What are the characteristics quality recordings?

Hi,

Regarding cd´s;

I wrote this on another thread:

Considering a CD takes 2secs to press ( including cooling ), and the ´master-copy´ looses detail on every press ( can take 2-10K of cycles ), your lucky if you get one of the first ones off the press, as the rest will decrease in quality. Buy two of the same CD, play them, chances are good that they will differ in quality.

Serious press-companies/Labels runs with a new master in Very short cycles. Getting better quality sounding CD´s.

The first ones off the press sounds just astonishing!

Also, I just get scared when knowing that a lot of studios plays with a simple transistor-/household-/car-/megaboom-stereo
for reference/mixdown-reference. Because they know that there´s were the music will be played the most. They make it sound good on those thus they know that will sell them more records. Scary and Ugly, but true.

Mike

Ok Bufus;

They make copies.

Process: Very tiny plastic granulate is poured into an "oven", there it is melted, poured onto a small platter and just before the plastic sets again a "master-copy" is pressed ( mirrored ) over the platter. Takes about 2secs, and then the plastic has the master-copy´s "grooves" in it ( to small to see with eye ). The "almost-cd" then is lifted out and a thin aluminum foil is placed over the "top" of the unfinished cd ( for laser to be reflected in, just like a mirror ). After that a "empty" platter of plastic is glued onto the "bottom" of the cd, protecting the "grooves". Finally a thin layer of laquer or print is placed on top of the cd. Thus the "top" of the cd is the most vunerable part of the disc. The "music" side is protected by a 1mm plastic layer.

Each time a press is done over the melted plastic, it WILL damage the master-copy. However the damage is minute, but after 20000presses you would have lost 5-10% of the original state. Not much - but as guessed, very audible.

Mike