Hello Hive musicians! Have you ever wanted to get your tracks cut to vinyl? This article covers a few points that could be useful.
We often remaster previously mastered CD audio for vinyl, so I’ve written a short article about why it’s important to get vinyl-optimized masters done, explaining the difference in mastering for digital vs. vinyl, and answer common questions such as “Can I use the digital masters for vinyl records?”
(note for tech/grammar purists: by "digital masters" I mean "masters intended for digital final use" e.g. streaming/CD, as all masters delivered on WAV or AIFF etc. are using a digital format already of course, rather than audio stored on a vinyl lacquer or analogue tape).
Releasing a vinyl record is an expensive business. It’s tempting to cut corners where possible to save money, and inevitably at some point the question gets asked… “Is a separate master really necessary for vinyl? Or can I use the regular masters for vinyl music?
Short answer = You should really use a separate vinyl master for the best results.
Your masters that are created for digital use (Streaming/download/CD) are the no-compromise, ideal version you the artist wants to represent your music best. On digital platforms and CD there are virtually no creative limitations to what can be achieved in the stereo mix and master, as digital playback systems can deal with it.
It’s not the same on physical vinyl. If you try to use the digital master on a vinyl cut, suddenly you might find that awesome bass effect sounds quite different, or worse makes the needle skip. You may find the sparkly upper midrange now sounds a lot more harsh. You’re sure the digital master sounds punchier, more vibrant, more alive than on your vinyl. What’s up?
Often masters for digital are accepted by the vinyl pressing plant, as they are technically OK to press on vinyl, but the end result could be disappointing sound quality which may sound less punchy than the same masters listened to on digital streaming platforms like Spotify or a CD.
Using masters optimized for digital use to press vinyl can result in a slightly flatter sound, less dynamic range, various levels of distortion, skipping needles when playing back, and less overall “life” than on the digital masters – a shame after spending so much money on getting the records pressed!
Why Does Dynamic Range Matter So Much When Pressing Vinyl?
What is dynamic range? = a measurement of the difference between the absolute quietest sound, and the absolute loudest sound that something is able to represent.
Example: An unplugged electric guitar can play very quietly, but can’t go very loud at all, so it has a low dynamic range. A drum can play just as quietly as the guitar, but can go way louder, hence a large dynamic range.
Related to mastering: A slammed, super-loud EDM Pop master would usually have much less dynamic range than a space-jazz epic with loud and quiet sections.
Different mediums have different dynamic ranges too. CD, vinyl, cassette and digital files all have different limitations of dynamic range.
In contrast to what you might expect, the louder and heavier the digital master is, the flatter, quieter and generally more-rubbish-sounding the vinyl will usually be! Why? Because the dynamic range on vinyl is massively less than is available on digital formats, so compromises must be made at the pressing plant to compensate for your extremely-pushed digital master.
So although many people feel vinyl sounds “better” it is scientific fact that in terms of dynamic range, digital can handle louder-louds, and quieter-quiets.
Without getting bogged-down into too many boring academic details and variables like dithering which can skew the measurements, let’s quickly check out the difference in the dynamic range of 3 common mediums:
24 Bit WAV digital audio (common “studio” quality for recording and bouncing final mixes pre-mastering): a dynamic range of 144dB, which goes from really-bloody-quiet, right through to thunderously loud!
16 Bit WAV (CD quality): dynamic range is 96 dB, so you see there’s dramatically less possible volume difference between the loudest sound and the quietest sound. 48 dB is a lot of difference.
Vinyl: Can vary, but it averages out around 80dB dynamic range, with some wriggle-room. That’s much louder-quiets, and quieter-louds available on vinyl!
You can see that only taking into account the factor of dynamic range, there are big differences that should be accounted for when mastering for vinyl.
If you are absolutely in love with your existing fat digital master, we can adjust it for you to suit the vinyl medium specs and translate beautifully in the way you want and expect. It doesn't have to sound too different to the final listener, and we can minimise the amount of compromise.
Mastering for vinyl records is a very worthwhile part of the process. You can have faith that your tracks are represented as well as possible, and you won’t have a nagging feeling your record could have sounded a bit better if you’d got the additional pre-vinyl mastered versions.
Case Study – Preparing Digital Masters for Vinyl
A client wanted to use his CD masters for vinyl pressing, and sent them to us, as the pressing plant rejected them and warned them the cut would have issues because the masters had been pushed quite hard, and had some low-end phase issues. He didn’t have the unmastered mixes anymore, so needed to use the existing CD masters... Damn!
Often CD masters have been pushed hard for volume at the expense of dynamic range, and this could lead to a compromised vinyl cut sounding flat and lifeless. Of course, they are also at 16 bit too.
So we did a little restoration: We restored the dynamic transients from the original CD masters, increasing the dynamic range, restoring life, bounce and natural energy, and ensuring a stomping vinyl cut! The pressing plant accepted the new ones, and he got his cut. Happy days!
Look at the picture: Blue waveforms = original masters, Orange ones = after we restored the dynamic range.
Notice how the lower waveforms look more open and natural now. The transients have been delicately & naturally restored. You can see how the natural subtle energy has been given back, and the life breathed back in.
He was happy with the overall sound of the original masters, so we were careful not to mess with the tone and only adjust the technical aspects, including increasing dynamic range and transients, ensuring there was no low-end phase problems, checking the upper-mids and high-frequencies carefully to ensure they wouldn’t sound harsh on vinyl, and providing some extra headroom.
To the listener it sounds very much the same as the previous masters, but the new files are much more suited for the vinyl medium. Mastering for vinyl specs will give a quality cut, and generally sound better on the final record.
Using Digital Masters For Vinyl – A False Economy
So to answer the question “can I use digital masters for vinyl records?” = Maybe, but why risk making the vinyl sound rubbish to save a small fraction of the overall cost? It’s like buying a house but not a bed.
If your test pressings come back sounding bad, and you realize it’s the digital masters at fault, you will have to order (and pay!) for more test pressing next time around. PLUS the cost of getting proper pre-vinyl masters done next time around too!
Vinyl pressing plants have long lead times already (right now it's crazy, with anywhere from 4 to 9+ months being pretty standard, depending where you go), and small delays can cost extra weeks in the real-world. We dipped our toes into being a vinyl broker once and it was a nightmare with the ever-changing lead-times, so it’s important to send everything off right first time and save yourself time, money and hassle in the long run.
I have been mastering for vinyl since 2006. Whether it’s remastering old recordings for a "modern" sound, getting a good translation of fat digital masters, or remastering previously-mastered CD material to be optimized for vinyl – it's all possible.
F.Y.I. Our mastering for vinyl price is the same as for digital if that’s the only format you want, and if you want an alternative vinyl-optimised version of your masters done at the same time, we can do this at a huge discount (only £10 each!).
Consider getting pre-vinyl masters done at the same time if you are getting vinyl pressed, or even just a few custom vinyl record dubplates. It's worthwhile for the best sounding cut.
Thanks for reading, I hope you found this article useful.
You can try our online mastering free, just upload a track: https://fatasfunk.com/upload-your-tracks/
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