FAQ

Q. What exactly is 'Mastering' and what does the process involve?

A. Mastering is the crucial step that in many cases turns your recordings into finished tracks ready for release. Once you have finished recording and mixing your songs, the tracks are edited, equalised, compressed, and finessed into sonic splendour giving depth, punch, clarity and volume to your tracks. See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Audio_mastering for more information.

Q Can I attend the mastering session?

A. Unfortunately not, RAK Mastering works to a very tight schedule and allowing people to attend sessions would cause unnecessary delays for other users.

Q. How do I use/pay for RAK Mastering?

A. It's easy! Just upload your tracks, pay and download them when they are ready. See the Tour page for more information.

Q. How long does the process take?

A. We aim to deliver your mastered tracks within 5 days, however it's usually much quicker!

Q. What happens if I'm not entirely happy with the results? Do you offer refunds?

A. No problem, just send an email to contact@rakmastering.com and let us know what you're unhappy with. We will endevour to resolve the issue within 5 working days.

Q. How much does it cost?

A. It costs just £45 / track for standard mastering and £50 / track for DDP Mastering.

Q. What is DDP Mastering?

A. DDP stands for Disc Description Protocol. DDP Mastering involves the extra step of making sure all tracks flow together as a playlist and assembling the DDP file. When completed, you will receive a DDP file as well as each individually mastered track, the DDP image can then be used to create CDs.

Q. Is my payment information secure?

A. Yes our server uses secure SSL technology and payments are processed by PayPal. We do not store any of your payment or credit card information.

Q. How do I know when my tracks have been mastered and are ready to download?

A. You will receive an email that contains a download URL where you can collect your mastered tracks.

Q. What will I receive back once my track is mastered?

A. If you chose standard mastering you will receive each mastered track as an uncompressed 16-bit 44.1kHz WAV file. If you chose DDP mastering you will receive each mastered track as an uncompressed 16-bit 44.1kHz WAV file and the additional DDP file.

Q. How long do I have to download my tracks?

A. Your download link will stay valid for 6 months, after which your mastered tracks will be removed from our system.

Q. Will uploading my tracks affect the final audio quality?

A. No, if you upload high quality audio files such as WAV or AIFF the quality would be no different to sending us a CD.

Q. What audio format should I upload?

A. Please uploaded a uncompressed WAV or AIFF. Compressed formats such as MP3 will have an affect on the final quality of your mastered tracks.

Contact

For support and general enquiries please email: contact@rakmastering.com