Below are terms and definitions related to audio mastering and audio in general... this is for your information.

MASTERING:

As mastering legend Bob Ludwig asserts:

"Mastering is the technical and creative act of balancing, equalizing and enhancing analog or digital tapes so that the finished product will have attained the maximum musicality and competitiveness in the open market. A mastering studio must be both extremely creative and technically perfect, since the master that is made there will be the template for thousands of compact discs, DVDs, cassettes and records produced for commercial release."

• "Recording is the process of capturing musical performances onto a physical medium like analog tape, digital tape, compact disc or a computer hard disk."
  
  
• "Mixing is the process of taking multiple recorded tracks (3 tracks through hundreds of tracks) and blending them together using a mixing console. The final result is usually a two channel (stereo left and right) performance."
  
  
• "Mastering is the technical and creative act of balancing, equalizing and enhancing, analog or digital tapes so that the finished product will have attained the maximum musicality and competitiveness in the open market."
  
  
• "Replication is the process of taking a digital audio master and transferring it to a glass master where thousands to millions of copies can be made."
  
  Most common mistake: Using the word "mixing" and "mastering" interchangeably. The definitions are totally different, and represent completely different phases of production. Mixing is done at a recording or mixing studio, and is the step BEFORE mastering.

CD / DVD MASTER:
This is the final mastered format of a project, and are referred to as CD-R PQ MASTERS. These masters are for manufacturing (duplication and replication) only. Masters are not always compatible with all playing devices, and are not meant to be played, other than for proofing one time through prior to manufacturing.
A CD master is NOT A GLASS MASTER.

GLASS MASTER:
A glass master IS NOT A CD master ! This is a stamping master made at the CD manufacturing plant. This is what is used to stamp out the replicated CD's at the plant. Glass masters are not made at the mastering studio. The CD master that you get from the mastering studio is the format used to make the glass master.

CD REFERENCE DISC:
This is referred to as a "ref ". A reference disc is a CD that is burned with the intent to give you a final representation of the project. The CD ref can be used to approve the final project and can be kept for the clients personal use.

PQ Code Printout:
After the project is mastered, the mastering engineer will know the times of each track exactly from the computer data. Each master will be in a case, along with the pq code printout. The pq code printout needs to remain with the CD master, as manufacturing will need it.

PQ-CODED:
These digital codes must be present on a final master. These codes include
information embedded in the data of the master, so that the CD's that are manufactured from this master can be "read" by all CD players. These p and q sub-layers contain song times, any cd-text info, isrc codes and whether emphasis was used or not.

CD TEXT:
All masters that are made at fhmastering.com are encoded with CD TEXT. This is information about the disc and its tracks which is embedded in a sub-layer of an audio CD Master. The information can include album title, song titles, song times etc. In order for the CD text to be displayed on a playback device, the device must be a CD or DVD text enabled player. Not all players and computers are TEXT ENABLED. The mastering studio does not provide access to CDDB's. This is the clients responsibility to register for an online database (such as iTunes, etc.) (See CDDB )

CDDB (CD DATA BASE):
This is a data base of album information that is accessed by such programs as iTunes, Windows Media Player, and WinAmp to display album info on computers. The information in such data bases is not furnished by the CDDB, it is LINKED to CD's that have had CD text embedded in the masters by their mastering engineers, and that info appears on the manufactured CD's. The client is totally responsible for all information for the CD text. The mastering engineer inserts the information that the client provides for the text.

ISRC CODES:
International Standard Recording Code. An electronic tag attached to each individual audio track. The ISRC codes are embedded in your final masters by the mastering engineer. The client must apply for these codes PRIOR to the mastering session. We do not have these codes! This service is free from RIAA and takes 3-5 business days to receive your code by e-mail. These codes are not required by any agency. It is only an option for the client.

UPC CODES:
Universal Product Code or BAR CODE. The familiar bar code that we see on almost every product label. If you wish to have your bar code embedded in your master, please provide the mastering engineer with your code at the time of mastering. Contact your CD manufacturing plant or your distributors about providing a UPC code for you. We do not have these codes.

RED BOOK CD-R:
The RED book is the most widespread, worldwide CD standard and describes the physical properties of CD and digital encoding. When you receive a CD master from FH Mastering, it is a RED book standard CD master.