Does CD Mastering Still Exists?
With the birth of the compact discs more than 2 decades ago, it has transformed the way we consume music and audio. Although there is speculation that the CD (Compact Disc) maybe on its way out with the arrival of new alternatives, such as the digital downloads and the Ipod, the compact disc (CD) revolutionized the way we have consumed music and sound since the vinyl / tape age.
As we are constantly evolving with new innovative digital distribution platforms such as Spotify, Itunes, Soundcloud, Pandora, the compact discs (CDs) have come under threat to near extinction with the demise of Tower Records together with many mom & pop music stores.
In 1979, Phillips had developed the laserdisc technology while Sony had pioneered in digital recording research. Both companies came to terms in an agreement to form a single industry standard digital audio technology. In 1980, both companies announced the CD-DA standard otherwise known as the Red Book standard (because the cover of the published document was red). Once this was established, Phillips and Sony raced to develop the first CD audio drive. Sony eventually won the race by 1 month to market.
The red-book specifications describe:
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Maximum time of recordings in a compact disc including pauses should not exceed 74 minutes.
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Minimum or shortest time for a track is 4 minutes.
- Maximum number of tracks or ID cannot exceed 99.
- Maximum number of index points is 99 with no maximum time limit.5
- International Standard Recording Code (ISRC) should be included.
The Red-Book also specifies the format of digital audio encoding which is 2-channel signed 16 bit-PCM sampled at 44.100 kHz sample rate. On the contrary, some major labels and publishers chose to violate and deviate away from the Red Book standard so as to implement copy prevention systems such as Copy Control.
In the CD duplication or replication world, there is entirely a different definition to the term, ‘CD Master’. For CD replicators, mastering is the process of creating a glass master disc that will be used to make stampers. These stampers are then used to press CDs. Almost every CD duplication plant produce their own glass master for quality control purposes. The glass master is a mirror image of the CD-R master disc produced by the audio mastering facility.
