Mastering Guidelines

Reynolds Audio Production accepts mastering projects in the following formats:

(in order of preference)

.AIF or .WAV audio files on CD-rom, DVD +/-RW, IDE hard drive, external USB or FireWire hard drive, or FTP transfer.

Alesis MasterLink HDCD format

DVD-A (audio) disc

DAT digital audio tape

Audio CD (redbook)

Sorry, digital only, no analog tape.

General recommendations :

> Please do not apply compression, limiting or normalizing to your overall mix. This cannot be undone in mastering, and may compromise the mastering process.

> Fades (in or out) are best performed at the mastering stage. If you have songs that need a fade ending, let the mix go beyond your intended final audible point, and indicate your desired begin and end points for the fade. Crossfading between songs is also best done at mastering.

About the "loudness wars":

In recent years, record labels have used mastering increasingly to raise the average volume level of their releases. While the quest for louder masters is understandable and dates back to the vinyl days, with digital compression, it has gotten out of hand.

Although I have the tools and skills to achieve competitive loudness, I strongly urge mastering clients to allow more dynamic range, and place the priority on the quality of the sound rather than the apparent loudness relative to other CDs.

About peak levels:

I recommend that 24 bit final mixes have maximum peak levels no higher than -3 dBfs.

In the recent past it has been common for recording engineers to push levels close to full scale in order to maximize resolution for 16 bit media. However, with 24 bit recording and high quality dithering, this is not necessary.

If peak levels exceed -3 dBfs, the first step in mastering will probably be lowering the level in order to allow subsequent proccessing to occur without risk of distortion, a step that can be avoided by mixing with lower peak levels.

About resolution:

All audio CDs (redbook standard) must be made with sixteen bit, 44.1 kHz PCM audio files. It is always preferrable to do any sample rate conversion or dithering (bit rate reduction) at the mastering stage. However, unnecessary conversions should be avoided by recording at a compatible rate from the start whenever possible.

If your project is destined for redbook audio CD: recommend recording and mixing at 24 bit, 44.1 kHz or 88.2 kHz.

If your project is destined for film or video: recommend recording and mixing at 24 bit, 48 kHz or 96 kHz, unless the production house specifies otherwise.

If your project is destined for DVD-audio, SACD or other high resolution format: recommend recording and mixing at 24 bit, 88.2 or 96 kHz.

If your project is destined for multiple formats: recommend recording at 24 bit, 88.2 or 96 kHz, and mixing to appropriate sample rates (see above) at 24 bits.

Please contact R.A.P. for specific recommendations for your project.

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