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Mastering Audio: The Art and the Science 2nd Edition

by Bob Katz (Author)
4.5 4.5 out of 5 stars 175 ratings
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Written by an award-winning, highly respected professional, Mastering Audio gives you a thorough introduction to the unique procedures and technical issues involved in mastering.

Suitable for all levels of students and professionals, it is ideal for anyone who wants to increase their mastery of digital and analog audio: musicians, producers, A&R, mastering, recording, and mixing engineers.

Fully updated to cover the latest technologies, Mastering Audio discusses audio philosophy and art: sequencing, levelling, processing; how to make a record album radio-ready; and mixing as it relates to mastering. Divided into five parts, the book begins with the basics--monitoring, mastering techniques, useful tutorials, and the fundamentals of dithering and decibels--then moves on to more advanced concepts, such as jitter and clocking, monitor calibration, and multi channel audio, miking, and acoustics. Leading-edge audio concepts are explained in an easy-to-grasp style.

Including practical tips and real-world experiences, Bob Katz explains the technical detail of the subject in his informative and humorous style.

Previous page
  1. ISBN-10
    0240808371
  2. ISBN-13
    978-0240808376
  3. Edition
    2nd
  4. Publisher
    Focal Press
  5. Publication date
    October 3, 2007
  6. Language
    English
  7. Dimensions
    9.25 x 0.75 x 8.5 inches
  8. Print length
    336 pages
  9. See all details
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Editorial Reviews

Review

"If you record, you need this book. Arguably the most clearly written single source of essential audio information available, Katz populates its 335 very readable pages with fascinating insights, expert testimony, myth-debunking facts, practical techniques, and strong opinions. Ostensibly about mastering, this book goes way beyond its primary subject and covers so much critical information that it should be required reading for anyone who presses 'Record.'"--GuitarPlayer.com

About the Author

Bob Katz played the B flat clarinet from the age of 10, and his lifelong love of sound and music led him to become a professional recording, mixing and mastering engineer (since 1971). Three of his recordings have garnered the GrammyT award and many others have been lauded in publications such as Stereo Review, Audio, and Stereophile. He has written over one hundred articles for audio and computer publications, and is an inventor and manufacturer with processors and support gear in use at mastering studios worldwide. His most recent patent-pending inventions, the K-Stereo and K-Surround Processors, fill a missing link in the mastering and post- production pantheon. He has been a workshops, facilities and section chairman of the AES and has given lectures in several countries. Currently, Bob runs Digital Domain Studios just north of Orlando, Florida.

Product details

  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Focal Press; 2nd edition (October 3, 2007)
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • Paperback ‏ : ‎ 336 pages
  • ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0240808371
  • ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0240808376
  • Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 1.83 pounds
  • Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 9.25 x 0.75 x 8.5 inches
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.5 4.5 out of 5 stars 175 ratings

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Robert A. Katz

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Customer reviews

4.5 out of 5 stars
4.5 out of 5
175 global ratings

Top reviews from the United States

Chris Vandeviver
5.0 out of 5 stars Should be Required Reading
Reviewed in the United States on April 12, 2013
Verified Purchase
This is the first time I've ever written a review for a product, ever. But Bob Katz's booking on audio is absolutely necessary for anyone interested in the field of audio. It should be mentioned that it is a technically heavy book, with plenty of audio related jargon. So some intermediate knowledge will definitely benefit you for reading it. Personally I've been recording and mixing for the last five or so years, accumulating education from trial and error and online before buying "Mastering Audio". When I did however, it's as if the wool had finally been pulled off from over my eyes. This book is the authority I've been looking for.

Now the emphasis is on mastering, but personally I think this book serves the whole spectrum of folks involved with audio. Not only is it a solid window into the often ambiguous world of mastering, but I think it serves engineers at any level of the process – including recording, mixing. It's clear footing of the available processes to you if you want to do your own mastering. And it makes you understand how to submit a quality mix. The chapters on calibrating your VU to DBFS, the K-System, Sample Rates, Bit Rates, Dither, and everything else are invaluable.

The only caveat I do have is this is not a book with tips or tricks to achieve great masters. There is no sample session of a song to be mastered that Bob walks you through. If you're for a checklist of operations to use on your own mixes, you're going to be a bit disappointed. If you ever wondered what the heck goes on in realm of mastering, and want to further round out your audio education, this is worth every penny.
3 people found this helpful
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arkman
5.0 out of 5 stars Extraordinary book for people who want to learn from a pro about how top quality recordings are made
Reviewed in the United States on March 16, 2014
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This is a terrific book if you know what you're getting. Want to know what top mastering pros worry about? This book will tell you. Want to know what the mixdown engineer should worry about and what should be done when mastering? That's here. Want to know what jitter is, what signal levels are appropriate for various purposes, this book will tell you why as well as how. Want to know how a professional builds and tunes his or her multi-hundred thousand dollar studio, that's here too. This book will not directly tell you how to build a $1500 studio, how to pick a cheap microphone like an SM58, or how to do a quick and dirty job of mastering your home recordings.

So why would anyone other than a pro read this book? Even if you're an advanced amateur, you might want to know things like: why you shouldn't use too much compression in your recordings, why your MP3s shouldn't max out on peak level, what jitter is and how you'd know the difference between a good and a mediocre A/D converter.

This book is very readable, but it does go into some fairly serious technical analysis of signal processing. If math scares you, then there are some sections you'll want to skim.

Overall, one of the best books on audio I've read (and I am very much an amateur, albeit with a background in physics and in software). I read it from cover to cover, thoroughly enjoyed it, and learned a ton. No, I won't be able to afford most of the equipment that he discusses, but I've learned a lot about the capabilities and limitations of the cheaper signal chains that I do get to use.
16 people found this helpful
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D
5.0 out of 5 stars Lives up to the hype
Reviewed in the United States on February 21, 2011
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I read both this book and the Bobby Ownsinski book on mastering because both got such mixed reviews. While the Bobby Ownsinski book is pretty much useless because it contains little to no practical info, this book delivers! I agree with some reviewers that you will need some basic knowledge of mixing and mastering to understand Bob Katz (i have no idea why anyone would want to learn mastering yet have no clue about producing music), but if you want ACTUAL, useful information/tips/tricks on how to master than this is book you want. If you make electronic music than you should already be familiar enough with compressors, EQs, etc to follow this. I highly recommend this for anyone interested in getting better masters and learning more about the industry side of it. This isn't the end all be all, and you won't be a pro just by reading this, but it is DEFINITELY helpful.

The only thing I didn't like was that they had interviews with pros on 5.1 sound (which was cool,) but not for anything else. I really liked these interviews and I think it would've been quite helpful to get the pros take on many of the other sections of the book; 5.1 is something I'm not going to be working with any time too and imagine the same is true for others just getting into mastering.
3 people found this helpful
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Danny Sebahar
5.0 out of 5 stars Definitely a necessity for anyone in the music recording industry, artist or engineer
Reviewed in the United States on August 29, 2017
Verified Purchase
Definitely a necessity for anyone in the music recording industry, artist or engineer.

The day I ordered it I read a bunch of forums about how this is the De Facto literature on Mastering for the beginner/non-professional and is still a necessity for the professional as your, pretty much only, reference material.

After I bought it Went to a music producers studio and the book was lying on the ground so I told him I just bought, and he said, "Nice, you are going to need it, lots of invaluable info in there". However, if you don't have a school or $20k at your disposal it is going to be difficult to practice without the artists at your disposal or the ridiculously expensive mastering gear necessary. Go watch some YouTube videos on mastering before "Diving In".

It turns out most mastering technique is, "It all depends". Well, it depends on the artist, the genre, the recording, the artist preference, your equipment, and when it comes down to it, simply, Does it sound good?"
3 people found this helpful
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Amazon Customer
3.0 out of 5 stars Hard to follow
Reviewed in the United States on August 25, 2010
Verified Purchase
I appreciate what the author(s) of this book were trying to do in explaining the technical side of audio and it's associated software and hardware. The trouble is they throw acronyms around without defining or explaining them, show formula without saying what all the parameters are and many other really bad technical writing practices. As a result the concept is great but very, very hard to follow.

I think maybe the authors were trying to hit that sweet spot and give the reader just enough technical background to understand the points they were trying to make. Unfortunately I think they failed, many times just making the concept harder to understand.
6 people found this helpful
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Top reviews from other countries

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Sergio3as
5.0 out of 5 stars Audio & Mastering
Reviewed in Spain on July 29, 2020
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Buen libro para tecnicas de audio
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Ludovico Ausiello
5.0 out of 5 stars Great book
Reviewed in France on November 23, 2017
Verified Purchase
A must read, so much in depth analysis of real life problems and tasks.

Brilliant reading, strongly recommended to every audio enthusiast.
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Marco Boccabella
5.0 out of 5 stars Fantastico!!
Reviewed in Italy on February 11, 2013
Verified Purchase
è un libro molto utile, chiaro e semplice, copre ogni aspetto del mastering, ogni sound engineer dovrebbe averne una copia a casa.
4 people found this helpful
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Earnest Mann
5.0 out of 5 stars Master! Master!
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on December 28, 2011
Verified Purchase
Couldn't resist a little Metallica there!!

As for the book itself, it's an easy to read handbook with clear presentation that manages to communicate to the less-physics-minded like myself. I disagree with Mr AJ Grant above, in that the book can be used by anyone with a DAW and app (Logic, Nuendo, Pro Tools etc.). You needn't have outboard gear to master your music. And, in fact, the principles within this book can help you:

1. master at home and get (at least) reasonable results

2. know what to look for when hiring mastering services

For #2, that's the price of the book saved, and a lot of tears and disappointment down the road.
One person found this helpful
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herman munster
5.0 out of 5 stars Besser geht's nicht!
Reviewed in Germany on May 31, 2010
Verified Purchase
Wer sich in irgend einer Weise mit (digitalem) Audio beschäftigt, sollte dieses Buch lesen - nicht nur Mastering-Profis! Seit neuestem gibt es zwar auch eine deutsche Übersetzung, aber wer des Englischen halbwegs mächtig ist, kommt hier ohne Probleme bestens zurecht! O-Ton ist auf jeden Fall immer besser, selbst als die beste Übersetzung.

Bob Katz erklärt komplexe Sachverhalte einfach, nachvollziehbar und leicht verständlich. Er verrät die Geheimnisse der digitalen Signalverarbeitung von der Wandlung Analog => Digital über die Vorgänge beim Bearbeiten innerhalb einer Digitalen Audio Workstation (DAW) wie EQing, Kompression, Limiting, bis zur Rückwandlung Digital => Analog. Er räumt auf mit zahlreichen Mythen und Legenden, die sich um digitales Audio ranken, erklärt Fallstricke und wie man sie vermeidet. Von den Vor- und Nachteilen unterschiedlicher Audioformate, Bittiefen, Sampleraten und Dithering bis zu den negativen Auswirkungen von "Peak-Normalisation" und "Hypercompression" bleibt kein Aspekt unberücksichtigt. Auf jeder Seite entdeckt man manchmal kleine, manchmal große Tipps und Tricks, wie man seine eigenen Arbeiten deutlich verbessern kann.

Auch wenn sich ein Kapitel ausschließlich High-End (= teurem!) Mastering-Equipment widmet, wird schnell klar, dass guter Sound und echte HiFi-Qualität nicht davon abhängen WAS man für die Erstellung einer Aufnahme verwendet, sondern WIE man es verwendet! Und hier können auch manche erfahrene Profis sicher noch einiges Lernen...
2 people found this helpful
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