TABLE OF CONTENTS

Forward

Introduction

Meet The Mastering Engineers

PART ONE – The Mechanics of Mastering

Chapter 1: What Exactly Is Mastering?

Some History

    From Vinyl To The CD To The MP3 And Beyond

Why Master Anyway?

Why It Sounds So Good When The Pros Do It

Experience is the Key

Chapter 2: Some Digital Basics

Sample Rates and Word Length

Standard Audio File Formats

    LPCM

    AIFF

    WAVE

    Broadcast Wave

    SD 2

Data Compression

   

Chapter 3: Tools For Mastering

Common Elements   

The Signal Path

    The Digital Detangler

The Monitor System

    The Acoustic Environment

    Monitors

    On The Bottom

        Subwoofers

        Subwoofer Placement And Adjustment Tips

    Amplifiers   

Converters

Equalizers

Compressors and Limiters

Tape Machines

    Analog Tape Machines

    Digital Tape Machines

Consoles

The Digital Audio Workstation

    The Big DAW Players

The Network

Backup

Other Devices

    Metering

    Sample Rate Converters

    De-essers

Chapter 4: The Mechanics of Mastering

Level

Competitive Level

Hypercompression – Don’t Go There!

How To Get Hot Levels

Limiting

Compression

Compressor Tips and Tricks

Rules For Hot Levels

To Normalize or Not to Normalize

Frequency Balance

    Frequency Feathering

    4 Rules For Frequency Balancing

Processing On Load-In

Editing

    Fades

        Fade-Ins

        Fade-Outs

        Spreads

EDL’s

Effects

Parts Production

Multiple Masters       

Client Refs

Master Verification

Chapter 5: Preparation For Mastering

Things To Remember Before Mastering

Interview With Digidesign’s Gannon Kashiwa

Chapter 6: Mastering For CD

Dither

    Rules For Using Dither

ISRC

PQ Codes

Replication Master Formats

Outdated Mastering Formats

The Sony PCM-1630

The PMCD

The Current Standards

DDP

CD-R

Error Checking

FTP Transmission

CD Replicators

How CDs Work

How CDs Are Made

Chapter 7: Mastering For Vinyl

A Brief History of Vinyl

The Physics of Vinyl

The Vinyl Signal Chain

    The Master Lacquer

    The Cutting Stylus and Cutter Head

The Lathe

The Mastering Console

The Preview System

Equalization

    The Elliptical Equalizer

How Records Are Pressed

Chapter 8: Mastering For Internet Distribution

MP3 Encoding

    The Source File

The Encoder

Bit Rate

Bit Rate Settings

Constant vs. Average vs. Variable Bit Rate

Other Settings

    Tips For MP3 Encoding

Chapter 9: Mastering In Surround

First, A Bit Of History

Types of Surround Sound

    The LFE Channel

    Bass Management

    Other Types of Surround

The Differences Between Surround and Stereo

    The Surround Mix

    Differences Between Mixes for Picture and Music

    Different Perspectives –“Audience” vs. “On-Stage”

    Mixing With The Center Channel

Mixing With The LFE Channel

Surround Master Media Prep

Master Tape Track Assignments

Chapter 10: Surround Tools

Monitoring

Bass Management

Test Equipment

The Monitor Controller

Converters

Outboard Gear

Software Tools

Waves 360 Toolkit

Stereo To 5.1 Conversion

Surround Master Recorders

96/24 And Beyond

Surround Encoders/Decoders (Codecs)

Data Rate

Dialnorm

    Data Compression

    High or Low Resolution – 96/24 vs. 48/20

    Lossy and Lossless Compression

        Lossy Codecs

            Dolby Digital (AC-3)

Dolby-EX and DTS ES

Dolby Digital Plus

           

DTS Digital Surround

            DTS Digital Surround 96/24

            DTS Digital-HD

    Lossless Codecs

            Meridian Lossless Packing

            MLP

        DTS-HD Master Audio

        Dolby TrueHD

Multichanel Codec Comparison

Surround Software Encoders

A Different Way Of Working

What The Heck Is Authoring?

    Enter DLT

Chapter 11: Mastering For Film And Television

Mastering For Film

Mastering For Television

PART Two – Audio Delivery Formats

Chapter 12: Internet Delivery Formats

Data Compression

Lossy Codecs

MP3

AAC

MPEG-4

Windows Media

Ogg Vorbis

u-law

Lossless Codecs

Apple Lossless

FLAC

Streaming Audio

Chapter 13: Optical Discs – CD’s

The Books

Red Book

Orange Book

Blue Book

Green Book

Yellow Book

White Book

Photo CD

Scarlet Book

Chapter 14:  Optical Discs For Multichannel

DVD Basics

    Storage Capacity

    File Format

The DVD-Video Disc

Audio Spec

Video Spec

DVD-Video Advantages and Disadvantages

The DTS Music Disc

Audio Spec

Video Spec

DTS Music Disc Advantages and Disadvantages

The DVD-Audio Disc

Audio Spec

    Scalability

Copy Protection And Watermarking

Value Added Content

Video Spec

DVD-Audio Advantages and Disadvantages

The Super Audio CD (SACD)

Audio Spec

Video Spec

DVD-Video Advantages and Disadvantages

Chapter 15: Optical Discs – The High Definition Discs

HD-DVD

Overview

Audio Specs

Video Specs

Additional Features

Advantages and Disadvantages

Blu-Ray

Overview

Audio Specs

Video Specs

Additional Features

Advantages and Disadvantages

Alternative Disc Technologies

Alternative Delivery Technologies

PART THREE - The Interviews

Chapter 16 - About The Interviews

Chapter 17 - Greg Calbi

Chapter 18 - David Cheppa

Chapter 19 - Dave Collins

Chapter 20 - Bernie Grundman

            Chapter 21 - Bob Katz

Chapter 22 - Bob Ludwig

            Chapter 23 - Glenn Meadows

            Chapter 24 - Bob Olhsson

            Chapter 25 - Doug Sax

            Chapter 26 - Eddy Schreyer

Glossary