mastering for vinyl

[Btyre2013]

Hi I have a client who wants a special master for vinyl, apparently it will be cut to vinyl on a compilation album with other material from other bands engineers studios e.t.c.

would I be right in assuming to cut bass out of the sides is the right thing to do? at around 60-80Hz to make sure the needle doesn't jump.

Also do I need to roll off the highs with a low pass filter? I have read that too much high end will distort.

Am I also correct in assuming that loudness is far less important? to have a wide dynamic range is better?

I Hope someone with experience can help, this is my first time mastering for vinyl so I'd appreciate some help.

regards, Ben.

 

[Massive Master]

You certainly don't want too much low end on the sides, too much strong top (sibilance and the like) and you don't want to be overly crushed -- To that end, the vinyl guy is still going to have to go through the moves (assuming you're not actually cutting the lacquer). "Playing it safe" is going to be a nice thing - and a call to the vinyl engineer wouldn't be bad either...

 

[rayc]

I thought ans ME would, in addition to addressing any other issues, apply the old standard EQ to match the preamp settings. RIAA settings?
Talking to the vinyl people is pretty much a given as well.

 

[Beck]

I'm assuming you mean mixing for vinyl, since you won't be doing the actual vinyl master, correct?

If this is going to a true vinyl mastering engineer with the proper tools you don't have to worry about much except keeping the bass centered in the mix. The mastering engineer will do the rest, such as rolling highs off at 18 kHz or less and rolling off bass frequencies below 40 kHz (37.5 kHz to be exact if using standard EQ filtering for vinyl). And yes give the dynamic range room to breathe. The vinyl mastering engineer will bring it inline with the medium.