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Crystal Mastering offers
it's clients the unique service
of having two, 'mirror
image' mastering suites.
This allows clients the comfort to work in either
studio
and
experience the same acoustic environment &
equipment.
The studios are a true floating
design, with each mastering
room built as a free-standing shell,
resting on hundreds
of
rubber isolation pads. Purpose designed and built
from the
ground up, our mastering rooms represent the very best
that
modern, acoustic science has to offer, creating the
ultimate
listening space to appraise your recordings.
Each studio is configured
around an analogue, mastering
console, either custom made, or heavily
modified. Providing an
extemely pure and short
signal path, as
well as precise
monitoring controls, our consoles also allow the
engineer to
work with
the finest outbaord mastering
equipment, ranging
from valve compressors, to precision
mastering equalizers.
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:: MASTERING STUDIO 1 ::
Mastering Console
Focusrite Blue 300,
analogue mastering console
Digital Audio
Workstation
Sonic Studio -
SoundBlade
Outboard Equipment
Equalizers
GML 8200
API 5500
Weiss EQ-1 mk2
Sontec MES 432 - *Arriving soon*
Compressors &
Limiters
Manley Vari-Mu - tube
compressor
Alan Smart C2
Waves L2
digital limiter
Converters
Lavry Gold AD 122-96
Mark III
Metric Halo 302
Transports & other gear
Sony APR 1/2 inch
tape machine
Studer A80 &
A810 1/4 inch tape machine
Custom, analogue M/S
processor
Dorrough Peak/VU
meters
Plextor 8/20 CD
writer
Monitoring
Main
: Custom, time
aligned
monitors
: Legend (dual subwoofers)
Nearfields :
Genelec 1029A
Genelec
1091A Subwoofer
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:: MASTERING
STUDIO 2 ::
Stereo & Surround Mastering
(5.1)
Console
Custom analogue, transfer console
Crookwood
monitor desk
Digital Audio
Workstation
Sonic Solutions HD system
Outboard Equipment
Equalizers
GML
8200
API 5500
Weiss EQ1-DYN
Compressors &
Limiters
Manley
Vari-Mu -
tube compressor
Alan Smart C2
Waves L2 digital
limiter
Converters
Lavry Gold AD122-96
Mark III
Apogee PSX-100
DAD 2402
Transports & other
gear
Studer A80 tape
machine
Custom analogue M/S processor
Dorrough Peak/VU meters
Plextor 8/20 CD
writer
Monitoring
Main: Custom, time aligned
monitors
: Legend (dual
subwoofers)
Surround monitors (5.1):
Genelec 1029A &
1091A
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Room design & acoustics by Peter
Brown
Cabling and power conditioners by Gary Cawsey
___________________________________________________
And of course, the most important bits of gear;
our engineers.
John Ruberto, was Melbourne's first, full
time mastering engineer, and has been
mastering since the mid '80s. John started his career at Newmarket studios, in what
was then, Melbourne's only mastering studio. Initially involved in all aspects
of studio work, from multi-track recording to mixing, John soon found his
calling to be in the cassette mastering room. A humble set up, the room comprised of
a modified, Sansui, graphic equalizer and an in-house compressor. A Dynafex
noise reduction unit was also used, as well as Telefunken & MCI tape
machines. Later down the track, an Orban Eq was incorporated along with a pair
of Yamaha NS10s. After several years at that, John was put in charge of the new,
digital, CD mastering room. Being the only CD mastering engineer around town,
John worked feverishly to keep up with the demand. Soon after, it was here,
where he met fellow engineer, and soon to be long time work partner, Joseph
Carra.
Whilst finishing his Bachelor of Music
& audio studies at La Trobe University, Joe too, was involved in the
daily workings of the studio, and worked closely with the Newmarket jazz label.
Joe also worked in the quality control section of the cassette manufacturing
department. Here, his job entailed listening to the production master against
the duplicate, trying to hear any audible differences or flaws introduced by the
manufacturing stage. Like John, he quickly found himself ushered from the
cassette, to CD mastering room, and some how, never got
out!
Working on every imaginable style of music,
John and Joe gradually honed their mastering skills over the years. Mastering
for CD as well as vinyl, both engineers worked side by side and were entrenched
in those very early days of CD mastering. This new digital format sweeping
across the industry, brought with it, new technical challenges, and seemingly
overnight there seemed to be a whole new set of standards and rules to learn.
The limitations of analogue tape and vinyl were thrown out the
window.
However, the digital revolution was still in
it's infancy. It was a time when studios were still void of computers and
anaolgue tape was still king. Dolby noise reduction was still in daily use, and
the only form of editing was done with a razor blade, Ouch! Melbourne still had
quite a few large format studios in operation and DAT tape was quickly making in
roads. Murmurs of hard disk editing were heard, however no one had ever seen or
used one.
The boys used some of the
first digital mastering equipment ever made. Gear such as the Sony 1630 U-matic,
Sony DAL-1000 & Digital DASH machines, were among the first generation of digital mastering tools,
and became standard issue for some years to come.
Eventually, the boys felt the need to break away from this early style of digital
mastering, desiring a fully blown, analogue, mastering suite, to rival any overseas
studio. In 1996, the lads joined forces to create, Crystal Mastering. It was
Melbourne's first, hi-end, analogue, mastering studio, that employed cutting
edge technologies in both analogue and digital domains. The best valve
compressors and analogue equalizers were amongst the first items in the rack.
Soon to follow was an anaolgue mastering console as well as custom built gear to
get the job done to the highest standards. The legendary Sonic Solutions,
digital audio workstation, was imported from the USA, as well as 20-bit Apogee
A/D converters. Crystal Mastering soon became the 'go to' place in Melbourne for
mastering.
Over the past 14 years, the studio
has grown from one, to two mastering suites, and the engineers have
mastered literally thousands of recordings. Joe and John have become well adept in
mastering every style of music, from the coolest jazz to the hardest of grindcore
metal. The engineers continue to work with local and international artists day in
and day out, and have continually set the standard for
mastering in
Melbourne.
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