Mastering From Vinyl

The sequencing difference is that delivery from mastering for digital is either individual wav files for download or a single ddpi file for cd replication whereas for vinyl the delivery is generally two wav files one for each side of the record.

Mastering from vinyl. All information on this page and elsewhere on the ggr website are intended to guide and assist you in the process of making a record and is extremely basic in nature. For vinyl the optimum source is 24 bit dynamic and limited either extremely lightly or not at all. For the last stage of dynamics control i used ik multimedia s stealth limiter which is designed for mastering in the project page s post slot. The way to achieve this is to master analog by same people who will cut your record.

A little compression would make it easier for the vinyl cutter to optimize the levels for vinyl and besides being a little hotter than the typical streaming target of 14 lufs was fine. This is the part where we make the sound compatible with vinyl. Only they know what can really fit on record. In the simplest terms mastering is the process of taking the final mixes whether it s for a full length album or a single and adjusting levels eq and dynamic range to create the final master for the intended medium vinyl cd digital download streaming cassette etc.

Several known outboard de essers through the years include the maselec mds 2 and the orban 536 a. But many vinyl cutters have been benefitting from the constant development and growing versatility of the plug in world. From industry standards such as the l2 ultramaximizer to vintage models such as abbey road vinyl to precise meters such as the wlm plus loudness meter waves offers a wide range of mastering tools to improve your sound. Vinyl mastering facilities rely on de essers that are built for this particular problem.

Vinyl masters will probably use a higher resolution file format for example 24 bit and perhaps 48 or even 96 khz sampling rate but if the cd has already been mastered these will probably be available from the original mastering engineer for little or no extra cost. Vinyl has its own character and vinyl listeners expect it to sound analog. Mastering for vinyl to get the best results with your records you need to read the following before preparing your master source. Otherwise it s just like mastering for digital release.

Following these instructions will ensure that you are satisfied with the final product read more. It consists of a mono stereo image up to 150hz a tamed high end and if needed a track listing that is consistent with the frequency limitations of record cutting.