Getting from a bunch of tracks to a master CD

  • Thread starter Thread starter Armistice
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OK... can someone help me with the start of this process.... getting the stereo .wav files into whatever (Reaper or WaveLab Elements).

They're currently all individual projects in Reaper. I understand I have to put them all in a single timeline in either Reaper or WLE and various other processes courtesy of the video above, that's not my issue... I'm actually confused as to WHAT EXACTLY I'M PUTTING IN the time line.

Am I rendering each project/track to a 44.1/16 wav file and using those (they're in 44.1/24 at the moment), or am I rendering them as 44.1/24 and later converting to 44.1/16 as part of the mastering exercise (and the whole SRC / dithering thing is a huge black hole for me but I'll get to that later...) or am I doing something else? Or is this a specific Reaper question I should ask in the Reaper forum below?

Mega confused on how to start correctly.... :confused:
 
I can help you WLE, but not Reaper. I'm not home so can't pull it up, but will try to go from memory.

For WLE, make a new CD montage. You can drag your stereo files or open them and place them on the timeline. I suggest sticking with 24 bit until the very last step. Put the stereo files in the order you want, spacing etc. You can trim or crossfade the beginning and ends of the files just like you would with a track in Reaper. You can right click on the file to add a VST to the file, like an EQ plug.

You can add global VST's in the Master section like a stereo enhancer or more importantly, a Limiter. The Master section also has dithering options. When you get everything lined up and sounding like an congealed album, you would render it. Then burn it to a CD.

I probably skimmed over a lot of stuff, but like I said, I'm not home to look at it. Does any of this help?
 
Yep it does thanks Chili... it's the "whether to put a 16 bit or 24 bit file" question that was foxing me... 24 by the sound of it. That video that boulder posted is very useful but he's using already recorded tracks he's ripped off a Godsmack CD to demonstrate, so he keeps having to make exceptions to what he's saying as a result... the starting point wasn't clear!

I'm just trying to work out the process for the DPP file thing as I'm assuming that's how you interact with kanuki, or whatever it's called, as I'll be using that like you and rayc have done, but I'll also be getting a local CD replicated with better quality packaging, so need to also do a redbook master, unless the replication house accepts the DPP file thang... all to be worked out. This is getting seriously complex...!

I daresay this will become quite a long thread by the time I finish! And I'm still working on the last song, so not even at the start point yet... :facepalm::D
 
IDK anything about Wavelab, but you generally want to keep as much resolution as possible right up till you're completely done adjusting things. Heck, if Wavelab will take 32 bit floats, render from Reaper in that format! Then do all the processing and when you are completely done fucking with it you can dither and truncate to your target bit depth. In practice it probably won't make a whole lot of difference...
 
ashcat_lt said:
IDK anything about Wavelab, but you generally want to keep as much resolution as possible right up till you're completely done adjusting things. Heck, if Wavelab will take 32 bit floats, render from Reaper in that format! Then do all the processing and when you are completely done fucking with it you can dither and truncate to your target bit depth. In practice it probably won't make a whole lot of difference...
Click to expand...

Yeah ashcat... that's sort of the idea I'm getting here... cheers!
 
I agree with Ash also; it probably won't make much of a difference. I have never tried 32bit-float myself. I'm sure wavelab can open it no problem.

For Kunaki, I set up my songs in the timeline, applied the individual plugs to each song to get them all to sound as sonically close as I could (remember that post I made a month or so ago?), added ISRC and barcodes (WLE accommodates them) then put a limiter on the Master section (I used Izotope :eek:) and rendered it. Then I burned a CD from it. WLE will burn a redbook cd, but you can't edit the PQ codes. With that CD, I used Kunaki's software. I didn't render to a wav and DPP file.

I can send you a CD for your inspection. PM me your address.
 
I think once you do the Kunaki thing, 'redbook', ISRC and barcodes all go out the window. No? Same thing with Amazon's Createspace. None of that info gets tranferred when they burn the CD-R.
 
mjbphotos said:
I think once you do the Kunaki thing, 'redbook', ISRC and barcodes all go out the window. No? Same thing with Amazon's Createspace. None of that info gets tranferred when they burn the CD-R.
Click to expand...

That's too bad, because I know for a fact at least one version of Nero can read DDP files and burn a CD-R with all the text intact. I'm betting ISRCs would have been carried over as well.
 
mjbphotos said:
I think once you do the Kunaki thing, 'redbook', ISRC and barcodes all go out the window. No? Same thing with Amazon's Createspace. None of that info gets tranferred when they burn the CD-R.
Click to expand...
...

Could be, but Kunaki won't be the major part of my push for world stardom :D as that will be a local (Australian) thing where I'll have a properly replicated CD... I just have to work out whether I need to do something separate for each type of CD - I haven't really investigated the exact details for replication yet... certainly when I've done this before I've just burnt the songs onto a CD-R direct from the machine and given them to the replication house - and that CD-R would absolutely NOT be redbook compliant, so I've assumed they've taken that CD-R and cut a red book compliant master as part of their process.

Mind you I haven't done this for a long time and never worried about ISRCs and barcode to date, but will be this time.

PQ codes? Perhaps I need to actually get some of this happening and get less theoretical. I've seen in the DDP 2.0 file that you put a start marker in (via Reaper) but that no end marker is required (necessarily)... I'm guessing this is part of the redbook thing (I googled what they are, I get that...)
 
Yeap, for Kunaki 24, 32, Red Book etc all go by the by. Just a set of files made into a CD that plays on a variety of CD players is the aim for that line.
As to 16 or 24, if you've done the whole thing in 24 then use files at 24 when you line them up. Essentially the higher the quality the better BUT know that for what you're doing it's not going to make an audible difference to 99% of people who buy CDs and play them on decent systems.
I've had one ME insist on 24 and another say he's ambivilant about the number so long as if it's 16 the dithering process down from 24 (if the project was recorded in 24) is well done.
 
mjbphotos said:
I think once you do the Kunaki thing, 'redbook', ISRC and barcodes all go out the window. No? Same thing with Amazon's Createspace. None of that info gets tranferred when they burn the CD-R.
Click to expand...

No, I think you've got that wrong. Their software takes an image of whatever you have on the CD. But... I'm not positive either and now I'm going to have to search through their site to find the answer.

Thanks man. :mad:
:D
 
Sorry, I know I had a 'red book' disc that I sent to CreateSpace for my first cd (instead of uploading files). The CD-Rs that came back had no embedded anything. I assumed Kunaki would be the same way, so didn't do the redbook thing.
 
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