Bob Katz : Mastering Audio, the art and the science

[Keire]

I received the book in the mail today and have been glued to it all day. What an informative and easy read. I highly recommend this book. Its very detailed and engages the science behind recording and mastering music but is totally accessible.

[BringTheNoise]

yes ....thanks a million Bob =)




i hope you´ll be working on a DVD one day.

cheers
-GORDON-

[Franco]

It's an amazing read. I'm not the type that can sit in a classroom listening to an hour-long lecture on anything related to audio, simply because I rather fiddle around with stuff myself and learn, but that book helped me figure out many things that now seem like second nature, and going back to it for reference helps me even more. The fact that he comes on this forum and answers many questions is really cool also; must-have book for anyone seriously working with audio.

[jbuzz]

+1 must have

for any gearslut mastering or not / the most informative read i ever head on the subject audio. And I still take it out for reference once a month.

[dirtygringo]

Thinking of buying this... is it just about mastering? I need to learn more about mixing
first. Would be good to have a good book (for when the ol' ear are tired)

[jbuzz]

as said above its usefull reading for anybody in the audio industry. Especially the chapters on decibels / gain staging and Kompression.

again: its a must have

P.s. Most Mixing books ive read where based on the topics.. How I do this, My special tricks etc... No real generall information, which is because there is not much generall information on mixing ( ex. gain staging and a very few others) . Every Mix engineer has his own. IMHO

[cerberus]

Originally Posted by dirtygringo

Thinking of buying this... is it just about mastering? I need to learn more about mixing
first. Would be good to have a good book (for when the ol' ear are tired)

i think that at least the chapter on compression is very relevant to mixing. and i think that even if you don't master yourself, it is good to understand the basic purposes and methods used so that your mixes will be engineered to sound great when they are mastered.

jeff dinces

[dirtygringo]

Thanks jbuzz & cerberus. will definitely check this out thumbsup

[Kayo]

Originally Posted by dirtygringo

Thinking of buying this... is it just about mastering? I need to learn more about mixing
first. Would be good to have a good book (for when the ol' ear are tired)

You'd be surprised, as to how much info this book provides about audio in general. A lot of concept's to strengthen your audio work on the whole. A must have..

[starseed]

Yeah, def. one for the library.

Chock full of goodness.

[studio57]

its a good book , there is lot of interesting things about mixin too





www.studio57.fi

www.vintagescandinavia.com

[Ravian]

the book is a must have.
lots of info. for mixing,tracking,mastering.

+2

[JesseJ]

It is in my bookshelf too.

thumbsup for Bob Katz and K-14

[ProFool]

were can I get it? thanks

[Mises]

Lest not forget Nika Aldrich's book, Digital Audio Explained: For the Audio Engineer.

Thats got to be on the must-have-on-your-bookshelf list of reading also.

[Oroz]

I've been very interested in buying this book for quite a while, this month it's my birthday so I'll be my present hahaha.

[Oroz]

I have a doubt, is "mastering" the main topic of the book? Or is it about audio in general? I'm a little confused now but I had the idea that this book was about the "mastering" stage. Is it?

[John Suitcase]

I was reading some of the articles on his site today, digido.com

How many of you (who've read his book) use the k-system for setting reference levels?


I bought an SPL meter today, and have been messing around with some of the ideas. I find that in Cubase SX, there's no real way to change the metering, except to adjust where the color bands start. So, I set it so that the red starts at -14dbFs, and adjusted my monitor volume to get 83 db with pink noise right at the start of the red (one channel at a time, 87db when both are on). Am I doing this right?

I realize there's probably more to it, I just want to understand his basic idea, and monitor at a level that gives me a realistic representation of the signal, if you know what I mean...

[softwareguy]

This book is relevant to anyone picking up a microphone, running signal through a board, recording in a DAW, anyone undertaking any activity in audio. It is simply the smartest book about audio ever written, as demonstrated by the fact that it is incredibly well-organized, straight-forward and understandable.

If you haven't read it, you are missing some really fundamental insights into what you are doing.

[KingDaddyO]

One of my 10 Desert Island books (yeah, I know there won't be a studio on an island where I'd be shipwrecked, still ... ). Overflowing with well researched information, clearly explaining the why that many processes should be handled in a specific manner. The detail can sometimes be a bit overwhelming ... but it is clear early on that this is not your father's audio engineering book. I've been through it a few times, and I now use it mostly as a reference source. I think it holds up really well, and is well on it's way to becoming one of the fundamental titles on mastering, as well as digital audio in general.

Get a copy - there's a very good chance that you won't regret it.

[KingDaddyO]

Originally Posted by John Suitcase

How many of you (who've read his book) use the k-system for setting reference levels?

I bought an SPL meter today, and have been messing around with some of the ideas. I find that in Cubase SX, there's no real way to change the metering, except to adjust where the color bands start. So, I set it so that the red starts at -14dbFs, and adjusted my monitor volume to get 83 db with pink noise right at the start of the red (one channel at a time, 87db when both are on). Am I doing this right?

I haven't found the time to do so yet, but I am planning to calibrate my system using Bob's methodology. It sounds like you are on the right path with yours.

[DAWgEAR]

One of the best books on audio that I have read.

[tamasdragon]

Must have! One of my best purchases ever.

Tamas Dragon

[inlinenl]

everytime i'm mastering .. Bob is in the room .. not telling me to push it to loud ..... tutt
even did some rap album last week and did id at -10.50 dB RMS :-)

now I'm doing a -12.50 dB RMS ...

thanks Bob .....

regards wim/inlinemastering

[synth.ignition]

Definitely a must read for every DAW user even if you're not involved in mastering.

[Oroz]

Well, today I ordered the book (my birthday present hahaha). I can wait to recieve it and start reading.

[Nicosour]

Amazing book! Really good!

Nico

[cl516]

i reread mine recently, it's been a little while.
this time around, i 'get' more stuff. i love it.

[Dopamine]

Wow, I guess I should finally get this book. So far there hasn't been a single negative review!

[Dirty Gear Pimp]

its an excellent book. its actually required for the mastering class here at school.