Half speed mastering

[Julf]

Is this really 'half speed mastering', or actually 'half speed cutting'?

I've often thought it might be useful for older (hence not so good ears) mastering engineers to slow the speed down so they can hear the higher frequencies!

Half speed cutting, but you might be on to something with the "shift stuff down one octave" suggestion.

 

[underzone]

Yeah you may be correct. Make a 50yr old sound engineer suddenly have the ear frequency response of a 25yr old one!

 

[daytona600]

Is this really 'half speed mastering', or actually 'half speed cutting'?
Half Speed cutting
ADD
Tape/ convert to digital File & fix/edit the master/ Digital Preview head on cutting lathe
.21st century
" Remaster "
.
Half Speed mastering
AAA
Tape/ Analogue mastering/ Analogue preview head on cutting lathe
1950s decca & Mofi 70s to present day
" Mastered "

 

[Suffolk Tony]

It's extraordinarily difficult to do a direct comparison between half-mastered (should be cut of course) and the standard stuff. I've a few of the former kicking around; they all sound very good, but then they're not the same mix/remaster.

 

[cubastreet]

If only artists would embrace such, then we could do away with all those annoying brush strokes and build up of pigments spoiling our appreciation of the finished article.

This is how I feel about most remasters I hear, when all the tape his and other nasties are taken out.

 

[DJW]

“If you can do it as a double album at 45rpm, that’s pretty much the ultimate you can get with records, there’s nothing else to squeeze out of the system.”

Interesting that 78rpm has never really caught-on for stereo/vinyl.

 

[daytona600]

“If you can do it as a double album at 45rpm, that’s pretty much the ultimate you can get with records, there’s nothing else to squeeze out of the system.”

half-speed master + 45rpm & press from the Lacquer

Instead of utilizing the industry-standard three-step lacquer process, Mobile Fidelity Sound Lab's new UltraDisc One-Step (UD1S) uses only one step, bypassing two processes of generational loss. While three-step processing is designed for optimum yield and efficiency, UD1S is created for the ultimate in sound quality. Just as Mobile Fidelity pioneered the UHQR (Ultra High-Quality Record) with JVC in the 1980s, UD1S again represents another state-of-the-art advance in the record-manufacturing process. MFSL engineers begin with the original master tapes and meticulously cut a set of lacquers. These lacquers are used to create a very fragile, pristine UD1S stamper called a "convert." Delicate "converts" are then formed into the actual record stampers, producing a final product that literally and figuratively brings you closer to the music. By skipping the additional steps of pulling another positive and an additional negative, as done in the three-step process used in standard pressings, UD1S produces a final LP with the lowest noise floor possible today. The removal of the additional two steps of generational loss in the plating process reveals tremendous amounts of extra musical detail and dynamics, which are otherwise lost due to the standard copying process. The exclusive nature of these very limited pressings guarantees that every UD1S pressing serves as an immaculate replica of the lacquer sourced directly from the original master tape. Every conceivable aspect of vinyl production is optimized to produce the most perfect record album available today.

 

[Octavian]

Instead of utilizing the industry-standard three-step lacquer process, Mobile Fidelity Sound Lab's new UltraDisc One-Step (UD1S) uses only one step, bypassing two processes of generational loss. While three-step processing is designed for optimum yield and efficiency, UD1S is created for the ultimate in sound quality. Just as Mobile Fidelity pioneered the UHQR (Ultra High-Quality Record) with JVC in the 1980s, UD1S again represents another state-of-the-art advance in the record-manufacturing process. MFSL engineers begin with the original master tapes and meticulously cut a set of lacquers. These lacquers are used to create a very fragile, pristine UD1S stamper called a "convert." Delicate "converts" are then formed into the actual record stampers, producing a final product that literally and figuratively brings you closer to the music. By skipping the additional steps of pulling another positive and an additional negative, as done in the three-step process used in standard pressings, UD1S produces a final LP with the lowest noise floor possible today. The removal of the additional two steps of generational loss in the plating process reveals tremendous amounts of extra musical detail and dynamics, which are otherwise lost due to the standard copying process. The exclusive nature of these very limited pressings guarantees that every UD1S pressing serves as an immaculate replica of the lacquer sourced directly from the original master tape. Every conceivable aspect of vinyl production is optimized to produce the most perfect record album available today.

So many ...words. Instead, they could have produced a cd.

 

[Joe P]

Mobile Fidelity also makes CDs/SACDs. Using the original master goes a long way toward a better transfer, regardless of the medium.

Joe