iTunes Chart-Toppers (a/o February 21st):
Rick Rubin requested an iTunes-specific master on the latest Red Hot Chili Peppers release, I'm With You. But it doesn't end there. It turns out that the mastering team actually created three separately-mastered versions: one for AAC (iTunes), one for vinyl, and another for CD, according to information shared with Digital Music News.
So, is this where mastering is headed? Here's a detailed interview with Vlado Meller, who mastered the album at Masterdisk with the help of Mark Santangelo (who also cut the vinyl).
Digital Music News: You mentioned that there are three, separately mastered versions on this Chili Pepper album: the CD master, a vinyl master, and a special master prepared
specifically for iTunes AAC. Is this considered unusual for releases? After all, this is being touted as the first rock record specifically mastered for iTunes.
Meller: Until now, yes, this would have been unusual. There have been only a few releases which went through this process for iTunes. We believe that this will become more of a standard practice in the music industry.
Digital Music News: Which of these three versions is the highest quality? Or is it a fair comparison?
Meller: Well, it's a little bit like apples and oranges, especially when it comes to vinyl. If I had to name one format as the "highest quality" for commercial release, I'd say that it's the CD master. The optimized AAC files for iTunes were designed to retain the frequency response and level of the CD, and the quality of those files is very good too.
When it comes to vinyl I mentioned "apples and oranges" -- that's because the vinyl format has some limitations, like a decrease in quality as you get to the end of a side. Yet it has a coloration that many people love. Vinyl lovers with high-end systems can overcome a lot of the format's "quirks," but they do exist. I'm With You was cut from hi-res 24/96 files, so the sound quality is optimal.
Digital Music News: Is there an option for consumers to reach higher and grab some master-quality fidelity versions?
Meller: At the moment, the highest quality is the commercial release (CD master). Hopefully in the near future, digital distributors will be able to deliver high-resolution files.
Digital Music News: What specific considerations play into the AAC mastering process? Can you really make a version that brings white earbuds to life, or is that not the point?
Meller: Yes, with an iTunes optimized master, the listener will be able to enjoy more clarity and an overall better sound quality than is otherwise currently available.
Digital Music News: What specific considerations play into the vinyl mastering process?
Meller: Vinyl has its own limitations, so level and high frequencies and extremely low frequencies have to be handled carefully. The vinyl purist appreciates the warmth and depth of the vinyl and can forgive the occasional clicks and pops -- he or she may even like it better with a little surface noise. To get the vinyl to sound its best, test cuts are made and compared to the original high resolution master. Adjustments in tone and level are made so that the vinyl plays back without distortion and without skipping. It's a very physical process.
Digital Music News: What specific considerations play into the CD mastering process?
Meller: Often, mastering studios are supplied with high-res files which unfortunately need to be downconverted to 44/16 CD audio quality. Basically one always tries to achieve the best possible sound compared to the original mix file. It is a collaborative effort between the artist, producer and other engineers involved.
Digital Music News: You're an audio professional, and can probably hear things that even dogs can't. But can average listeners really hear the difference. Does it really do more for the consumer, or is it mainly done to satisfy the creative production desires of the artists and engineers?
Meller: Absolutely, yes, it is for the listener. If the consumer were to listen to the quality of a commercial CD against its corresponding standard digital download, they would notice that there is quite a difference. With the exception of the more critical listeners out there, people generally don't make these kind of listening comparisons between the two mediums -- but if they did, it can be noticed. With iTunes optimization during mastering, the AAC files are much closer to the sound of the commercial CD.
Comments Closed
@patrisrocha Friday, September 02, 2011
Patris Rocha
a (grande) indústria tentando se safar da apple
@jeffersoncenter Friday, September 02, 2011
Jefferson Center
Interesting article...
cipher Sunday, September 04, 2011
I agree with Valdo...but at the end of the day no matter how spectacular the enhancment is it is the quality of the equipment and the environment it is played in.
cipher
@Uschi_No_Michi Saturday, September 03, 2011
Uschi
Seems obvious. Made easier since Sonnox Fraunhofer ProCodec.
Versus Saturday, September 03, 2011
The format-specific mastering process for AAC is as follows:
1. Take high-quality master.
2. Reduce quality.
3. Test on lowest quality possible reproduction system (i.e. Apple earbuds).
4. If result still sounds musical or aesthetically pleasing, repeat step 2.
5. Save.
- Versus
Bart Wednesday, September 07, 2011
You're just a dumb that thinks he's smart. Waht you say is "la palisse truth" and you still miss the main point. No one says that the quality is equal to other formats. What is said is that this way the final quality is improved in digital files...
MDTI Sunday, September 04, 2011
Many people do this since the early days of mp3 (enhancing the sound of the mp3, as a seperate master)....
The future is on 24 bits Flac or wave
Some high end shops already propose such files (even masters at 96 or 192 khz) mainly in classical, jazz and vocal performances. It is very succesful with audiophiles.
DJs, we already exchange our tracks as 24 bit wave files, played as such in clubs and lives.
For the majors, the question is more about how long they can still get some fruits from CD sales rather than being up to date, because there is no reason to update if people still buy CDs, mp3 or other format that are all degraded quality from the original stems or mastered wave files.
Looking at the "underground" gives a good view of where the mass market could be in 5 / 10 years from now.
MDTI Sunday, September 04, 2011
ie, why sell high qulaity now as you can wait and sell it again in x years... (that's like lesson n°1 or 2 in commerce classes)....
borg Sunday, September 04, 2011
right on,
and readingh this article gives a good idea of what were the trends 10 years ago :-)
Versus Monday, September 05, 2011
A very cynical assessment, but possibly accurate.
I do believe people are tired of "re-purchasing" the same music in new formats. After spending a few times like this, one no longer believes the hype about the current "ultimate" format.
Undoubtedly, such frustration is one factor driving the constantly increasing sales of vinyl, as a countermovement against the questionable forms of audio "progress" (digital compression, loudness wars, loss of enjoyment of cover artwork, etc).
- Versus
Ian Shepherd Sunday, September 04, 2011
It's an interesting idea, although does it mean we're now expected to buy multiple copies for multiple media ?
Either was it's sad they had to take all that time and effort over such a poor-sounding record...
Mastered for iTunes - sonic revalation or meaningless sales hype ?
Ian
@Valleyarm Monday, September 05, 2011
Valleyarm
Mastering takes on a new role in the ever-changing industry.
@courtneyesmith Tuesday, September 06, 2011
Courtney E. Smith
For the real nerds...
@DeVaNyEnt Tuesday, September 06, 2011
DeVaNy
Is This The Future?? Producers & Engineers should read this!!
Jaime F. Tuesday, September 06, 2011
I've done it for a year or so, nothing too special. And that means somebody did it way before me, because I got the idea from somebody else.
anonymous Tuesday, September 06, 2011
@S_ArnoldMusic Tuesday, September 06, 2011
Stephen Arnold Music
Mastering a song takes time and effort! Imagine doing it three times!
Adam Thursday, September 08, 2011
Bullshit, Vlado Meller is one of the worst mastering engineers in the industry!
He wouldn't know what dynamics were if they came up to him and slapped him in the face, he's ruining the albums he works on, take a look at Californication and more recently I'm With You (Both by RHCP if you didn't know that already) they're all mastered to be as loud as possible and the both the CD version and iTunes versions clip and distort like hell!
I pray that someone else has been hired to master the Vinyl version!
PoliceHelicoptor Friday, September 09, 2011
VLADO. PLEASE, STOP RUINING MUSIC!
Trippynet Friday, September 16, 2011
I agree entirely. Vlado goes on about "At the moment, the highest quality is the commercial release (CD master)". That's a laugh as the quality of the CD version is appalling. It's just a lifeless, fatiguing, ear-destroying wall of clipping, static and distortion from start to finish. It sounds so awful that I took my CD back for a refund.
Later on, he says "Absolutely, yes, it is for the listener." What absolute crap. If it were "for the listener", he'd try to master music to sound good. Instead with Vlado Mellor, the sound quality is irrelevant. It's just how loud, terrible and distorted he can make it sound which is his only concern.
Rod Rescueman Monday, September 12, 2011
Amen! Vlado must be deaf. Just compare his mastering of Stadium Arcadium (CD) to Steve Hoffman's (LP). They don't even sound like the same album! Hoffman made the music sound like music. Vlado made it sound like loud noise.
And no, this isn't an LP versus CD thing. There's no reason the CD can't sound as good as the LP version, if it had a competent mastering engineer.
Jeremy Saturday, September 10, 2011
I like the idea that they're beginning to do format specific mastering, but the things Vlado is saying in this interview don't make a lot of sense. His approach despite sounding as complicated as it does also involves heavy compression of the music and a gain level to the volume beyond what the audio can clearly render (no matter how much you turn your volume down, it's the data that's distorted). So on these very carefully mastered recordings listeners are subjected to distorted nonsense a lot of the time. I'm a musician, and I can't tell what the band is playing a lot of the time on either version because it's so so garbled.
The fact that he's willing to give listeners such credit in his claims in this interview and yet still make such garbled distorted music is completely insulting to the intelligence of the fans. He must literally believe people have poor listening taste, and every record bought proves him right. He won't be getting my support.
tin ears Tuesday, September 13, 2011
Since there isn't much more you can do to improve musical quality once you have a CD master, I'd guess that the only "enhancement" they are doing for digital music is a higher degree of compression so that softer passages and notes are audible in a crappy earbud with limited frequency response.
This is analogous to mastering your track for automobile AM radio, another established and not new practice.
Steve Wednesday, September 14, 2011
"he or she may even like it better with a little surface noise"
Um, that really shows how little Vlado Meller knows about music at all. First his masterings of the RHCP CD's are God-awful, on par with Metallica's Death Magnetic. Listening to the CD of I'm With You is a painful experience, it has 3~4dB's of dynamic range at best. Throw on Blood Sugar Sex Magik and you breathe a sigh of relief as the joy of dynamically alive music hits you with 14dB of dynamic range.
If you make an iTunes master there is NO reason to make the CD sound just as awfully compressed. No good reason at all. The CD is total garbage. Also if the vinyl is cut from a 24/96 master, how can you talk about the CD and iTunes which are 16/44.1 being the best options? Unless you've totally ruined the vinyl as well, it should be the best option.
The vinyl of Stadium Arcadium, mastered by Steve Hoffman, is an absolute joy to listen to. I fear the worst for the vinyl of I'm With You after learning that Vlado too has been involved.
Please Vlado Meller, STOP RUINING MUSIC!
OUR SPONSORS
© 2011 All Rights Reserved
Follow Us