In this Video, Editor In Chief Sam Inglis explains why mastering engineers are necessary, what they can do for us, and whether we can really replace them with plug-ins!
If the loudness sits below -14LUFS, can I rely on the streaming services to apply their normalisation process to bring up the level when the song is streamed?
I’m using Ableton Live and bounced my last few finished tracks in the 32-bit float format. I’d rather not have too many different versions of the same tracks floating around, so is there a preferred word length for when I bounce files out for mastering?
I'm considering buying an Alesis ML9600 Mastering CD Recorder — but I was wondering if you would recommend this unit? Or should I keep it all based on the 'quiet' PC using my humble 32x speed CD recorder?
I've read that the SACD format uses a 1-bit word length throughout. Why is this the case, and how does it yield higher audio quality than standard 16-bit CDs?
I had four tracks transferred to vinyl and told the pressing plant to do any necessary EQ'ing required. I got the test pressings back and found them to be very harsh in the upper frequencies when compared to my CD master. Should I get my tracks professionally mastered for vinyl next time?