Recording engineers have many mixing techniques to make the best commercial records. CD mastering is one of the best secrets of the best mastering engineers today. Considering that most everything is mixed in the digital realm, the best mastering engineers will do something called analog mastering. What happens is the digital version is converted back into an analog signal in order to be mastered through analog processors, though many times it is also recorded to an two-track machine to acheive the warmth that analog tape gives to the project. It also takes the brittleness away from digital recordings, and can round out the bottom end giving the bottom frequencies that signature analog sound.

There are pros and cons but the advantages are worth it. Analog mastering will often cost a little more than traditional digital mastering, as it takes additional time and there are the costs for the analog tape, but for serious projects, it can be the final step in achieving the top sound quality for the record. The reason for this is digital recordings sound more brittle to many listeners because regardless of how loud the signal gets, digital gives you flat reproduction. Analog tape, on the other hand, softens as the volume increases in level, so high-ends are smoothed over rather than clipped, which turns into a warm, nice sound as the harmonics are smoothed over. To the audience, this is more appealing. Also, an increased input song will result in a bigger effect. As the top ranges soften up first, this means that as the signal increases, the highs naturally smooth out a bit, resulting in a less cold, and a nicer recording. This is the magic of the Layback mastering process.

There are many mastering studios around the United States that have the equipment to do analog mastering, however, it also requires you have a mastering engineer with the background to get optimal end product possible with the equipment. I have tried a few mastering houses and one of best quality is www.stevethomasmastering.com. He is a top analog mastering engineer, yet he also has done thousands of albums as a recording engineer as well. On top of that, his results rivals some of the most expensive mastering studios in the world. If you already have someone you are using that’s great. But, I would definitely to look him up. Seriously!

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