mastering

The terms mastering and premastering are often used interchangeably. The distinction is that premastering of compact discs( CD) or digital versatile discs( DVD) includes all preparatory work to improve the quality of the original data.

Premastering involves burning the individual tracks with timing information onto a blank disc. Mastering, on the other hand, refers to the glass master process and CD replication in an appropriate pressing facility.

There are various mastering formats, of which the Sony master format 1630-Master, recorded with U-Matic 3/4", used to be the most widely used. In addition to this format, there are the Exabyte master DDP and Pre-Mastering Compact Disc( PMCD). DDP supports digital audio and the PQ code. The DDP format uses an 8mm tape format and is relatively common for creating glass masters. Another master format uses Digital Audio Tape( DAT) and works with the SMPTE time code or supports the PQ code.