Bill Jacobs & Sonik Mastering

SONIK'S WARM, ANALOG-LIKE SOUND

Because recorded music today ends up in the digital domain, often sounding cold and flat, Sonik Wheel is skilled at restoring a rich, warm, and spacious analog-like sound using special techniques and equipment like the Crane Song HEDD 192.

We use K-System metering and monitoring to help prevent the hyper-compressed, distorted, and ear-fatiguing sound found on many CDs today. Designed by mastering guru Bob Katz, the K-System integrates the best concepts of the past with current psychoacoustic knowledge.

REAL RADIO-READY SOUND ™

Despite popular myth, there is no advantage to making songs extra loud for radio. The truth is that hyper-compressed music does not sound louder on the air. Radio processing brings every song up to the same loudness level. Songs that are mixed or mastered too loud will sound even more distorted and flat after radio processing. Sonik Wheel masters are specially designed to survive potentially damaging radio processing. A properly mixed and mastered song, with its greater dynamic range, may actually sound louder on the radio!

If you like loud music, turn the knob of your playback system clockwise. Songs with greater dynamic range will probably sound louder.

STILL WANT YOUR MIXES LOUD?

OK, say you're a metal or hard rock band and you want your songs intrinsically loud. We can make your mixes loud without destroying them. We use special processors and techniques, such as parallel compression, soft clipping, equalization, and the Crane Song HEDD 192, plus a few other tricks, to make your mixes loud with a minimum of distortion.

SONIK'S GEAR

We use some of the same gear used by the world's top (and most expensive) mastering studios, such as equalizers and the linear phase split compressor by Algorithmix and the Brickwall Limiter from the TC Electronic Mastering System 6000.

Our Lipinski Sound monitors and amplifier were designed by famed engineer Andrew Lipiniski, recognized by the U.S. National Bureau of Standards as having perfect hearing. Check out our Lipinski Sound L-707 loudspeakers at www.lipinskisound.com.

Check out our gear here.

SONIK'S EXPERIENCE

Sonik Wheel's owner and chief engineer, Bill Jacobs, has more than 30 years of experience as a musician and audiophile concerned with the sound quality of recorded music.

ISRC

Sonik Wheel can encode your songs with International Standard Recording Codes (ISRC). The ISRC is the international identification system for sound recordings. ISRCs provide the means to automatically identify your recordings for royalty payments.

AUDIO REPAIR

We can eliminate unwanted noises from otherwise perfect recordings, such as metronome ticks, a squeaky chair, door slam, cell phone ringing, “p”s popping, and digital clicks. Occasional audio repairs are included with all Sonik mastering.

SONIK'S LOW PRICES FOR HIGH QUALITY MASTERING

Check out our new low prices for independent artists: $25 per song up to $300 for a full-length CD.

With the value of the US Dollar hitting record lows as compared to the Euro and other currencies, there has never been a better time to master your CD's in the USA.

Click here for a currency converter to see how much $25 US dollars equals in your currency.

Packages include a red book standard production master CDr, backup master CDr, and Internet ready mp3s converted directly from 32-bit masters.

TRY A FREE DEMO MASTER!

If you're considering having a project mastered, please feel free to send a mix for a free Sonik demo master. The best way to judge mastering is to hear one of your own mixes mastered. Much of the ultimate sound quality of mastering depends on the mix.

Drop a .wav or .aif file in the Sendspace Drop Box at the Sonik Wheel website. Be sure to include your email address so we can contact you.

FOR BEST RESULTS IN MASTERING - Remember, "Less is more"

Please do not add any processing or effects to the overall mix at mixdown. Do not compress, limit, EQ, normalize, use an exciter or finalizer, or add tube saturation or analog simulation. A little compression at mixdown is OK, but only if it is necessary for a specific effect. (Compression, EQ, etc. are OK on individual tracks.) Its often best not to compress a mix before mastering. We may want to equalize and do a few other things before adding compression.

Leave plenty of headroom for mastering. Peak levels should never exceed -3 dBFS and the average mix levels should be around -10 to -18 dBFS or lower (average sum of the left and right channels). (RNDigital Labs offers a free plug-in meter, called Inspector, that monitors headroom.)

Use the best mic and preamp you can afford, especially on lead vocals. Rent a vocal mic if you need to.

Use the highest bit resolution and sample rate possible. Record at 24-bit (or higher) rather than 16-bit of possible. This can significantly improve sound quality. If all you have available is 16-bit, we can work with that also. In addition, recording at higher sample rates, generally up to 96 kHz, can further improve the sound.

Mixdown to 32-bit float or 24-bit resolution. (16-bit is acceptable if that's all you have available, but try to avoid it.)

Please feel free to send me a message if you have questions about preparing your mixes for mastering.

We have more tips at www.sonikwheel.com.

SONIK CAREER AND MARKETING PLANS

Success starts with a clear, realistic plan. Later, measure your success and adapt. Sonik Wheel offers music career planning services to specially selected artists. Contact us at sonikwheel@sonikwheel.com for availability.

SONIK WHEEL ARTIST MANAGEMENT

Sonik Wheel provides personal management services for specially selected artists, such as singer, songwriter, and voice actor Marie Ingerslev, so that our artists can focus more on music and less on business. Please contact us for information and availability. Visit Marie's website here.

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Visit us at www.sonikwheel.com