As part of the creative realm, mastering is a communication process as well as a technical one: the best results are achieved when we know the goals and the comparative or aesthetic context of your project. This creative dialog may include more than one reference disc: sequence changes, adjustments in levels or dynamics may be called for once you have listened to the results of the session. Revisions are sometimes part of the process; plan your budget and schedule accordingly.
Airshow is an audio resource you can use. Our accurate monitoring rooms can reveal the detail of your work while you're still in the mixing process. Many of our clients drop by to evaluate their mixes before the mastering session.
If there are recordings that you consider the aesthetic peer of your project, share them with us. If we know what we're aiming for, we'll get there more efficiently.
If your reference listening environment is a boombox, your personal headphones, your favorite nearfields or your car stereo, you're invited to bring it to your session. If it's another listening room, listen to your reference copy in that setting before you consider the mastering project complete.
Airshow is well-equipped and can work with virtually any media. To maintain the highest audio quality, we encourage you to use high resolution mixing formats such as 24-bit digital and 1/2" analog.
1. Analog 2-track (1", 1/2", or 1/4"), all tape speeds, Dolby SR, Dolby A, dbx type I noise reduction. Please provide alignment tones.
2. 20/24 bit digital utilizing the following formats: Tascam DA 45HR 24 bit DAT, Masterlink CD-24 at 88.2 kHz or 96 kHz, Rane PaqRat on DA-88 or ADAT; AIFF, WAV, or SDII data files on CD-ROM, ProTools, Sonic Solutions Exabyte archive tape or sound drive (please include EDL and project files on floppy disk). Other high resolution formats including Prism 24 bit on DA-88, Genex 8000, and Sony PCM-9000 accepted: please call for details, as additional rental charges may apply.
3. 16 bit formats: DAT 44.1k (preferred) or 48k, CD-R, DA-88, ADAT, Sony 1630.
4. For information on: (1) surround & multi-channel audio for DVD-A, DVD-V and SACD, or (2) using the Sony DSD format for mixing and/or mastering, please call the Boulder studio.
- Keep a safety copy of all of your master tapes or files.
- For best results, always master from your original mix tapes if possible, not safety copies or compiled tapes or discs.
- If you use a digital workstation to edit your mixes, please call; we can provide some advice on how to avoid audio quality degradation during the editing and transfer process.
Please provide:
complete tape logs with titles and timings as well as production, editing, and sequencing instructions; project title, artist, catalog number, and your contact information. If your CD masters should include ISRC and/or UPC codes, or CD Text, please furnish those as well. If you are creating an enhanced CD with audio plus data, please call to discuss your project. Please provide CD Text and SA-CD text files in electronic form.
FTP is an easy way to transfer digital files over the Internet. The Airshow FTP gateway allows our clients to deliver and receive music data files to Springfield or Boulder in any format.
While it is possible to exchange files for complete CD projects using FTP, you should be aware of the time involved. Here are some examples of the time to transmit a single 3-minute stereo file: In 24/96 resolution with dial-up service, it can take 70 minutes; via broadband, just 4 - 6 minutes. At 16/44.1 resolution, with dial-up service, 20 minutes; via broadband, just 2 -3 minutes. Taking files down from the FTP site should be slightly faster. For practical reasons, we like to use FTP to receive substitute mixes, or to send revisions. It saves our international clients time in customs and shipping costs, and helps keep touring artists' projects on schedule.
To use the Airshow Mastering FTP site, you will need a username and password; to get those, contact your mastering engineer or Jason McDaniel, the FTP administrator, in the Boulder studio: jason@airshowmastering.com.
Complete instructions are available in PDF form; just click here.
At the end of your mastering session, Airshow will provide a reference copy of your project for review. After revisions (if needed) and upon your approval, masters will be shipped to you or to your duplication plant. Do not open or play a master.
Master media for CD manufacturing are Sony 1630 U-matic tape, Premaster CD or DDP/Exabyte. Masters for cassette duplication are provided on CD. Complete logs with timings are included. Audio masters for DVD-Video are furnished on DLT tape; masters for SA-CD are provided on AIT data tape.
To facilitate changes, re-edits, or to generate replacement masters, Airshow makes a data tape or disc archive of all audio and session data. We also retain a safety copy of your finished master(s). Many clients rely on us to provide dubs for singles, compilations or other uses. All clients, however, are encouraged to maintain an archive of their precious master tapes. Airshow cannot guarantee the long-term integrity of clients' tape copies stored here.
We use the licensed HDCD process on most projects. You may download the required logo and a style sheet from HDCD.com
Please send us a copy of your CD. We use them to help you identify and correct manufacturing problems you might encounter. We keep our clients' CDs in our archive, and we proudly display them on the walls of our studios.