How Many All Analog Mastering Facilities exist? Start List.

I know it's been mentioned on here that not many all analog mastering facilities exist. It got me thinking about which ones are out there that can master an lp all analog with no digital delay on the preview head. I may be missing a few and some could be questionable. I'll start a list:

Cohearent Audio
Acoustech Mastering (No longer exists?)
Bernie Grundman Mastering
Golden Mastering
Salt Mastering
Sterling Sound
Masterdisk
Chicago Mastering
The Mastering Lab
Mobile Fidelity Sound Lab
Stan Ricker Mastering
Joe Lambert Mastering ???
Nashville Record Press
Transfermation (UK)
Metropolis (UK) ??
The Exchange (UK)
iMastering (UK)
Abbey Road (UK)
UMG Berliner (Germany)
Willem Makkee (Retired) other 320, not sure of the place (Germany)
Timmion records studio (Finland)

Please add or correct if something is wrong.

 

Good thread Mike!

 

Thanks, lets see if others chime in.

Also, I know Steve masters with different people in different places but Acoustech is the only one I could remember as I own a large number of lps done there.

 

Note that all of these companies typically do digital and analog in the same room. Doing analog mastering is just a case of having an an analog source deck, analog mixing console, analog EQ, analog compressors, analog amplifiers, and a record-cutting lathe, typically in the same room. Not that big a deal. Even in the days prior to CD, many analog mastering rooms (like the ones I used at RCA in 1979-1980) had digital delays and digital reverbs, and those were often used on every other job.

I'm much more concerned as to whether the sound is good than whether it's analog or digital. There's good and bad examples of each. Analog itself doesn't make it good; it's the mastering engineer who does that.

 

I think he has worked at Marsh Mastering!

JG

 

Kevin Gray (formerly of Acoustech) is now over at his own place, Cohearant Audio in North Hills:

http://www.cohearent.com/

He does great work. As you can see from his website, he has a combination of analog and digital gear, with a big Neumann cutting lathe on the right side of the room. Nothing wrong with that.

The ears and the room are what matter, not whether it's analog or digital. One of the SACD engineers once told me something I never forgot, from a January 1999 press conference: "we believe at its highest stage of development, digital is as good or better than analog in every way." I think this can be true, provided engineers use good taste and judgement.

 

Well, why wouldn't you want a computer adjusting the groove pitch? If i'm not mistaken, even Steve uses one.

 

If i'm not mistaken, just about every single facility that cuts lacquers today uses a lathe that is controlled by a computer to adjust the groove spacing. Is that not correct? It's supposed to make for a better-cut record. Takes out the guess work.

I honestly don't know that they are going on about with the analog delay to the playback head.

 

RTI? Or are they a cutter or distributor? Someone teach me some lessons.

 

The signal that is fed to the lathe computer to control groove spacing, comes from a preview head... the signal going to the cutterhead is from the regular head and does not pass through any digital circuitry.

 

Stan Ricker can cut all analog vinyl in his facility.


edit: Oops, that's already on the list.

 

Does Capitol Records have an all analog mastering facility?

 

Right! That way the cutter head knows what's coming so that it can adjust the spacing accordingly.

Not too many places can cut analog tapes these days. Recall the story of how Jack White went through the trouble of getting his custom recorded master cut.

 

They can. But there could always be Joe Blow with a 1962 Scully record-cutting lathe in his basement, doing it all manually.

I think by the 1980s, most (but not all) mastering facilities were using pre-read heads and digital controls to pack more level and deeper bass onto records -- not by compression, just by opening up the grooves when necessary. I never felt this was a compromise in quality. I think a good mastering engineer can get very close to this just by taking copious notes, checking elapsed time, doing rehearsals, and then doing it manually.

I have seen cutting engineers (like the guy I used at RCA across the street from the Ceramic Dome) blow through lacquers and have to start over, because we gave him a tape with unexpected peaks or weird out-of-phase problems. I never had incidents where they actually blew out a cutting head, but they explained to me how and why that happened in the past.

The main thing is, I think you can make wonderful-sounding records with a lot of different tools. I would never be so egotistical as to turn to a mastering engineer and say, "I forbid you to use a digital device on this record," because the engineer needs to use what he or she is comfortable using. As long as it sounds good, who cares?

 

You seem to be harping on this point - I think we get it. You don't care if it's analog or digital, as long as it sounds good.
But I think this is a good idea for a thread, I'm kind of curious myself how many facilities can cut all analog.
I checked Joe Lambert's site, it states he has a Studer deck with a preview head so he can cut all analog. I have a feeling there are more places that can cut analog than people think.

 

They are a pressing plant. They press vinyls

 

My main objective here is to learn. If I state something incorrect (terminology or whatever) please correct me. A lot of misinformation does get spread on forums and such and I do my best not to do that. I swear I've read on this forum that only a few places can do analog mastering. The word "few" is a bit ambiguous and could mean 3-4 or 20 compared to say hundreds that were around back in the day. Also, IIRC the issue about some cutting analog with the "digital delay" as being bad has been discussed on here. I thought people like Kevin, Steve, Bernie,....etc. did it without the "digital delay" but I likely read that wrong.

Regardless, I'm just trying to list the places who can cut all analog and do great job! It's actually more than I used to think.

Also, I'm not trying to make this an analog and digital debate. I have some digital sourced lps that sound great. My analog sourced lps sound best, it's as simple as that and it's really not a contest. My ears are the final judge.

Add Record Industry to the list they use "digital high resolution delay to provide you with the finest cut achievable."

I'm not sure if that is the norm or if that is good or bad.

 

Don't tell me you're laughing at me because I didn't know this? I hope you were't bullied as a child or this is just a jovial laugh?

 

What are some modern vinyl records pressed at these plants?

 

I thought it was funny that I was able to use the word "vinyls" in a sentence.

 

This thread is about mastering facilities, where records are mastered, or "cut" (using either analog or digital technology... the OP is wondering which facilities can do it all analog).
Pressing plants manufacture the actual vinyl records... the last step in the process of making a vinyl record.

 

I think what the OP is trying to get at is which facilities use an all analogue chain for cutting laquers from analogue tape. What they do for CD or from digital sources is irrelevant. In other words those that have an analogue preview head rather than digital delay lines for their lathes. I'm not sure all those listed fall into that catagory.

In the UK maybe Townhouse (now Pierce), Alchemy and Loud Mastering. Certainly Cohearant, Grundman and Mastering Lab in the USA.

 

Not a "Joe Blow," but a great little studio and the lathe is a Skully and happens to be on the lower level (though not the basement):
http://www.musicolrecording.com/mastering.html

 

Larry Nix at Ardent. Digital preview head but the entire chain can be analog.