Jump to content

CD Production


Bill Phillips

Recommended Posts

What do you use to use to produce songs for streaming and cd tracks ready for publishing? I'd like to make sure that the cds have the text information that some cd players can read and display (red book), and anything else that should be on a CD, and that both cds and tracks for streaming have any registration codes (like ISRC) needed for proper attribution. I recall hearing that Sony CD Architect was the gold standard, but when I look for information  about CD Architect all I get are download sites that seem questionable to me and amazon all referencing version 5.2. I looked on Sony's website and found nothing. Any online reviews or forum discussions (Cakewalk SONAR forum and the SoundonSound articles & forum )I find are really old. Any help appreciated. 

This article is the most recent thing I could find on CD mastering: https://www.audiorecording.me/how-to-make-a-cd-master-that-complies-with-red-book-cd-audio-standard.html

Also it looks like CD Baby offers lots of music publishing assistance but I haven't dug into what it will cost for them to produce tracks suitable for streaming and cd release.

Thanks.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I do my own CD production.  I have a bank of 5 USB connected CD/DVD burners that will burn at 8X speed.  I use Nero BurningRom and the "DAO" (Disc at Once) option to make Red Book audio CD's that also contain Disc Title, Artist and song titles.  It will also burn the ISRC codes on to discs.   Nero BurningRom is the only program I've found that will burn to multiple drives at the same time.  All the others will only burn to one drive at a time.   I burn at 8X to ensure the disc will play in almost all audio CD players.  Older players will skip or not play at all if burned at higher speeds and this is an issue with most SATA interface CD/DVD burners as the lowest audio CD burning speed capability for them is 16X.

Some of the commercial CD duplicator companies use high speed duplicators (burners) and that can be a problem, too.  I worked 7 years with Tommy Cash (in Florida) and one year he brought copies of a new CD with him.  He had them made  at a Nashville duplicator but he was getting complaints about skipping discs and as it turned out the company burned them with high speed duplicators.   I made him 100 with my burned at 8X and there were no complaints.

I also use ink jet printable CD-R's and print labels directly on the discs with a Primera Bravo CD/DVD printer.  

Link to comment
Share on other sites

 

4 hours ago, Wookiee said:

Still using Soundforge/Sony's CD Architect 5.2d here looks like Magix, who now own Soundforge, have dropped CD Architect.  However I believe that you can cut CD's from Soundforge Pro 12.



 

Can it embed the text album info and ISRC codes and anything else that comercial CDs have?

4 hours ago, Simeon Amburgey said:

CD Architect is now sort of baked into Sound Forge 12.

Also, since it's still apparently available through amazon for about $100 do you see any reason, other than it's been discontinued, that I shouldn't buy CD Architect and not Soundforge Pro 12 for $600, (on sale right now for $400)? The Soundforge Pro 15 features list seems to focus on Mastering capabilities that I do in Cakewalk rather than the CD production capabilities that I'm looking to get.

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

50 minutes ago, Twisted Fingers said:

Also, since it's still apparently available through amazon for about $100 do you see any reason, other than it's been discontinued, that I shouldn't buy CD Architect and not Soundforge Pro 12 for $600, (on sale right now for $400)? The Soundforge Pro 15 features list seems to focus on Mastering capabilities that I do in Cakewalk rather than the CD production capabilities that I'm looking to get.

I have both Sound Forge 11 and 12 and  still find myself launching SF11 as they look so familiar in GUI and workflow ;) . I think SF12 was released with some additional plugins from their Sequoia DAW but mainly think it was to bring 64 bit compatibility. The next version of Sound Forge (13?) will probably bring a more substantial upgrade as far as updating  things more thoroughly.

If you can still acquire CD Architect and it can work on your existing system, I really see no reason to spend that much more for SF12. 

50 minutes ago, Twisted Fingers said:

Can it embed the text album info and ISRC codes and anything else that commercial CDs have?

As far as I know, yes it can. It has a lot to do with the capabilities of the actual CD burning hardware you have on your system. SF 11,  12 and CD Architect all should have META DATA fields where all of this can be entered into your project and burned onto the CD. Here is a screenshot of a recent project of mine laid out for CD production: You can see you have a field for ISRC codes, etc..

2103333894_SF12Screenshot.PNG.e46cf0fadb2fd7029983969c18a7a6aa.PNG


Hope that helps?

Edited by Simeon Amburgey
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Sony bundled CD Architect with Sound Forge, and then so did Magix. I have Sound Forge 9 and 11. It's in 9 for sure, don't remember if it's in 11, but maybe you could find a new and legal copy of SF9 on Ebay or somewhere. After you've mastered your tracks and assembled your CD, I would recommend using a commercial manufacturing service for the final production.

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Please sign in to comment

You will be able to leave a comment after signing in



Sign In Now
×
×
  • Create New...