CD Production

To get the best possible CD production values, you need to pay attention to the quality of your audio master. Submitting a poor quality or mediocre audio master to a CD replication service and expecting them to clean up your sound will only result in delays, high costs, and ultimately a less-than-perfect product. However, if you take the time to perfect your audio master, you will have low cost CD manufacturing and a high-quality end result.

Preferred Audio Master for CD Production

The preferred format for CD replication is the CD-R. All CD-R audio masters should be recorded without interruption in one single session, known as "disc-at-once" and be "Red Book" compatible. Be very careful with your CD-R master, because it is very easy to damage.

You'll want a new, never-been-played CD to be used as a master. Any small scratch or defect in a CD will be magnified many times over in CD duplication, and will result in bad sound. CDs look pretty indestructible but actually they are delicate; CDs are never made perfectly and always require error correction.

This error correction should be a standard part of the production process. A reputable CD replication service ensures high quality CD production with impeccable quality control. If your finished CDs require International Standard Recording Codes (ISRC) for distribution purposes, the codes must be already present on the master CD or CD-R that you submit for reproduction.