Need help with duplicating master C.D.

[SHEPPARDB.]

I just finished the final mixes for my bands promo pack CD and burned
the master.I was wondering if anyone knows of a good freeware program
that would simplify the normalising/duplicating process?

Thanks
Sheppard

[SouthSIDE Glen]

Originally Posted by SHEPPARDB.

I just finished the final mixes for my bands promo pack CD and burned
the master.I was wondering if anyone knows of a good freeware program
that would simplify the normalising/duplicating process?

If you already have a "master" burnt, don't you already have the tracks mastered? What do you need further normalizing or other mastering for?

And what is it about your current burning software that's keeping you from easily making duplicate burns of the same tracks? Most burning software allows you to select the number of copies you want to burn in a single run.

Anyway, take a look at CDBurnerXP Pro if you want Windows-based freeware burning software that's fairly full-featured and reliable.

G.

[SHEPPARDB.]

Originally Posted by SouthSIDE Glen

If you already have a "master" burnt, don't you already have the tracks mastered? What do you need further normalizing or other mastering for?

And what is it about your current burning software that's keeping you from easily making duplicate burns of the same tracks? Most burning software allows you to select the number of copies you want to burn in a single run.

Anyway, take a look at CDBurnerXP Pro if you want Windows-based freeware burning software that's fairly full-featured and reliable.

G.

Glen,I'm using the Yamaha aw4416 and it will burn the finished mix but will
not normalise.I tried to get the tracks as close in level as I could but there
were slight differences in volume.
As far as burning multiple tracks on the aw,it is slow,slow,slow.
Thanks for the info.I will check it out.

[SouthSIDE Glen]

Originally Posted by SHEPPARDB.

Glen,I'm using the Yamaha aw4416 and it will burn the finished mix but will
not normalise.

OK, gotcha.

In that case you may also want to take a look at Audacity (available at SourceForge.net) It's a freeware audio file editor that should include standard peak normalization as well as most other stock features.

You can use Audacity to master the mixes you dump to the PC from your 4416, then use the burner software to burn the finaled mixes to CD.

G.

[SonicAlbert]

Normalizing is not the best way to "master" your final tracks, in my opinion. The reason being that you could very well end up with a bunch of tracks that are different from each other volume-wise, at least in listener perception.

In the normalization process, the software looks for the highest peak and pushes the entire track up in volume until that peak is just below digital "0". But here's the problem: Let's say you have one track where the peak is much higher than the rest of the song, and another track where the peak is not much higher than the rest of the song. What will happen is that the relative volumes of the tracks will be off. So the peaks will be the same, but the rest of the tracks will be far off from each other.

The usual way to avoid this is to use a limiter on your final mixes. The limiter raises up the whole track, and allows you to control what the peak will be. Anything above this peak will be lopped off, allowing the rest of the tracks to remain at the desired volume.

Also, there's no rule that says that all the tracks on your album have to be at *exactly* the same volume. A little ebb and flow can be a good thing.

I know you are looking for free, but if you are on a Mac, there is an inexpensive program that will do everything you need in one piece of software. It's called DSP-Quattro and does high quality normalizing with a greaet deal of control, plus you can create a playlist of your tracks and burn your CD's right from the program itself, no Toast or Jam needed.