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This article is from the Electronic and Computer Music FAQ, by Craig Latta Craig.Latta@NetJam.ORG with numerous contributions by others.

2.3.1) What constitutes a CD master? (Electronic and Computer Music)

From: kls30@cd.amdahl.com (Kent L. Shephard) Newsgroups: comp.music, rec.audio.pro, rec.music.synth
Subject: Re: Questions about CD mastering
Date: 17 Nov 92 16:54:20 GMT

In article <1e9i9uINN4g7@calvin.usc.EDU>, alves@calvin.usc.EDU (William
Alves) writes:

> I would like to talk to anyone who has had some experience
> mastering and pressing a CD. I assume that one sends the company that
> does the pressing a DAT, but what are the other details? I assume each
> track is marked by a DAT id that corresponds to the track number, but
> what about the time between tracks? First, how much time is usually
> put between tracks?
>
> Second, I have seen that CDs have a countdown time between the
> end of a track and the start of another - how is this represented on
> the DAT? Finally, does anyone have the names of and experiences with
> CD manufacturers? What are some typical costs and how easy are they to
> deal with? Thanks for any info.
>
> Bill

Typical time between tracks varies from about 2-4 seconds. A
DAT is sent to the pressing house. With the DAT you also need to send
a play sheet that lists the absolute start time and length of each
song. You need 15 seconds at the beginning and end of the date that
is completely blank. You need no test tones on the tape since the
transfer will be digital.

Your DAT will need to be "level corrected" either before you
send it to the pressing house or after. Before is better since they
charge lots of cash for mastering. The level correction is actually
called normalization. All this does is make the peak of every song
the same level so a person doesn't have to play with the volume on
their stereo for each song. Also make sure you record at 44.1KHz vs
48KHz since sample rate conversion would have to be done or an analog
step would be needed to get the sample rate to 44.1KHz.

The pressing plant will charge a slight amount to convert from
DAT to Sony 1630 format which the disk is cut from. The more you do
on your end as far as prep goes the less you will wind up paying.

I do all my mastering and mastering for other folks on a NeXT
and they take the tape with the times and length of songs to the
pressing plant they use.

There are quite a few pressing plants. Disc Makers in
Pittsburg,Pa. and New York have a policy of satisfaction or they
refund your money. They als have a 1 week turn around for cassette.

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