Many people have asked us how we prepare the masters for our vinyl so.....

Our albums are mastered from the closest original source possible, if there is an analogue ¼ inch tape source available we will obviously use it but that is hardly ever the case these days. We work with many licensors (meaning the people who own the rights to the recordings) from some of the biggest record labels in the world to some of the smallest – they include or have included Universal, BMG, Nuclear Blast, Warner Brothers, Candlelight, etc. Masters are provided to us by these licensors, usually as DAT or WAV files. In a few cases we have had to use a CD or vinyl master as nothing else was available (the original sources having been lost) but as with all our releases they go to our mastering engineers (who also master for labels such as Universal, Sony, etc.) to prepare the best possible audio master.

We work with the artists as much as possible, and they usually get involved in the artwork and mastering processes. All of our artwork is approved by the licence holders before production.

We use the same pressing plants as the major labels such as Universal, etc. All have been making records pretty much since vinyl began.

Mastering:
Making the best quality vinyl isn't just about transferring an album onto record - getting the best possible results from our beloved format takes care, attention, and an intimate understanding of exactly how vinyl works.

The rich, organic feel and warmth that you hear in a great record comes from a good vinyl cut. Many masters are not suitable for vinyl, as today's modern digital music formats such as compact disc work in a very different way - and this is why we take the time to have them expertly re-mastered for vinyl production.

A cutting stylus cannot cut the square waveforms found in many recordings that would result in a terrible sound. The re-limiting process, individually tailored for every release, smooths the wave peaks to produce a cut that brings out the colour of the original recording. Filtering the frequency extremes to more closely suit vinyl sound reproduction reintroduces energy to the signal at both ends of the frequency spectrum. And phase issues are rectified by slightly narrowing the stereo image – bringing clarity that would otherwise often be lost.

These highly skilled techniques have been developed over many years to bring the best possible sound to vinyl lovers, and are expertly applied to all our releases!

Our mastering houses are Turan Audio, Orgone Studios and The Outhouse Studios.