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Dear Joe and all you other mastering engineers!

What is your prefered media to recieve data/music on? and sent it to duplication on?

Right now it looks like a HD is the best choice.
Burning CD's give small dynamic differences and sometimes resonances, but i don't know about DAT.

Regards

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joe lambert Tue, 10/14/2003 - 08:40

It all depends on how you are working as a mix engineer. In my perfect world everyone would mix down to half inch 30ips no noise reduction. If you have a well kept machine that is properly aligned. Great

Many engineers don't have access to a fine ATR or Studer 2 track. So what do you have access to? If you are mixing in a DAW work at the highest sampling and bit rate your machine offers. Most workstations now are 24bit 48K or higher. Great Use all that hi res. that you are paying for. You can't burn these files to disc as audio but you can burn them as DATA files. Save you mix as an SDII, WAV. or AIFF Data file. This burns to CDR fine. It's not audio it's data so it doesn't care what the sampling/bit rate is. I can then open them in one of my workstations and go. Just document everything as always!

Firewire drives are so cheap now many people are just dragging there mixes on a firewire drive and bringing it in. This is a very good way to go because your original files stay in your hands and then you have a cheap backup.

Tell me what you have for options and I will tell you what I think is the best way for you to go.

joe lambert Tue, 10/14/2003 - 08:59

2nd part of your question.

As far as sending parts to the duplication houses. I can send PMCD master's but prefer the DDP master. I always recommend a DDP master. It is safe. And it's what your CD is going to end up on anyway when you send it to the plant. I deliver the DDP protocol master on an 8MM digital tape format. I never have had a problem. It has become the standard for most if not all the major labels. And as many of the records I work on are indie projects I can tell you that pretty much every duplication house out there would prefer a DDP to a PMCD.
PMCD sound quality is fine when created properly. But they are more problematic.

Ammitsboel Wed, 10/15/2003 - 23:41

thanks Joe!

I have a firewire drive availeble for data transfer for now + a REVOX PR99 1/4.
but as I wrote before I'm starting out and want the best solution for data transfer to begin with, I don't se it as an option to go for the cheaper solutions because it will just mess up my work.

It sounds like an option to burn the CDR's with the data files.
You are using a 8mm data tape? is that a DAT tape?
Are you using an extern DAT machine or a tape streamer?

Regards
You are a great help Joe! :)

PS. Have you heard of the Pyramix DAW?
It should be raving the maked right now... here in Denmark there at least one of the biggest mastering enginers using it.