Target CDs
geoff wrote:
Sigh. Pre-emphasis is not done as an audio mastering process. It is a
tick-box on or off in a later authoring stage.
Well, for the most part nobody ever did pre-emphasis.
I would frequently record with pre-emphasis because my converters sounded
much better that way. I'd had the recording off to Don Grossinger at the
mastering lab, and he'd put it into his Neve mastering console and
de-emphasize it in the digital domain and then the Neve would output
straight un-emphasized data into the Sonic system which would spit out
a DDP or later a PMCD.
But... if I wanted to record without it and issue a cd with it, I
could ask him for that and he could emphasize it in the mastering room
with the Neve and then set the appropriate subcode bits on the disc so
that a CD player would de-emphasize it properly.
But really I was pretty much the only guy he ever dealt with who used
pre-emphasis. Gabe Weiner was always amazed that I'd bother with it,
but it helped hide a lot of converter issues.
I think the last time I ever actually touched it was a compilation
album I did in 2003. I certainly haven't used it since then. It's a
pain in the neck to make sure all the subcode data remains accurate
throughout the whole recording and mastering chain.
These days you'll encounter a lot of CD players and ripping applications
that don't know how to handle it, or which handle it very poorly. Just
like with index marks. I wouldn't recommend anybody use either one today,
and neither one were used much ever.
--scott
--
"C'est un Nagra. C'est suisse, et tres, tres precis."
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