In addition, not all CD-Roms sound the same.)

Advantages of Digital Equalization


 → Equalization with no phase shift
 → More flexibility in filter curves
 → Higher resolution for finer control
 → Recall enables easier tweaking