The Biggest Vinyl Mastering Myths

The process of producing and mastering a record is shrouded in many myths. And as is the case with myths, some of them are true and others are not. What myths do you have? Vinyl Mastering You can find out which ones you should take into account and which ones you should avoid in this article.

Table of Contents

Advantages of vinyl

  • Own sound aesthetic
  • Format-related “restrictions” such as distortions can be used creatively
  • Haptics and visual appeal
  • Special feature for fans

Disadvantages of vinyl

  • Physical sound carrier that is subject to or exposed to corresponding restrictions and influences
  • Production and distribution are more expensive compared to purely digital production and distribution

Are records even listened to anymore?

41,3 Millionen – so many EPs and LPs were loud overall statista.de Sold in the USA alone in 2022. The format, which has since been declared dead by some, has been in decline for around ten years Comeback. According to the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) Semi-Annual Report 2023 Vinyl has a 72 percent share of physical formats. This trend can also be observed here: the market share of PVC panels has grown to 6 percent, an increase of 6,3 percent compared to the previous year Federal Association of the Music Industry (BVMI) in the 2023 half-year report schreibt.

In line with this trend, vinyl releases are becoming more and more interesting for artists. But the topic “How do you produce a record?” is of many myths surrounded, which confuse. We tracked them down and exposed them in this article.

This article is based on the podcast “The Biggest Vinyl Mastering Myths,” which mastering engineer and Peak-Studios founder Chris Jones conducted with disc mastering engineer Helmut Erler and Fabien Schivre from Tokyo Dawn Labs. 

Vinyl Mastering Myths – chris_jones_author

Chris Jones

CEO – mixing and mastering engineer. Has been running Peak-Studios since 2006 and is the first online service provider for audio services. More about Chris

Vinyl Mastering Myths – helmut_erler_autor

Helmut Erler

Helmut's work as a disc mastering engineer (cutter) and sound engineer has brought the well-known sound of internationally successful artists to vinyl and calibrates record cutting machines. More about Helmut

Vinyl Mastering Myths – Fabien_Schivre_autor

Fabien Schivre

Fabien is the head behind Tokyo Dawn Labs and has been programming high-quality audio plugins such as the world-famous TDR Nova for many years. More about Fabien

The history of the record

Before we tackle the myths of vinyl production, let's take a quick look at them Our history throw the record:

The record was released towards the end of the 19. century developed. The vinyl record as we know it today has been around since 1930. Before the use of Polyvinyl chloride (PVC) aka vinyl Shellac was mainly used. However, this became scarce during the Second World War, forcing manufacturers to find an alternative.

The new, more robust and cheaper to produce plate displaced its predecessor from Western Europe and North America by 1960. This would certainly be the case too stereophony contributed, which became established from 1958 onwards. As the disc's popularity increased among consumers, the format continued to be refined. Quadraphonic records were produced between 1971 and 1978. The surround format was technically demanding because a record can only contain two channels. Accordingly, the four channels had to be folded down to two and restored to the consumer. Due to various playback systems that were not compatible with one another, the quadrophonic playback method could not become established.

The Golden time According to Statista, the number of vinyl was between 1970 and 1990 Introduction of CD and digital technology brought an end. But as we all know, those who are said to be dead live longer and so records are gradually gaining space in the market again and already account for around three quarters of the sales of physical recordings in the USA.

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terms

When it comes to vinyl records, there are some terms you should know. The most important ones are in the following Glossary listed:

 

  • RPM: The revolutions per minute (RPM = revolutions per minute) refers to the playback speed of a record.
  • LP: The long-playing record has a diameter of 30 cm (12”) and is usually played at 33,33 RPM. It offers the most space and is therefore used for albums.
  • Single: The single has a diameter of 17,5 cm (7”) and is played at 45 RPM. It offers space for one song per side.
  • Maxi single: The maxi single differs from the LP mainly in the faster playback speed of 45 RPM. This results in a louder, more brilliant sound with less playing time.
  • Vinyl cut: When cutting vinyl, a delivered master is prepared according to the vinyl specifications.
  • Lacquer cutting process: The sound material is first transferred to a lacquer film, which is then silver-plated. This is followed by galvanic baths to produce the metal master for pressing.
  • DMM procedure: At the Direct Metal Mastering (DMM) The sound material is transferred directly to a copper-coated stainless steel plate, which serves as a master lacquer.
  • Master Lacquer: Finished master used to create a stamp.
  • Pressing plant: Vinyl records are pressed in a factory for reproduction.
  • Pickup: Every record player has a cartridge. Its quality is largely responsible for the reproduction quality for the consumer.

Myth 1: Vinyl is just another sound carrier

Vinyl is one of many recording media, that's true. However, it is more than that, namely a physical product. It has to be manufactured materially and has certain limitations due to the material. In other words: it is compromised. You will find out to what extent later in this article.

Seen as a physical product, the record is impressive. What exactly is meant by that? Well, first of all, that you can simply touch it. You can hold your finished disc in your hands and even the visual representation of the sound in the form of the grooves . see

However, it is a long way to get to this moment: the mother and the sons have to galvanic getting produced. Works must be mastered and edited according to specifications. The pressings, in turn, ultimately have to be delivered to points of sale. All of these work steps, including logistics, obviously take a certain amount of time. Apart from that, external circumstances, such as the temperature in the warehouse, can also influence the material and therefore also the sound.

And these are exactly why vinyl is important to as physical product and not just to be viewed as a pure sound carrier!

Vinyl Mastering Myths – Bamboleo Coverart

Myth 2: The DMM process is better than lacquer cutting

The Direct Metal Mastering (DMM) is the successor to the lacquer cutting process. With DMM, the sound material is cut directly into a metal plate, which saves a few work steps compared to lacquer cutting. However, the chip breaks faster with large deflections, i.e. many low-frequency or loud signal components.

You don't have these problems with lacquer cutting.

Direct Metal Mastering (DMM)

In 1981, the Teldec company (Telefunken-Decca) developed the DMM process in collaboration with Georg Neumann. While in the lacquer cutting process two galvanic baths have to be carried out to create a father (negative image) and a mother (positive image) after the sound has been transferred to a lacquer film, with DMM the mother is created directly.

“The Mother” describes a stainless steel plate that is coated in a galvanic bath. The sound material is transferred to them using a cutting graver. The sons are in turn made from this, which then serve as the actual pressing template or stamp.

The DMM process has a number of advantages over lacquer cutting: On the one hand, the absence of certain work steps saves time and minimizes sources of error. On the other hand, there are fewer distortions. The disadvantage is that the plates have a shorter lifespan because the grooves are less deep.

Myth 3: Treble distorts quickly and needs to be trimmed

The needle on a record player cannot sample high frequencies well. If there is too much treble, distortion can occur. You often hear that a high-cut filter needs to be set at around 17 kHz. That's not true, because it simply depends on the sound material. In addition, they can distortions also consciously as a creative medium .

Myhtos 4: Everything below 300 Hz must be mono

Controlling the depth range has primarily to do with the Checking the deflections of the chip to do. If there are too many basses or bass components, it can break. Although it is recommended to use frequencies below 300 Hz to monofect, but this should not be seen as a panacea. Only a simulation or a test cut can provide real clarity, because just like with the high frequencies, it behaves differently from sound material to sound material and always depends on the dynamics of the material, stereo width, the space required on the record and how strong it is Deflection of the phase in the bass range is. A stereo bass range is possible, but it should be carefully controlled.

When adjusting the frequency response, the general question arises: Which target group am I producing for? In a very fine orchestral production, you may want to preserve the highs while sacrificing the lows. With a hip-hop record it might be the other way around. The decisions regarding highs and lows depend on the genre on the one hand, but also on the consumers on the other. DJ systems, for example, have “coarser” pickups than hi-fi systems, but they don’t reproduce treble as well…

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Myth 5: Transients are reproduced worse on vinyl

transients are not reproduced as sharply and precisely on a record as on digital formats – not worse, just different. This is where the popular warm sound of the record comes from. However, that doesn't mean that they are completely lost or that drums, for example, no longer have any punch. Experienced people can already mixing targeted influence on that Transient shaping take. Therefore, this should not necessarily be viewed as a negative limitation of the format.

RIAA equalization

The deflection of the cutting stylus has a major impact on the volume and available space of a record. The greater the deflection, the louder and/or lower-frequency the signal. But also the greater the space consumption. At high levels, so-called “self erase” can also occur. The rear part of the cutting graver directly erases the part cut by the front, which leads to distortion.

In order to achieve the best possible result and preserve the original frequency response of a track, the RIAA equalization developed. It describes a cutting characteristic curve that divides the frequency spectrum into four sections based on the three transition frequencies at 50,05 Hz, 500,5 Hz and 2122 Hz. To put it simply, filters are used to lower the lows and low-mids and raise the mids and highs, which ensure an even deflection. This process is called encoding.

Every turntable is equipped with a decoder in the preamp, which compensates for the RIAA equalization and thus restores the original sound spectrum.

Myth 6: The warm sound of a record comes from limited highs

Yes, this sound quality of vinyl is partly due to the limited display options on vinyl. Treble or high frequencies are often used as "sharp" or “hissing” described.

Since vinyl cannot reproduce strong treble components as well as other formats (intentional distortions are excluded), this frequency range is not as sharply defined and the record therefore sounds warmer.

Myth 7: A black record sounds better than a colored one

It is not uncommon for artists to release records in color, such as red or yellow (even two- or three-color records can be made!). This is a great feature for consumers, especially for deluxe versions or similar.

However, you often hear that the sound quality of colored records is worse than the traditional black one. That is not right!

The reason for the black color was graphite, that earlier than Lubricant for the stylus served. Nowadays this is no longer absolutely necessary or other lubricants can be used. Accordingly, the sound does not depend on the color, but on the manufacturing process of the panels.

Vinyl Mastering Myths – slider3

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Myth 8: Vinyl sounds the same on all turntables

Definitely not. In general, audio production is about creating a work that sounds good on as many playback systems as possible. It is self-explanatory that with the mass of end-user devices, the quality of playback varies greatly and a compromise must be found.

The vinyl sector is no exception. The sound depends largely on the components of the playback system: From the pickup to the preamplifier to the speakers, every “component” can change/color the sound. Apart from that, the acoustics or the room in which you hear plays a big role.

A test pressing that is listened to on as many different systems as possible with different pickups can provide a good impression of the sound. There are also programs like Simulathe from Tokyo Dawn Labs that emulate various pickups.

What is WOW?

WOW and Flutter both describe pitch fluctuations that can be heard when playing a record. However, they express themselves differently and arise from different causes:

WOW is a slow variation that can be traced back to the vinyl record. Reasons for this include a center hole that does not fit precisely, a plate that is too light or a plate that is warped. In the pressing plant, WOW is usually measured as part of quality control, so that a minimum deviation of around 0,2 percent is not exceeded.

Flutter on the other hand, there is a rapid variation that can be attributed to the playback device. A bent turntable or a turntable motor that no longer runs smoothly can be the reasons for this.

Myth 9: My song on vinyl is just as loud as my digital master

The loudness of yours digital master has no direct connection with the loudness of the later record. Peaks of -1 dBFS and LUFS values of around -16 are no problem for vinyl cutting. Higher LUFS values, from around -12, However, they limit the possible cutting level (before distortion occurs).. As a result, the record can no longer be cut too loudly. This in turn reduces the signal-to-noise ratio, which can lead to audible noise. Accordingly, it is more the compression, i.e. that Dynamic Range, which is crucial.

Myth 10: The loudness of the master does not affect space consumption

The space required on a disk depends mainly on the waveform of the signal. Are particularly problematic clipped signals, whether through overcontrol or a plug-in. The waveform of such a signal resembles a rectangle. It tugs quickly, is difficult to cut and requires more space due to its shape. Signals without clipping can therefore often be cut louder using comparatively less space.

Myth 11: You don't need a mastering engineer for good vinyl mastering?

In order to optimally transfer your music to vinyl, you need one professional masters. As you have probably already discovered in the course of this article, there are both musical as well as most physical aspects, that need to be considered.

If you have little or no experience and/or do not have the spatial possibilities to objectively assess your song in all frequency ranges in this area (suitable room acoustics), it is recommended to seek the expertise of one Mastering Engineers to claim something. This ensures the best possible sound result, taking these aspects into account. Mastering takes place in an acoustically optimized studio room so that a neutral sound assessment is possible. Before the master is delivered to the pressing plant, you can listen to it (digitally, not as a test pressing!) and have corrections made if necessary.

If you are experienced and have good listening skills, you can definitely master your tracks yourself. There are Software, with which you can prepare your plate virtually. One of these programs is Simulathes by Tokyo Dawn Labs. This not only allows you to edit the frequency ranges mentioned, but also important values show. These include, among others Excursion (deflection left/right), Width (stereo width), Velocity (Speed), Temperature (of cutting graver) and Space consumption. In addition, you can virtually “walk through” your record to locate problematic areas and listen to your songs via three simulated pickup systems.

We cannot describe Simulathe's entire range of functions at this point - that would go beyond the scope. But be curious Free, unlimited demo version recommended. The only limitation of this is that it cannot be saved. This gives you the opportunity to hear your songs as they sound about 85% later on vinyl (the rest depends on the device and production).

Vinyl Mastering Myths – SimuLathe-REF-a

Vinyl mastering service for lacquer cutting and DMM

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Myth 12: The disc mastering engineer masters your record and ensures the ideal sound

Some people justifiably ask themselves why a disc mastering engineer can't do mastering when preparing the material for editing - after all, that's what the title suggests. A disc mastering engineer is mainly for that professional cutting by a Pressmaster responsible. Material delivered should therefore be ready for publication. Even if the material is reviewed, any necessary editing is often rougher/more general compared to that of a “normal” mastering engineer. That being said, you don't necessarily edit in an acoustically optimized room.

Mastering is a independent work step, which takes a corresponding amount of time, Expertise required and wants to be rewarded. Even if a pressing plant employs mastering engineers, their work is still billed as a separate service independent of vinyl cutting.

Myth 13: A test pressing sounds exactly like the mimeographed records

As mentioned at the beginning, vinyl is a physical product. Therefore, no record sounds exactly the same, neither the test pressing nor the final records, nor between them. For example, they are influenced by temperature, pressure of the press and storage time. Even if the differences may be marginal, each plate is actually unique.

Myth 14: The order of the songs has no effect

The Distribution of songs significantly influences their quality: Because the frequency response of a record changes over the playing time (especially in the highs), due to the diameter, the quality is better at the beginning. As the diameter decreases, distortions occur, but as mentioned, these can also be used consciously. At the Inside-out cut, so if the needle runs from the inside out, the opposite is of course the case.

Aside from the quality restrictions, you also have to decide which songs should be pressed onto which side and whether there should be breaks in between.

Diameter loss

The closer the needle gets to the end, i.e. the inside, of a record, the lower the sound quality. The resulting loss of cross-section (diameter loss) is responsible for this. You can think of it like this: the needle is a car that makes its laps on the plate. The closer it gets to the target, the inside of the plate, the shorter and narrower the routes become. But the car remains the same size: it becomes increasingly difficult to maneuver it safely, so you have to drive more slowly.

And the same is true with the needle and the groove to be scanned. The needle stays the same size, but the grooves become narrower/squished. On a 12-inch LP, the speed on the outside is about three times faster than on the inside. On a 7-inch single, the ratio of outside to inside speed is about 2:1.

Accordingly, important songs or hits should be placed at the beginning, i.e. on the outside. However, the slower sampling speed, which involves loss of treble and distortion, can be used for creative purposes.

Checklist for producing a record

Let's briefly summarize what you need to consider when producing your record:

  • Think about which format (LP, single, ...) you want to release.
  • Be aware of the physical limitations of a vinyl record; check problematic frequency ranges and do not compress too much. Appropriate software, mastering engineers and disc mastering engineers will support you if necessary.
  • Determine track order and pause lengths, taking playback speed into account.
  • Deliver all production-relevant data to the pressing plant. This includes the size of the print run, the choice of editing method and the distribution of your songs on the record.
  • Have a test pressing in your hand about three weeks after placing the order and your own final record about five weeks after that.

How much does it cost to press a record?

The cost of a vinyl pressing depends on a few factors, such as: Format (single, LP, etc.), the circulation and the transport. The podcast gives an example calculation based on the following specifications:

  • 400 * 12“ vinyl, black (edition, format)
  • Metal works, stampers (galvanics, stampers)
  • 2 x labels, CMYK 4+0 or 1+0
  • Jacket KV01 (GC1 300gsm, 3,5 mm spine) CMYK 4+0, glossy/matt lamination (case)
  • Black inner sleeve
  • assembly
  • Plastic protective over bag
  • assembly

Of course, the costs always depend on the wishes of the customer. Roughly speaking, it can be said that based on the specifications mentioned, a record 4 to 4,50 Euro costs. The edition of 400 pc costs a total of around EUR 1600. Add to this if necessary Test pressings (25 euros/piece), the production of covers, paper inner sleeves and vinyl labels as well as transport costs.

How long does it take to press a record?

It takes approximately 10 minutes from the delivery of all the necessary files to the pressing plant to the receipt of the finished record two months: Three weeks are estimated for test pressings and five weeks for main production.

If you deliver a finished paint or DMM master to the press shop instead of a digital file, this is what comes Production time added. You can have this done at a specialized cutting studio, which also allows more influence on the cut than a pressing plant.

Our conclusion on the myths about producing for vinyl

Many myths revolve around production for vinyl – and most of them are enjoy with caution. As is often the case, there is no general answer here, because the music that comes on the record is like that as individual and diverse as the accompanying process.

Nevertheless, we hope that this article will help you Guide to be able to give what it is all about Producing a record arrives. And so you know we're serious, we're offering you one Mix analysis for vinyl for one of your songs!

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Sources

Photo by Christoph Strauß

Christopher Strauss

Christoph is a mixing sound assistant and recording sound engineer for synchronous and writes as a freelance editor for magazines and blogs in the pro-audio sector. His curiosity and experimental friends led him to run his own blog with SoundChills in 2022. There he writes about various audio topics and mainly focuses on products from smaller or unknown companies. When Christoph isn't typing on the keyboard, he plays on his MIDI controller and composes beats. More about Christopher

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