Mastering from portable studio to CD burner...

[Prophet_81]

Hello, I just financed a Philips CDR 775. It's seems to be very useful in my situation. I've never had a CD burner before and I'm really excited to start mastering my demos. I just burned a couple of songs today and I'm finding that the music is not being burned with the same volume as albums I already own. So, I burned another. This time the music was at regular volume, but some of the bass frequencies were distorting(with the "extra bass" feature activated only). I have a Korg D8 home studio(great little machine) and I ran in to the CD burner with a digital optical cable. I would think that everything would stay in tact, but, right now, I can only assume I have been recording my tracks at a volume that's too low.

I'm getting pretty good at achieving the sounds I want, so it's not that I don't know what I'm doing when I record. What suggestions do any of you have to offer?

[Nilbog]

I use a pioneer myself. I sprung for the one with the input digital and analog level controls. This helps A LOT! If you still can, I would trade your phillips for the pioneer.

Also when the "extra bass" feature is not activated on playback how much bass are you getting? I think it's a very common mistake to put too much bass in your recordings. I know it is with me anyway. If your mixing through headphones, it'll happen every time. What are you using to monitor?

Also, stay below the cut line on your level meters. In fact, stay well below it if you can.

What kind of mics you using?

-nilbog

[Prophet_81]

Nilbog, I don't get very much bass without the extra bass feature. I mean, it's not horrible, it could be better though. Also, I forgot to include, I don't have monitors right now. I know, I know, you're thinking, "what a dumbass!" I just haven't been able to afford them yet. They are next on my list.

I used to inadvertantly put too much bass on my recordings when I first started out. I'm a lot better about it, but not perfect. I always record below clipping level. The CDR has no volume control and when I listen to regular CD's, many of them play around clipping level, but play perfectly natural on a regular stereo. You wouldn't believe all the things you miss on a regular cheap stereo... I try not to listen to my stuff on the CDR very long. It's very loud. I do have nice headphones, though.

By the way, what sold me on the CDR was the price: $450 new.

I use a CAD E-100 and an SM-57. Other stuff I run direct(bass, acoustic guitar).

One solution I've devised is running my studio back to my mixer(analog), compressing, if necessary, and cranking it back up to record to the CD burner(analog).

Tell me what you think.

[Buck62]

Prophet-81,
I recorded an entire album on a Korg D8 and burned all the songs to a Phillips CDRW 880, so I know where you're coming from.
Of course, the easiest way to get them all at the proper level is to take the songs to a pro and get them professionally mastered, and brought up to indusrty standard. That's what we did.
But first, you need a decent set of monitors before you continue doing ANYTHING! You can't gauge your mix properly by using headphones, stereo systems, car stereo's, boom box's, etc. etc.
Granted, you may get what you think is a great mix, until you hear it on a decent set of near-field monitors. The mix will probably need some eq'ing and a bit of compression. There's no way to properly judge this without the monitors!
Secondly, realize that the Korg D8 is only 16-bit digital, and that it has it's limitations. You're not going to get total pro-quality by recording at 16 bits.
If you are planning on making an album with the D8, then just mix the songs the best you can to CD, and let the engineer at the studio bring them all to the proper level during the mastering process.
If you are doing a demo or are on a tight budget, then I'd burn the mix analog through the RCA jacks. You're gonna lose just a tiny bit of sound quality, but when I burned mixes this way, I noticed that they sounded a bit silkier. And you'll be able to adjust each song to the proper level... manually.
If you want to hear what songs professionally mastered from a Korg D8 sound like, go to our website at....

http://go.to/MacBrothers (Click on the green Lifesaver)

It's only at 64 kbps, but at least you'll get some idea of what to expect. Check out "Still I'm Amazed".

[Nilbog]

compression is a good idea. I'd always lightly compress my final mix.
Also, as buck said, GET MONITORS! I got some cheap ($100) monitors and my mixes are 10x better then on even nice headphones. And that's with CHEAPY monitors.
In the mean time, listen to your mixes on every stereo you have to see how they sound. Also listen to a pro mix you like on those stereos to see where yours falls short (on THAT set of speakers).
And doesnt the cdr output at line level?
-Nilbog
p.s. The pioneer was $400

[Prophet_81]

I have an idea, you guys... We have this old Sony boom box sitting around. It has no CD player; it's a model that came out before they were popular. It has a five band EQ and a "extra bass" feature. It has a line in for a CD via RCA jacks. Would you recommend running the studio to the CDR and running the signal from it to the stereo, leaving the EQ flat and extra bass off(or should I leave that on?)? I would then be able to monitor the signal in the room... I think I might try that tonight...

[Prophet_81]

By the way, I wanted to thank you two for the advice so far.

Also, I don't have the immediate means to master the music yet, but I think I'm close. My friend burned me a copy of Sound Forge 4.5. We used that before I got my CD burner. We had a quality recording, but the volume was a bit low. He then somehow expanded the wave on the program and it's at a fairly professional level. We monitored through his nice stereo system.

If I attempt to use Sound Forge in the same way, how do I get the D8 hookep up to my computer? I don't understand where/how to retrieve the signal from the studio(it has scuzzy port on the side and there's one on my soundcard).

[Nilbog]

True, your stereo will be better than monitorsing through headphones. But inderstand that speakers you buy for commercial porpuses are speakers built for a commercial audience. The speakers are made to make music sound good according to popular standards (Increased bass response, etc.) so your going to be WAY better off buying some monitors for the porpuse of recording (some event 20/20s perhaps?). Your stereo will make your music sound good on YOUR stereo, but that might not translate well to headphones, car stereo's, etc.
As faras getting the sound to your computer, I would suggest burning the song to your phillips, then sticking that cd in your cd rom drive, ripping the wav file, and doing whatever you need to do. Then, if you have a cdr on your computer, you can burn copies, upload, whatever. This will bypass the soundcard alltogether (a good thing because most soundcards SUCK!). For more info do a search for "The monkey method".

peace out
-nilbog

p.s. You burned a copy of soundforge! I'm turning you in you PIRATE!

[Prophet_81]

Hey, I mixed and compressed monitoring with the stereo. I think it sounds great. I did, as you suggested, listening to professional mixes and compared and I keep constantly comparing before I burn. I'm getting the proper volume level without distortion so far. I just recorded a full song today and I must say, having monitored the mix through the speakers, my mixes are tons better. As soon as I can, I'll try posting an MP3.

Micah

[Buck62]

Once again, good advice falls on deaf ears.

[Prophet_81]

Buck,

What? They really are sounding good! I understand your advice, but there is no way, right now, for me to afford near-field monitors. I wish I could, but there's just no way right now. There's no way I will take up that debt until I clean up a few others.

I've been listening to my CD's on every stereo I can and it's really good. Especially in consideration of my equipment setup.

I swear though, as soon as possible, I will purchase a good set of speakers. I feel like I've learned more about compression than I ever have doing these mixes. I'm really enjoying myself.

I'm not being defensive, but I do have a very good and critical ear. I'm pleased so far.

Also, I had trouble when I went to listen to your music. I don't know what was going on, but the green life-saver wouldn't let me click on it.

Please reply, Buck.