Need help with "digital mastering fundamentals in '02"

E

eichler

New member
I am looking for some basic information about the way masters should be produced in '02.

I am currently mixing down tracks to 24 bit wave files and would like to master them myself (I actually used to do this stuff professionally 23 years ago but things have changed. I am also using a professional mastering company - just in case my first digital master sucks.)

My first question is...

I am using Sonar XL to order the tracks and apply FX and final tweaking. Once this process is complete, do I...

A. export to a SINGLE 24 bit wave file that gets sent to the CD duplication company?

...or...

B. export each individual song to individual 24 bit wave files that get burned onto a data CD? Then give the CD duplication company instructions for song order and how many seconds should be in between each song?

Question 2...

Is there software written specifically for digital mastering or is Sonar XL as capable as any other?

Thank you all in advance.
 
For mastering, it doesn't really matter how the songs are on the CD. Data or Audio works fine. Data is easier to work with because, depending on the mastering facility, the system will use a data file anyway. There are mastering specific software packages out there. On the pro side, you have Sadie, Sonic Solutions, some others that escape me right now... on the pro-sumer side you have T-Racks, Ozone, Waves (pretty common among pros as well.) With a plug-in pack like Ozone or Waves, you can have some good tools for mastering to work out of Sonar.
 
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