Quote:
Originally Posted by Timecode 
I've sent two tracks in recently for magazine compilation discs, and both of them came back different - even after I phoned the plant for the second one and told them not to mess with it.
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This might be veering off topic a bit but If I'm creating a compilation disc for a client then I am unlikely to be able to use a track if I wasn't allowed to change its level. How do you know how one single track is going to sit when put beside tracks from all sorts of other people? With one compilation that I worked on recently I found that some tracks had to be attenuated by up to 6dB compared to the quieter tracks.
I wouldn't change the sound of any of the tracks without consulting the artist/producer first but level changes are fair game for a compilation.
And back on topic again - the only difference between the master CD and pressed CD that I would accept would be a change in offset. Samples on a pressed CD are often offset by a different amount to the samples on a CD-R. This is very dependent on the drive used to create and extract the data and also depends on the mastering system used at the plant. That's why you have to manually line up the extracted audio with the original audio when doing a null test.
Cheers
James.