Hey Anthony,
I want to email you my song. Can I send you an MP3 file?
I frequently get asked this question, and the short answer is NO. If that is the only file you have, then we will work with it. If that is the only file that the studio sent you, then you should find another studio. We mastering engineers want CD quality or better files to master.
In the age of ever changing technology and increased bandwidth (internet speeds), larger files are becoming more and more mainstream. I can send a 25 megabyte file vial Google email. That is crazy. Yes, it may take a while to retrieve due to ones internet connection, but that is a large file. I recently worked on a 24 bit 96 KHz 5.1 surround sound project for download sales. Quality is making a big comeback!
What I am saying here, is that we became used to using MP3 files as a normal way of listening to music when the internet speeds were slower. We need to break that mentality of accepting low quality. Let’s look at an MP3 file vs. a CD quality wave file. A one minute stereo wave file at 16 bits and with a sampling rate of 44.1 KHz is 10 megabytes. An Mp3 file for one minute at 128 kbs is .915 megabytes or about one tenth the size. You are losing about 90 percent of the data.
One thing to note here, up-sampling your file after it has been recorded does nothing for the sound quality and makes the file larger and harder to transfer.When sending files for mastering, you want to send the engineer the best quality file that you have. If you recorded your project initially at a higher bit rate and sampling rate, render it out at those settings and send that to the mastering engineer. This will ensure that you get the best possible sound quality for your project. An MP3 has a significant amount of data loss and once you compress it and limit the audio, it becomes very apparent. You spend your money and time trying to get the best possible performance and sound, why ruin your efforts by choosing a low resolution file to send to your mastering engineer.
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I read your article and the heading said “Best Quality Files to Send…
However, you have never actually mentioned what format is the best format to send!