Musictoday® -- Empowering Fan Connection

When sending Musictoday CD Replication an audio master, please include a track sheet with song titles, start and end times. Jobs will not start without one. The mastering engineer should include a track sheet with your master. If not please use the one provided on this page. Also, please make sure you have a back up copy of your master. Remember, do not send us your only audio master.

All masters require a sequence listing with accurate timings and any noises or anomalies noted. In and out cues are helpful for spoken word and other non-musical programs. For CD masters or non-musical programs, in and out cues for each index point are required for PQ information.
All masters should be edited and sequenced exactly as the final product is to be.
It is mandatory for CD mastering that the sampling rate for all digital masters be 44.1 kHz
On digital masters, there may be an optional calibration tone of 1kHz recorded @ 16 dB below digital peak. At Musictoday, this equates to 0 dB VU.
All of the acceptable formats may be used for Compact Disc mastering (see below). Sony/Philips Yellow/Red Book standard specifies that a CD should not exceed 74 minutes 40 seconds. The Client may, without further obligation, exceed the standard up to and including 76:00. Any master longer than 76:00 will be accepted only if a Master Deviation Agreement is signed by the customer. All masters submitted for CD manufacturing must conform to Sony/Philips Yellow/Red Book specifications.

Note: Please contact Musictoday for formats not mentioned below.

The following formats are listed in order of preference for sending master data:

Compact Disc/CD-R
This is the preferred format for CD. A CD master recorded onto a CD-R has the Table of Contents (PQ information) and is ready to send to the Laser Beam Recorder for CD production.

Exabyte 8 MM
Exabyte tapes must have the DDP (Disc Description Protocol) recorded onto the tape. The 8 mm tapes are sent directly to the Laser Beam Recorder.

Sony PCM 1630 U-MATIC
A minimum of two minutes (including any reference tones) is required before the beginning of the program on any 1630 U-MATIC tape. All 1630 U-MATIC tapes must be recorded at a sampling rate of 44.1kHz and have continuous SMPTE time code. All 1630 masters should have a Digital Tape Analysis report. These tapes may be submitted with or without PQ subcode.

R-DAT
A minimum of one minute (including any reference tones) is required before the beginning of the program on any R-DAT master. This is to avoid tape damage in the event of an irregular hub in the tape cartridge. A space of at least 10 to 15 seconds is preferred between any reference tone and the program. If possible, we prefer that the R-DAT has continuous SMPTE time code or A-Time, with no breaks. If time code is not possible, it must be a continuous recording with analog or digital black (all 0's) from beginning to end, including side breaks.

Analog
1/4" @ 7.5 ips or 15 ips
1/2" @ 7.5 ips or 30 ips
Analog masters should be wound tails out with leader tape at the head and tail of the tape. At the head of the tape, there should be alignment tones of 1kHz, 10 kHz and 100Hz recorded at a level of 0VU (16 dB below digital peak). The tones should be separated from the program by about 10 seconds of leader tape. The type of noise reduction on the analog tape, if any, should be clearly indicated on the box.