is mastering worth it if you're just gonna burn it to cd-r?

F

floppsybunny

New member
i'm wondering if it's worth it to pay someone to help me master my recording if i just plan to burn cd-r's with the master - does using cd-r have a major impact on the final sound quality vs. pressed discs?

(i understand that cd-r's are not absolutely 100% compatible and are not long-lasting compared to pressed or professionally-duplicated discs, just wondering about sound quality)

thanks!
 
... i dont think it will make a difference .. just the difference between you mastering and a pro doing it will make a big difference .. id be suprised if there was a big difference between discs


not saying your not a pro ;)
 
I think the question has less to do with the final media, i.e. CD versus CDR, as much as it has to do with the intended audience and market for the CD. If you intend to sell this at brick and mortar stores like Amazon.com or Barnes & Noble, then you'll probably have to do a manufactured run. But if this is something for you to sell yourself off your own web site and at performances, then CDR could be fine. But either way, having it professionally mastered will most likely be a good thing as far as the final product.
 
Sound quality should be no different, pressed CD versus CDR; unless you have a crap burner, crap discs, try to burn at 52X, and burn a ton of errors on your CDRs. Then you will notice distortions, skips, and other ugliness on your CDRs. As long as you get the data on there without major burn errors, it will sound exactly the same as if you had them pressed from a glass master.

Professional premastering will make your stuff sound better. Only you can decide if it is worth it.
 
However, don't do as many people do. (Which is to rip the master to MP3s and then burn those)

You want to duplicate the master disc or image it in a way to preserve the structure placed by mastering.
 
If this is something you plan to burn to CD-R, then this would naturally lead me to think that this isn't going to be the next mega-platinum release, and that it will be intended for a relatively smaller audience.

In which case, I'm going to have to go against the grain on this one and suggest that professional mastering might be kind of a waste. If it sounds good, then no one's going to care if it's pegging their meters or if they have to reach for the tone controls on their CD player. If it doesn't sound good on the other hand, it's not very likely an ME will be able to pefrom voodoo magic on it.

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