Software for laying out a mastered disc

[pat3]

Hey folks, first time poster here and I have a software question. I have a mastered, finished disc recorded on a zoom mrs802 and I need to simply run the tracks through some burning software that will allow me to both crossfade and specify how much time should exist between tracks (which zoom does not allow)...what would you recommend that is inexpensive, I mean I really just need it for those 2 functions, though a digital cleaning feature would be nice (to eliminate any random air, hissing, or clipping that I may have missed or been forced to leave in). Thanks in advance!

 

[ryanlikestorock]

If you only have to do this once, I'd get the disc mastered and have the mastering engineer do this for you. There isn't much point in buying something just to use it once, really. If you want to do this often, what is your budget for the software? A program like EZ CD Creator will burn CDs for you, but it's not a pro product.

 

[M Havlen]

CD Architect....would do the trick. I't's bill'd as "mastering software" but it's really Pre-Mastering software. I hear Wavelab is a good one also. Usually the task's your talking about ie "space between the tracks" and "de-noising" are part of the "Mastering" process...as well as other improvements to the overall quallity and balance of the audio material. I'm no expert..but there are some folks on this BB that are. Good Luck, and welcome to the BB.

 

[lpdeluxe]

CD Architect is the least expensive software that will allow you to do all the things you want. It will allow you to tweak the individual tracks, all the tracks, change around the gaps between songs, crossfade and lots more, and then burn a Red Book compliant CD from the result. With that and a Plextor Premium burner, you can make fine error-free CDs that will play in any player and can be duplicated without worries. CD Architect goes for about $200 and IMHO it's worth every penny. EZCD or whatever looks pretty pitiful after you get into this.

Just so you'll know, there are other programs that'll do the same but some are restricted to what burners they will support (SCSI, for example) and all are at least twice as expensive.

 

[pat3]

Thanks for responses...so cd architect looks like a nice avenue...as I said the tweaking and cleaning is not as important as the crossfading and space delineation but it would be nice. When these products, such as architect, claim cleaning as a part of their product's capabilities, what exactly does that usually entail? Will it eliminate hissing? air from crappy mikes? clipping? All of the above?

 

[M Havlen]

I use CDA to adjust volume levels, space tracks, and actually burn the tracks to cd. I have only been using the program for a few months, I'm sure it does more. I haven't really seen much in the way of noise reduction on the program . As far as clipping...I think once it's clipped in the recording process it's clipped...if the initial recording is less than optimal, you can only do so much with it. Record as hot as you can, without clipping. You'll find alot of home recoders use different audio software for different tasks. simply because certain ones do certain things better ( depending on who you ask) Foe instance, I use Sonar to record, Sound Forge to edit, and CDA to burn. I guess it comes down to using what you can afford, most of the good software is exspensive.