Recording, Mixing & Mastering Formats
Was reading Rob Stewart's (JustMastering.com) article about Mastering For iTunes, and he has a concise recommendation for recording, mixing, and mastering for widespread digital distribution which I quote below. He recommends recording at 24/44.1, mixing to a 24/96 file, then making two masters - one at 24/44.1 and the other at 16/44.1. He then recommends submitting the 24-bit WAV master to an MFiT aggregator for submission to iTunes only, and submitting the 16-bit WAV version as a separate release for other distribution companies. I was wondering if anybody here was doing this? Reason being CDBaby, DistroKid, TuneCore, etc. don't require it, and I'm not sure you're going to get that much better result with a 24/44.1 MFiT than a 16/44.1 which is sort the defacto standard for WAV submission to this distro companies. Appreciate any comments...
Rob Stewart Quoted Here:
"With or without Mastered for iTunes in mind, if you are planning for a release with wide-spread digital distribution, I recommend the following practices during the recording, mixing and mastering stages:
• Record the music in 24-bit 44.1kHz sample rate, or higher, using conservative levels (RMS level of -24dBFS is ideal, peaks should be no higher than -6dBFS)
• Mix to a 24-bit 96kHz sample rate file, using a mixing platform that allows you to set your mix project to 32 or 64-bit floating point 96kHz or higher sample rate, keeping levels throughout the chain to a conservative level (RMS level of -24dBFS is also ideal, here)
• Focus on tonality, drama and expression when mixing (craft a compelling listening experience that draws your listener in!)
• Master to a 24-bit 44.1kHz sample rate WAV file (or higher), using a mastering platform that can handle 32 or 64-bit floating point 96kHz or higher internal architecture (see note, below)
• Master to a 16-bit 44.1kHz WAV file, specially optimized for that bit depth and sample rate
• Check both masters for any clipping, and make any necessary adjustments
• Convert both masters to iTunes plus format, and check for clipping again, then go back and make any necessary adjustments
• Submit the 24-bit WAV master to an MFiT aggregator to submit to iTunes only, and submit the 16-bit WAV version as a separate release for other distribution companies (discard the temporary AAC copies you made in the steps above)
Note (also from Rob Stewart): Since Apple converts all files to 32-bit float, 44.1kHz sample rate during the Mastered for iTunes conversion, you could consider handling the down conversion step by creating your MFiT master in 24-bit 44.1kHz WAV format (be sure to use a mastering grade sample rate converter if you are downsampling from greater-than-44.1kHz rates, though). If you plan to also distribute on other platforms that allow higher sample rate files, I recommend creating an alternate version (e.g. 96kHz) for that purpose as well."
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