dbLogo
Home 
FAQ 
Mastering 
Graphics 

 Pricing

Mastering 
CD Audio 
CD-ROM 
Cassettes 
ShortRunCDs 
Printing 

E-mail us

Web Site Reviewed: 
26 June 1998 

General Information & Frequently Asked Questions

General Information

Frequently Asked Questions

Company History

Digital Brothers has been producing, editing, and mastering digital audio projects since 1983. We started with a Sony F-1 Digital Processor (serial number 75!), doing purist audiophile recording. We were among the first to do digital editing from the Sony F-1 format. In 1988 we were selected as one of the first beta test sites of the now famous Sonic Solutions digital audio work station. We have two digital mastering suites, both equipped with Sonic Solutions systems, and we've mastered over 2500 Compact Disc titles.  

Contacting Digital Brothers

If you would like to contact us, you may send us E-mail, or you can reach us at 

Digital Brothers 
1125 Victoria Street, Suite C 
Costa Mesa, CA 92627 
U.S.A. 

Phone (949) 645-9702 
Fax (949) 642-7249 

Table of contents for "General Information & Frequently Asked Questions" 

What is CD Mastering?

In a nutshell, CD mastering (technically referred to as "pre-mastering") is the bridge between your two-track tapes (from the recording studio) and the CD pressing plant (where Glass Mastering and CD replication take place). This process converts the material on your source tapes to a format that is required by the pressing plant. Digital Brothers has the latest, cleanest and most efficient methods of mastering for CD and cassette. All signal manipulation is done in the digital domain, so there is no signal loss or tape degradation, as there would be with analog tape. Also, because our workstations have your audio signal on computer hard drives, the editing process can go very quickly. 

Until recently, most pressing plants required the Sony 1630 format which is a 3/4" video tape, encoded with digital audio signal. The tape must be fully indexed, with SMPTE timecode, and accompanied by a frame-accurate log sheet (one frame is 1/30th of a second). A Digital Tape Analysis is normally done to ensure that the tape is free from errors which would cause problems on the CD. 

Now, the "one-off CD" or "CD-Recordable" (CD-R) is the format of choice for most of our customers. Unlike the 1630, a CD-R can be listened to by the customer on an ordinary CD player, which means the actual master can be tested outside the studio environment before replication. 

The pre-mastering process gives you a last chance to enhance the sound quality of your project. We can:

  • Convert digital sampling rates 
  • Change fades 
  • Perform digital equalization 
  • Perform Crossfades 
  • Change levels (digitally) 
  • Piece together parts of different takes 
  • Add digital reverb 
  • Perform accurate and quickly modifiable edits 
  • Remove hiss, clicks, pops 
  • Repair distorted passages 
  • Add compression, expansion, panning, pitch shift, gating, filtering, widening, deepening, etc. 
Best of all, our digital audio workstations allow our engineers to test all changes or modifications before they (or you) commit to them. Of course, if the sound is already just what you want, we will leave it alone. Because our work is all in the digital domain, the mastering process can be completely transparent. 

Table of contents for "General Information & Frequently Asked Questions" 

Some companies say they will make CDs from my DAT [without pre-mastering]. Why should I have my project pre-mastered?

Digital Brothers, in conjunction with a southern California pressing plant, cut the first CD glass master direct from DAT in 1989. This was performed with exacting care and yielded a satisfactory product. However, we strongly believe that trying to use a DAT as a master is asking for trouble and is not an acceptable method for producing high quality CDs. Pressing plants have come to us to re-do DAT "masters" (from other studios) after they've pressed discs, because the final CDs did not sound like the original DAT. We have also seen numerous instances of CDs made from DATs with index points not properly aligned to the tracks. 

The one-off CD (CD-R) is vastly superior as a format for yielding high quality CDs that are sonically and mechanically accurate. 

Table of contents for "General Information & Frequently Asked Questions" 

How much mastering time will my project require?

This question is a little bit like, "How much is a house?" There are a number of factors that will determine how much mastering time will be needed. Among these are: 
  • Number of tapes or formats of your source material 
  • Length of your source material 
  • Number of selections on source material and for master tape 
  • Amount of Equalization, de-noising needed 
The basic mastering steps, and the time involved in each is: 
  1. Roll-on. We copy your source material onto our digital audio workstation. This is done in "real-time", so 45 minutes of material rolls on in 45 minutes (with a few minutes extra to set up the transfer). If your source material is on more than one tape, recorded at more than one sampling rate, has lengthy gaps between selections, or if your tape uses some type of noise reduction, the roll-on time will be somewhat longer.
  2. Mastering. This is the step that is hardest to predict timewise, and to a large degree the amount of mastering time is up to you. If your source material has the sound you want, and we just need to make a change or two to the selection order or tighten up the time between selections, the editing may only take 15 or 30 minutes. If you want changes to the sound such as equalization, it can take an hour or two (or three, or...). Most of the projects we do take no more than two hours of mastering time, but each project is different.
  3. Roll-off. The final edited and mastered version of your project is transferred onto a CD-R master. A DAT (Digital Audio Tape) safety copy is usually made simultaneously. This tape can also be used as a master tape for cassette tape duplication. 
A "Typical" Mastering Project For reference, a "typical project" we might get (as if anything is typical) is 45 minutes long with 10 selections. It needs the gaps between selections tightened, and it needs some digital equalization. The amount of time required might likely be: 
45 Minute Album - Typical Mastering Time 
Procedure Time
Roll-on 1.0 hour
Editing 0.5 hour
Equalization 1.0 hour
Roll-off 0.75 hour
Total 3.25 hour
If such effects as de-noising or pitch-shifting are desired, the time involved would increase. All mastering time is billed in 15 minute increments. 

Table of contents for "General Information & Frequently Asked Questions" 

What is the maximum length of a CD?

Basically, 74 minutes is the longest CD that will be compatible with all CD players. It is possible to press CDs that are a couple minutes longer, but you'll have a greater expense in mastering materials, as 74 minutes is the maximum length for a CD-R, and there is a possibility that not all CD players will play the disc properly. 

Table of contents for "General Information & Frequently Asked Questions" 

What kind of source tapes can Digital Brothers Accept?

We can handle just about any two track source you can come up with (see our Formats page). We just need a log sheet showing all titles and times (starting and ending) for each track (song). Please also provide us with the song order as you would like it on your final album. 

Table of contents for "General Information & Frequently Asked Questions" 

What about artwork for my project?

Digital Brothers can assist you in getting your artwork prepared for printing inserts cards and imprint film for CDs and cassettes. We have several graphic designers and service bureaus (for film output) with whom we work, and we will be glad to direct you to whichever of them can best meet your artwork needs. 

If you have a graphic artist to work with, he or she can use our artwork specification sheets. Please have your graphic artist fax us with a proof of the layouts before final film is printed. This can save you a good deal of money if we find a format problem before the film is output. 

Table of contents for "General Information & Frequently Asked Questions" 

What do I need to know about payments?

Mastering projects require payment in full upon completion. For orders of CDs and cassettes, we require a deposit of 60% of the order value at the time your order is placed, with the balance due when your order is completed. Payments can be made by cash, check, MasterCard®, VISA®, Discover®/Novus®, or American Express® Card. 

Artwork for printing on CDs and cassettes, and the insert artwork (or final printed cards) for CDs or Cassettes, need to be in our possession at the time an ordered is placed. If your artwork is "in progress", we can begin your project with just the imprinting artwork film, but we will require that the order be paid in full (110% of order total). 

"Payment in Full" due prior to shipping

If you would like your final product shipped directly to you, we require "payment in full" prior to shipping. Because the final quantity shipped can vary by up to 10% from the order quantity (see Order Quantities note) and is not known until the order is ready to ship, "payment in full" is considered to be 110% of the work order total (including any subsequent changes to the order). Alternatively, you may make exact payment once the order has been invoiced, though this may result in shipping delays. 
So, there are three options for payment in full: 

1. Signed Credit Card authorization for order balance up to 110% of work order amount, less deposits already made. Your credit card will be charged for the exact account balance once it is known. Contact us for an authorization form. 

 2. Check payment for order balance of 110% of work order amount, less deposits already made. Digital Brothers will promptly issue a refund check for any overpayment. 

 3. Check for exact account balance after invoicing. We will notify you of the final balance and wait to receive your payment prior to shipping. 

Table of contents for "General Information & Frequently Asked Questions" 

How do I get started?

For mastering, you can make an appointment if you would like to be present for decisions during the mastering process, or, if your source tape already has the sound you want or you can give us all instructions in writing, you can save money with a "drop-off" (or mail-in) order. 

We can begin your project as soon as we have the following items from you: 

For all orders:

  • 2-track source tape with log sheet 
  • A signed work order, purchase order or letter. The information we need are your name, address, ship-to address (if different), phone number, project name, descriptions of the items needed or work to be done, and a signature. We can give you an estimate on the editing time required for your project, but this can vary widely from project to project. If you have questions, give us a call 
  • 60% Deposit (cash, check, MasterCard®, VISA®, Discover®/Novus®, or American Express® Card) 
  • Final Payment prior to shipment (please see our Order Quantities note and Payments note.) 

For CD orders:

  • Film positive for CD label 
  • Composite negatives for CD tray card, folder/booklet OR Printed tray cards and folders/booklets 

For Cassette orders:

  • Film negative for cassette imprinting 
  • Composite negatives for cassette J-card OR Printed J-cards (if you are using them). Must be folded if longer than standard J-card. 
Table of contents for "General Information & Frequently Asked Questions" 

A Word about Order Quantities

Compact Disc replication and Cassette Tape duplication are multi-stage manufacturing processes. Quality checks are taken at each stage, and for a variety of reasons, a unit (cassette or CD) can be rejected. Because of this, the production run usually starts with more units than the quantity ordered. Rarely will a production run produce exactly as many units as ordered. In the recording and printing industry, the standard variance from the order quantity is 10 percent. This means that if you order 1000 units (CDs or cassettes), you should expect that the actual quantity you receive will be within 10% of 1000, or between 900 and 1100 units (this will constitute a "complete order"). If 973 units are produced, you pay for 973 units (at the price break for 1000 units). If the final quantity is 1068, you'll pay for 1068 units. The reason for you paying for any "extra" units (up to 10 percent of units ordered) is that they are a product with monetary value only to you (that is, the pressing plant or Digital Brothers could not sell or re-use your extra cassettes or CDs). Allowing these possible overages to occur enables strict quality controls to be kept in the manufacturing process, ensuring you of a high quality product. 

Table of contents for "General Information & Frequently Asked Questions"