Good online vinyl mastering needed...

[hank alrich]

www.saltmastering.com

paul gold is awesome. i just got a copy of the new werewolves lp that i mixed, and it is one of the best cuts and pressings i have heard in a long time. i have to find out from the label who plated and pressed it, but paul certainly did an amazing job.

john

I had a look at that and it seems he makes the physical masters. I just need someone to master the digital files then send them back so they can be cut at the pressing plant. I may have misunderstood however!

Hello? Mastering for vinyl is making the physical masters, cut on the lathe into an acetate disc. It's not about doing something to a digital file and then ouputting another digital file.

Is this your first project that is going to vinyl? If so, please put some time into studying the process. You will appreciate what knowing something about what you're doing does for the final vinyl result.

I'm fully aware of my lack of knowledge of the intricacies of the process, which is why I leave it to the professionals. I was hoping for an ME that could provide digital files to work with that have had the problems inherent to vinyl bore in mind before starting, because the record clearly needs another master for vinyl to address problems that wouldn't be a big deal for CD. If that's not possible then I'll be going for the cutting & all.

If I've misunderstood some things, then sorry if it caused offence. It's not the first record I've had mastered (the last one was done at Sterling, with obviously no problems), but it's the first one where I've had to supervise each step in the manufacturing a lot more.

Hey, sorry if I came off snotty. I'm an old fart. Been doing pro audio since 1968. Part of learning back then was studying processes. Got a lot of my early audio education by reading almost all of the original Audio Cyclopedia.

It is important to understand the process of getting from a recording in any medium to a reproduction in a physical format such as vinyl LP's or singles. One may postulate "mastering" for vinyl in the digital realm; but that process is actually premastering, because mastering, in the world of vinyl, means cutting the physical grooves into an lacquer disc. Until that happens no real mastering has occurred for that format.

Thereafter the lacquer disc gets plated, and therefrom mothers are made. From the mother(s) stampers are made and those are what go into the press that creates the manufactured disc.

Therefore, if what you are after is mastering for vinyl, you want to send your music, in whatever medium, to someone who cuts those physical lacquers, because whatever happens ahead of that step can be trashed at the lathe. It's all about operating the lathe and making final decisions right there and then that determine what you are going to hear back from the test pressings.

A digital file supposedly "mastered" for vinyl is all well and good, but it is no real indication of what you might get back when the cutting needle hits the lacquer. Further, anyone offering such a service is, in my mind, being disingenuous unless they, too, are cutting lacquers from the files they have created.

[Waltz Mastering]

A digital file supposedly "mastered" for vinyl is all well and good, but it is no real indication of what you might get back when the cutting needle hits the lacquer. Further, anyone offering such a service is, in my mind, being disingenuous unless they, too, are cutting lacquers from the files they have created.

You can do it either way (master straight away to vinyl or with a supplied cd master)...as long as you get a test pressing and work with a mastering engineer with a good reputation and someone you can trust to get the results your after.

[iamthecosmos]

www.saltmastering.com

paul gold is awesome. i just got a copy of the new werewolves lp that i mixed, and it is one of the best cuts and pressings i have heard in a long time. i have to find out from the label who plated and pressed it, but paul certainly did an amazing job.

john

I had a look at that and it seems he makes the physical masters. I just need someone to master the digital files then send them back so they can be cut at the pressing plant. I may have misunderstood however!

Hello? Mastering for vinyl is making the physical masters, cut on the lathe into an acetate disc. It's not about doing something to a digital file and then ouputting another digital file.

Is this your first project that is going to vinyl? If so, please put some time into studying the process. You will appreciate what knowing something about what you're doing does for the final vinyl result.

I'm fully aware of my lack of knowledge of the intricacies of the process, which is why I leave it to the professionals. I was hoping for an ME that could provide digital files to work with that have had the problems inherent to vinyl bore in mind before starting, because the record clearly needs another master for vinyl to address problems that wouldn't be a big deal for CD. If that's not possible then I'll be going for the cutting & all.

If I've misunderstood some things, then sorry if it caused offence. It's not the first record I've had mastered (the last one was done at Sterling, with obviously no problems), but it's the first one where I've had to supervise each step in the manufacturing a lot more.

Hey, sorry if I came off snotty. I'm an old fart. Been doing pro audio since 1968. Part of learning back then was studying processes. Got a lot of my early audio education by reading almost all of the original Audio Cyclopedia.

It is important to understand the process of getting from a recording in any medium to a reproduction in a physical format such as vinyl LP's or singles. One may postulate "mastering" for vinyl in the digital realm; but that process is actually premastering, because mastering, in the world of vinyl, means cutting the physical grooves into an lacquer disc. Until that happens no real mastering has occurred for that format.

Thereafter the lacquer disc gets plated, and therefrom mothers are made. From the mother(s) stampers are made and those are what go into the press that creates the manufactured disc.

Therefore, if what you are after is mastering for vinyl, you want to send your music, in whatever medium, to someone who cuts those physical lacquers, because whatever happens ahead of that step can be trashed at the lathe. It's all about operating the lathe and making final decisions right there and then that determine what you are going to hear back from the test pressings.

A digital file supposedly "mastered" for vinyl is all well and good, but it is no real indication of what you might get back when the cutting needle hits the lacquer. Further, anyone offering such a service is, in my mind, being disingenuous unless they, too, are cutting lacquers from the files they have created.

That was a very helpful summation of the process. Thanks for that, and apologies if I was a little snarky in my previous post. Despite releasing records before I've never really got involved with mastering beyond listening to what, for vinyl, would be the premaster.

I think it's looking like whoever is doing the cutting at the plant is doing it pretty badly. It's so close to the release date I'm torn as to whether we should try and direct the current plant better, or just spend the money on an actual vinyl master.

[hank alrich]

www.saltmastering.com

paul gold is awesome. i just got a copy of the new werewolves lp that i mixed, and it is one of the best cuts and pressings i have heard in a long time. i have to find out from the label who plated and pressed it, but paul certainly did an amazing job.

john

I had a look at that and it seems he makes the physical masters. I just need someone to master the digital files then send them back so they can be cut at the pressing plant. I may have misunderstood however!

Hello? Mastering for vinyl is making the physical masters, cut on the lathe into an acetate disc. It's not about doing something to a digital file and then ouputting another digital file.

Is this your first project that is going to vinyl? If so, please put some time into studying the process. You will appreciate what knowing something about what you're doing does for the final vinyl result.

I'm fully aware of my lack of knowledge of the intricacies of the process, which is why I leave it to the professionals. I was hoping for an ME that could provide digital files to work with that have had the problems inherent to vinyl bore in mind before starting, because the record clearly needs another master for vinyl to address problems that wouldn't be a big deal for CD. If that's not possible then I'll be going for the cutting & all.

If I've misunderstood some things, then sorry if it caused offence. It's not the first record I've had mastered (the last one was done at Sterling, with obviously no problems), but it's the first one where I've had to supervise each step in the manufacturing a lot more.

Hey, sorry if I came off snotty. I'm an old fart. Been doing pro audio since 1968. Part of learning back then was studying processes. Got a lot of my early audio education by reading almost all of the original Audio Cyclopedia.

It is important to understand the process of getting from a recording in any medium to a reproduction in a physical format such as vinyl LP's or singles. One may postulate "mastering" for vinyl in the digital realm; but that process is actually premastering, because mastering, in the world of vinyl, means cutting the physical grooves into an lacquer disc. Until that happens no real mastering has occurred for that format.

Thereafter the lacquer disc gets plated, and therefrom mothers are made. From the mother(s) stampers are made and those are what go into the press that creates the manufactured disc.

Therefore, if what you are after is mastering for vinyl, you want to send your music, in whatever medium, to someone who cuts those physical lacquers, because whatever happens ahead of that step can be trashed at the lathe. It's all about operating the lathe and making final decisions right there and then that determine what you are going to hear back from the test pressings.

A digital file supposedly "mastered" for vinyl is all well and good, but it is no real indication of what you might get back when the cutting needle hits the lacquer. Further, anyone offering such a service is, in my mind, being disingenuous unless they, too, are cutting lacquers from the files they have created.

That was a very helpful summation of the process. Thanks for that, and apologies if I was a little snarky in my previous post. Despite releasing records before I've never really got involved with mastering beyond listening to what, for vinyl, would be the premaster.

I think it's looking like whoever is doing the cutting at the plant is doing it pretty badly. It's so close to the release date I'm torn as to whether we should try and direct the current plant better, or just spend the money on an actual vinyl master.

That's the crux of the matter. In accordance with Tom's statement that one can take either approach, yes, one can do that. I am not saying there are not people who understand what a piece of music mixed for one format might require in order to translate well in another format.

I am saying that one can have a premastered digital file that in theory is absolutely perfect for vinyl, and then have the lathe operator ignorantly destroy that work.

If what you are sending the plant is a physical master, the lacquer, then it's up to the plating, and making of mothers and stampers, and press operation to screw it up. <g>

Hence, the importance of test pressings. Gotta have 'em.