Do I need to code the master?

fixitinthemix · 30th June 2009

I'm mastering an album for a band in ProTools. It's a cheap master I'm doing. I know about processing but I don't know I need to do anything special to prepare for the CD-pressing. Do I need to Code it or is it enough if I burn the CD in iTunes, and make the songs are a little longer so that the breaks between them fit? I don't think they have any isrc-codes for the songs. Will the pq-coding in iTunes do?

All the best
Fixitinthemix

MASSIVE Master · 1st July 2009

iTunes will NOT write a compatible disc.

I have a rather decent amount of personal experience with iTunes discs failing when it really counts also.

To put it bluntly - If you're not exactly certain as to what you're doing when authoring a disc to be used as a production master, go to someone who is. You don't want to lawsuit. It's not rocket surgery - But it's detailed.

IIIrd · 1st July 2009

Quote:

Originally Posted by MASSIVE Master

iTunes will NOT write a compatible disc.

I have a rather decent amount of personal experience with iTunes discs failing when it really counts also.

To put it bluntly - If you're not exactly certain as to what you're doing when authoring a disc to be used as a production master, go to someone who is. You don't want to lawsuit. It's not rocket surgery - But it's detailed.

100% agree

cooker · 1st July 2009

I once tryed to find all the info about the question "what to do after I'm done with the DAW" but information about this is too spreaded and not complete.

Is there a book or website that gives complete information to learn this or is it ment to be kept some sort of a secret?

fixitinthemix · 2nd July 2009

Okey so I skip the iTunes. Does "toast it" write the disc with correct pq-coding? I can't let anyone else do it as I wont make any money that way.

Thor · 2nd July 2009

Shame on you for taking money for something which you are not qualified to do.

In professional endeavors, this is called malpractice. At minimum it's dishonest, unethical and a disservice to the client.

If you put the clients' welfare before your own, you might end up with happy clients, and even more work. If you getting paid is more important than the client getting the service they paid for, I don't expect you will last long in any business.

Maybe that's just me.

PM me at the studio (as you did a few days ago) and I'll walk you through it. We can at least do what we can to help the client out.

Thor

Quote:

Originally Posted by fixitinthemix

Okey so I skip the iTunes. Does "toast it" write the disc with correct pq-coding? I can't let anyone else do it as I wont make any money that way.

opentune · 4th July 2009

Quote:

Originally Posted by cooker

Is there a book or website that gives complete information to learn this or is it ment to be kept some sort of a secret?

Yeah, there is a book. The ´Red Book´.

Do a search (either gearslutz or google) and you should get some
basic info about the audio CD standard.

cooker · 4th July 2009

Quote:

Originally Posted by opentune

Yeah, there is a book. The ´Red Book´.

Do a search (either gearslutz or google) and you should get some
basic info about the audio CD standard.

Its easy to get basic info but after that its like a giant puzzle by searching and combining to make a step or two forward. I need (actually many people need) a complete source specificly covering every situation, workflow whatever... Red book is like automaticly applyed with any cd writing program out there.

Thor · 4th July 2009

It's not a secret, but it does require some effort - i.e. you have to actually sit down and read, learn and practice. No one can just give you the 'right' answer, because it's different for every album, and for every song.

With that said, the user manual for WaveBurner Pro (at least the old pre-OS X version) as well as Sonic Studio PMCD and soundBlade both have some info about CD's, marks, etc that can help.

Or you could go to Wikipedia: Red Book (audio CD standard) - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia)

For the summary.

So yes, any app that burns a CD that will play in a CD player is probably complying to RedBook standards (or close enough). The thing is that in mastering you really want an app that will allow you to exercise fine control over a multitude of these parameters, as well as edit, process and many other things. iTunes will indeed burn a RedBook CD, but it might not be what you or your clients want as far as spacing, start/end marks, ISRC or other info goes. I'd say Toast would be a bare minimum (and *very* bare at that) to allow you some sort of semblance of control.

The "complete source specificly covering every situation, workflow whatever..." that you ask for is commonly called experience. There is no cookbook. Sorry.

Cheers,
Thor

30th June 2009	#1
fixitinthemix Gear maniac Joined: Feb 2009 Location: Sweden Posts: 196 Thread Starter	Do I need to code the master? I'm mastering an album for a band in ProTools. It's a cheap master I'm doing. I know about processing but I don't know I need to do anything special to prepare for the CD-pressing. Do I need to Code it or is it enough if I burn the CD in iTunes, and make the songs are a little longer so that the breaks between them fit? I don't think they have any isrc-codes for the songs. Will the pq-coding in iTunes do? All the best Fixitinthemix

1st July 2009	#2
MASSIVE Master Lives for gear Joined: Mar 2004 Location: Chicago (Schaumburg / Hoffman Est.) IL Posts: 2,709 Verified Member	iTunes will NOT write a compatible disc. I have a rather decent amount of personal experience with iTunes discs failing when it really counts also. To put it bluntly - If you're not exactly certain as to what you're doing when authoring a disc to be used as a production master, go to someone who is. You don't want to lawsuit. It's not rocket surgery - But it's detailed. __________________ John Scrip - Massive Mastering, LLC - www.massivemastering.com Spoon-feed a newb some answer and he'll mix for a day - Get him to think about it and figure it out for himself and he'll mix for a lifetime --- JS

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1st July 2009	#4
cooker Lives for gear Joined: Aug 2007 Location: Turkey Posts: 1,873	I once tryed to find all the info about the question "what to do after I'm done with the DAW" but information about this is too spreaded and not complete. Is there a book or website that gives complete information to learn this or is it ment to be kept some sort of a secret?

2nd July 2009	#5
fixitinthemix Gear maniac Joined: Feb 2009 Location: Sweden Posts: 196 Thread Starter	Okey so I skip the iTunes. Does "toast it" write the disc with correct pq-coding? I can't let anyone else do it as I wont make any money that way.

4th July 2009	#9
Thor Lives for gear Joined: Jun 2002 Location: Norway Posts: 792 Verified Member	It's not a secret, but it does require some effort - i.e. you have to actually sit down and read, learn and practice. No one can just give you the 'right' answer, because it's different for every album, and for every song. With that said, the user manual for WaveBurner Pro (at least the old pre-OS X version) as well as Sonic Studio PMCD and soundBlade both have some info about CD's, marks, etc that can help. Or you could go to Wikipedia: Red Book (audio CD standard) - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia) For the summary. So yes, any app that burns a CD that will play in a CD player is probably complying to RedBook standards (or close enough). The thing is that in mastering you really want an app that will allow you to exercise fine control over a multitude of these parameters, as well as edit, process and many other things. iTunes will indeed burn a RedBook CD, but it might not be what you or your clients want as far as spacing, start/end marks, ISRC or other info goes. I'd say Toast would be a bare minimum (and very bare at that) to allow you some sort of semblance of control. The "complete source specificly covering every situation, workflow whatever..." that you ask for is commonly called experience. There is no cookbook. Sorry. Cheers, Thor