Audio CD Mastering Drives and Lite-On iHAP422 Review

Well I just installed my new Lite-On Drive iHAP422. In Audio Mastering the "standard" I guess was to get a Plextor Drive since they had this awesome CD tester called Plextools. Well Lite-On has a similar product called K-Probe. Plextor and Lite-On are the only ones that provide this capability. But Lite-On does make drive for lots of other brands. There is also Nero's DVD-Speed and DVDInfoPro which support selected brands and models as well.

"Mastering" technically is the creation of a glass master for replicated or stamping CD's. Duplication is burning CD-R's. So besides the sonic and creative aspects, a mastering engineers job is to pre-master a CD ready for the replication plant. To spec, a CD must have below 220 C1 errors per 10 second chunk which is actually quite high. Most respected mastering houses shoot for below 100, many for below 50. And you want no C2 Errors or CU errors.

In a nutshell C1 Errors are correctable errors, the others are not. They are caused by a combination of the media, drive, and the speed. There are a lot of internet folklore as to why this happens and I don't really know either. In general, slower tends to be better, but on modern faster drives, half the recommended speed tends to give better results. But really every drive and media combination is different. Some media/drive combinations may want full speed.

Taiyo-Yuden is regarded as the most consistently good media. They recently got bought out by JVC and used to be TDK. Most shelf brands buy their media from wherever they can get it the cheapest, so your results will definitely vary. So you will have to test on your own, but Taiyo-Yuden is cheaper in bulk online than shelf-brands anyway.

Back in the old days, things were a LOT more finicky. I own a SCSI Plextor Drive and a SCSI Yamaha drive since they were the best for their time. They were very picky about media. These days it doesn't matter as much but it is still something to keep in mind if you are burning your own masters for replication.

Better yet, leave it to a Mastering Engineer. But so many bands are going DIY or having their Mixing Engineers do the mastering. So for you guys:

• Plextors are hard to find and are expensive. Lite-On's are cheap and relatively easy to find.
  Buy Taiyo-Yuden, JVC, or TDK media, or do a lot of testing and tuning.
  
• Get K-Probe. Test your masters after burning them. Shoot for below 100 C1 Errors per Second, I would say 50.
  
• Learn your burner and find which speed gives the lowest BLER/C1. But half-speed is a good starting point.
  
• Test EVERY disc. It only takes a minute and you know what you are sending out is good.
  
• I still listen to every disc too on an old CD-Player just to be extra sure and listen for clicks and pops or any other weirdness. The band should do the same.
  

This particular drive so far is quite nice. From reading reviews, many are DOA so test it as soon as you get it so you can get another if it breaks. It is very fast and pretty quiet while burning. It has LightScribe which is cool for labeling discs, but terribly slow (20 mins for a full Disc). Now that I have a Disc Printer I will not bother with it anymore, but I have media to get through.

Just pulling some craptastic media, I was able to get a BLER of 11 and 66 TOTAL at 16X. Can't complain about that! I think on the report it was actually POSTECH!

With my new stock of Taiyo-Yuden Ink Jet Hub Printable Non-Branded media I got 0.. that's right ZERO C1 errors across the board! AMAZING! Call me crazy, but I think it even SOUNDS better than the crappy media. I have heard this theory before, I think it might be mostly placebo and I don't have the time to scientifically A/B double blind.

My old stock of TDK media on my ASUS drive gave me a BLER of 5 with 31 total which is quite impressive as well. So many drives will be fine for burning, but you can only test with a handful of them. You might as well go with a Lite-On where K-Probe is free and you get an awesome drive as well!

Microphone Preamp's... Go High-End

I was having a discussion with a friend of mine about mic pre's. He has some money to spend on gear and I was basically trying to convince him to go high-end. Even if you can't get as much now for the money, it will save you money in the long run.

I guess for me I made that same mistake a few years ago. I had some money, and went cheap. Admittedly there weren't as many options as there are today. But in hindsight, the quality stuff I bought I still use. The cheap stuff I have been trying to upgrade and getting next to nothing for resale.

It also took me a few years to realize the the limit was my gear. What is funny is that I have used Neve, API, SSL and it still took me a little while to realize it. Even the quality of my monitoring and plugins play a huge role. But I guess my goal has been demos on the cheap. Not albums really. But that is starting to change quickly.

The biggest difference between nice gear and cheap gear is the difficulty in mixing. A good engineer can get a good recording on cheap gear. But they will have to work for it. Getting a good sound on the way in makes your mixing that much easier. And a good engineer can make it that much better too.

After thinking about it more, I remembered these articles from Dan Richards:

Don't waste your $ on mid-level pres.

To Pre or Not to Pre

I definitely agree with both articles. There are definitely some jems out there in the "cheap" pres. But recently I went "cheap" again by getting an 8-channel Digimax FS. Reality is though when you get into the 8-channel's with A/D, the price range is either sub-$1000 or $3000+ without much room in the middle.

A gem perhaps? Well I really got it for drums and "live" demos. For tracking, I will probably try to use other pres. However I must say, I have heard great results from this level of gear for sure.

But for just 8-channels of good pre's with no A/D, the options do open up nicely. This is mainly since there are lot of boutique companies out there that can do great audio but may not want to venture into the digital realm.

Affordable-ish stuff that you would probably never need to upgrade from:

• API 3124+ 4-channel - $2500
• Daking Mic Pre IV 4-channel - $2200
• John Hardy M-1 4-channel = $2900
• Sytek MPX-4ii 4-channel = $900
• Sebatron VMP-4000e 4-channel = $1800
• Sebatron VMP-2000eVU 2-channel = $1600
• JLM TMP-8 8-channel = $1900
• Focusrite ISA428 4-channel = $2000
• Audient ASP008 8-channel ADAT = $2200
• True Audio Precision 8 8-channel = $2500
• Line Audio 8MP - $750

Then the Single channels:

• Daking Mic Pre One 1-channel = $675
• Grace M101 1-channel = $600
• Universal Audio Solo 1-channel = $800
• Focusrite ISA one 1-channel = $800
• Chameleon Labs 7602 1-channel = $700

Borderline:

• Groove Tubes Brick (borderline) 1-channel = $400
• FMR RNP - $475

But in the 2 channel 1-2k range you get into some really nice options from Neve, API, A-Designs, GML, Chandler, SSL, Great River, Grace, Hardy, etc. Or I would probably strongly consider starting a lunch box.

Some that Stand Out to Me:

• API A2D 2-Channel A/D Conversion = $1800
• A-Designs Audio Pacifica 2-channel = $2000
• Vintech X73i 1-Channel = $1350
• Vintech 1272 2-Channel = $1350
• Great River MP-2NV = $2275
• Chandler Germanium = $1200

Then if you are willing to DIY, or know someone who does. Definitely check out:

• Seventh Circle Audio
• Five Fish Audio
• JLM 990's
• Hamptone

I probably missed some. Let me know and I can update the list.

If you are going to spend money, get stuff that you will keep and are well revered. Good mics, good pres, monitors, acoustic treatment. Interfaces and computers and such are basically disposable. Even if you have to get less, you can always borrow, rent, buy/return, the other stuff you need till you can afford the nicer stuff.

I need to listen to myself when I say this: "Buy Cheap, Buy Twice!"