Mastering Rates
With Spectrum's Professional Engineers doing your Post Production Mastering, you can be assured that your final product will match the best that's on the market today. You've invested your valuable time and money at the studio to record your album. Hours and hours were spent mixing and remixing to achieve that perfect sound. Your master is now ready for duplication and replication...or is it?
Spectrum's duplication will match the quality of your mixed down master. However, there may still be minor imperfections in the master that will show up in your finished CD's and cassettes. The overall level is too low, uneven spacing between cuts, unwanted noises during silent spots and too wide a dynamic range, resulting in lower playback volume are but a few of the imperfections that will affect the quality of the end product.
For those who want to perfect their master and optimize their sound quality to the very high standards set by major label record companies, another step may be necessary...
This extra step is usually performed by a specialized mastering house at prices ranging from $800 to $3,000 or more - a cost prohibitive to many small labels and individuals. At Spectrum, using our sophisticated digital technology and experienced sound engineers, we can take your master to that next step, at a price you can afford.
Total digital editing and mastering with Digidesign's Pro Tools will clean up rough spots, fine tune the mix, if necessary, and optimize all output levels to commercial standards.
Post Production Rates
Pro Tools Mastering Rates $90/hr
Level 1
• Manipulate the overall dynamic range to optimize the level (volume) at which your CD and cassette will play back
• Smooth transient peaks (hot spots)
• Change sequence of cuts if desired
• Adjust spacing between cuts
* $200 average cost based on 12 cuts; album length of 50 minutes or less
Level 2
Include any or all of the features in Level 1 session
• Equalization
• Elimination of unwanted noise where possible
• Overall general sweetening
* $350 to $500 average cost based on 12 cuts; album length of 50 minutes or less
Prices are estimated on averages. Your price may be less or more.
Master Specs
It is important to us here at Spectrum that your CDs sound exactly like you want them to sound. In order to accomplish this there are a few points that must be followed. First, your master must be mixed to two tracks, edited and sequenced. Songs should be in the correct order and the appropriate amount of spacing between the tracks; these are issues we can fix but not without you incurring additional charges. Second, and very importantly, listen to your master (every last second of it) and after close inspection to make sure everything sounds just right, send us the master you listened to. Be sure to handle your master with care at all times. This means only handling the disc by the edges, keeping the disc in a case to ensure it will keep free of fingerprints, dust and scratches. Third, ship your master to us in a sturdy case with padded packaging. Along with your master, send us a filled out Track Listing Form to ensure speedy, trouble-free processing.
Formats we accept:
Preferred:
• CD-R master
• PMCD master (pre-mastered CD)
• Digital Audio Tape (DAT)
Others Accepted:
• 1610 or 1630 U-matic Tape
• Mini Disk
• DDP (exabyte tape)
• 1/2" or 1/4" Analog Tape |
