Mastering - Posted on 2017-03-13 by Corrine Selden

Here are a few highlights from what I learned about mastering in Chapter 19:

• Dither adds a low level noise to your audio signal to make quantization errors less noticeable. 
• Data is encoded on a CD using Linear Pulse Code Modulation (LPCM).
• 44.1 kHz and 16 bit is the Red Book CD Standard for a sample rate and bit depth. 
• RMS metering is a measure of the average amplitude based on a mathematical algorithm.
• Loudness is achieved by compressing and limiting at different gain stages, reducing the dynamic range and boosting the overall volume of the audio signal. 
• Dither is used to fix quantization errors due to lowering sample rate and bit depth. 
• The period of time from the early 90s to early 2000s where we saw less and less dynamic range in our music and more and more relative loudness was referred to as the Loudness Wars. 
• Relative Loudness is a term that refers to how loud a song is compared to other songs. 
• PQ code is data that is encoded on the first 2 of 8 channels of subcode on a CD. 
• Peak metering is a measure of the amplitude of a waveform instantaneously as the waveform is playing back.
• One of the earliest uses of something resembling dither  was during WWII when it was found that steady vibrations reduced the errors of trajectory calculation computers.