Fast Trax offers professional mastering and authoring services for your CDs and DVDs.

Benefits of professional mastering at Fast Trax

  * Optimize average and peak volume levels for proper relative loudness
  * Signal processing - compression & EQ
  * Uniform sound matching from track to track
  * Establish a sonic "stereo field" for all tracks
  * Dynamic Enhancement
  * Harmonic Enhancement
  * Bringing the Level Up
  * Transparent Limiting
  * Applying the best bit dithering
  * Denoising/Declicking/Decrackling
  * Arranging tracks in final sequence
  * Timing of the space between tracks
  * Create cross fades between tracks if desired
  * Place track markers at head of all tracks
  * Clean-up start and ending of each track (including fades)
  * Insert Master Track Log the PQ codes required for replication
  * Add CD+Text for the lastest players to display song title, artist name, etc.

Mastering is the crucial, critical, and final creative step in the process of making audio recordings. We utilize the latest digital tools as well as the very best classic analog tools available to give your CD that competitive edge.

The mastering process is both an art and a science involving a variety of technical processes and associated equipment .Equally important are the "fresh ears" of the experienced mastering engineer. We will review your material on high resolution monitors and do our best to make your CD sound as good as it can.

What mastering can't offer you

Let's be honest... mastering can not achieve what you do in mixing because we have no control over individual instruments as you have at the mixing stage. Therefore, bringing that vocal up a bit, or bringing the guitar down a little is much harder to achieve at the mastering stage. We do have the latest tools that let us sculpt things very accurately, but nothing beats having the individual gain, compression, and equalization controls for every instrument which you have when doing multi-track mixing. We suggest you also consider us when mixing your project too as we know what goes into a well mixed song and what will master well. However, even if you've mixed elsewhere, we still want to help you get your CD sounding as good as it can with the improvements that mastering can offer.

People who have had us master their CDs speak of the improved stereo imaging, detail, punch, high end clarity, solid low end, and overall loudness. Virtually any recording can be improved with professional mastering from an experienced mixing and mastering engineer.

We will master a single song or an entire CD. Pricing is based on the number of songs and the run time of the material. If you have specific questions on your project you can contact us with details of your specific needs.

Other services we offer include audio transfers and sonic restoration as well as video editing and DVD authoring.