10/10/2014 Ace Engineers Share Tips on Mastering for iTunes

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Ace Engineers Share Tips on Mastering for iTunes
By JUSTIN COLLETTI | Published: MARCH 3 , 2 01 2
Mastered for iTunes is out. We explore the tools, the best practices, and the controversy.
Last week, iTunes announced a new set of tools and best practices that would allow engineers to master albums
specifically for release on the iTunes Music Store.
Although the application is novel, the basic concept is nothing new. Mastering
engineers have long made separate masters to account for the quirks of
different mediums like CD, vinyl and even tape cassette. 2012 marks the first
time that engineers have had the tools, and the economic incentives, to tailor
separate masters to compensate specifically for the idiosyncrasies of iTunes
data-compressed AAC format.
Apples 256 kbps AAC files are supposed to sound pretty close to CD-quality and they routinely fool listeners in
double-blind listening tests. But when record-producer/living-legend Rick Rubin heard the iTunes version of his
new Red Hot Chili Peppers production Im With You, he was reportedly appalled by how its sound changed during
the conversion process.
He was horrified, Grammy-winning mastering engineer Vlado Meller told me when I visited him at Masterdisk.
It was as if they had notched out certain frequencies in order to compress the file. When we did the A/B test with
the original and the iTunes release it was like it was two different masters. If it wasnt for [Rubin] making a stink and
putting his weight behind it, we wouldnt have this today. He deserves the credit for that.
The Original Process
Rubin and RHCP had already spent months at the end of the production process dialing in the final sound of the
record. Rubin told MTVs Hive that it took several weeks of additional experimentation and mastering to reach
the final iTunes master, and that in the end, the difference between the two versions was night and day.
When Meller and his assistant Mark Santangelo were given the task of making the iTunes AAC versions more
closely match the original masters, iTunes new suite of tools was not yet available and the process was arduous.
The two had to run the masters through a specialized replica of the iTunes Stores proprietary AAC encoder using
command-line code, as the stores codec is different than the consumer-grade iTunes converter. The pair would
then A/B this new file with the original master, tweak their audio processors to compensate for any changes in
sound, and then run the new master through the specialized AAC converter again to hear if these changes were
sufficient.
Meller likens it to polishing a car in total darkness. It was like if someone gave you a beautiful BMW, handed you
some polish and then shut out the light and said Okay, go ahead! At the end youd turn the light back on and realize
you missed the whole entire roof.
The New Procedure
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10/10/2014 Ace Engineers Share Tips on Mastering for iTunes
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While the process of creating new iTunes masters for Im With You was painstaking, Rubin and Apple ultimately
declared it a success, and a new protocol and tool-set were eventually released to streamline the procedure in the
future.
Apples new Mastered for iTunes toolkit includes one applet that allows engineers to hear the affects of the AAC
encoder with minimal fuss, and another mini-app that helps them measure and locate any digital clipping created by
the conversion process itself. The new protocol also allows artists to submit higher-resolution 24-bit files to
iTunes, leading to better conversion.
Meller and Santangelos colleague at Masterdisk, Andy VanDette, recently remastered much of the Rush catalog for
iTunes and weighed in with some thoughts of his own. He told me that even with the improvements, the process can
still be complicated because the iTunes AAC algorithm is a quirky beast.
I can tell you what doesnt work, he said. One of my initial trial-and-error methods was to take digital
fingerprints of both versions of the song, and then try to apply a [compensating EQ] to the CD version and pump
that back through the AAC encoder.
Well, the problem with that is that input does not equal output. Its highly program dependent, and you rarely get
the same thing twice in a row. On one record, I might have three songs that would sound very similar and need the
same kind of treatment But then on the fourth song, it would be completely different and youd need to figure out
a new setting to make them match.
As for what those differences are, VanDette says It can be anything. It can be level or it can be imaging. It can be
top end, it can be low-end. On the live album that I did, I noticed the spatial difference much more than on the
studio albums, especially with the crowds and the ambiance being picked up by the stereo mics.
Santangelo agrees, saying that Its almost like an organism Its got a life of its own. Sometimes Im concerned by
whether the conversion is even consistent, but this is what we have and we do the best we can with it. You have to
take it song-by-song and case-by-case.
The Skeptics
Since the new tools have become available, more than 100 new and classic albums have been released in the
Mastered for iTunes section of the iTunes store and sales have been brisk. But not everyone is convinced of the
merits of the new program.
Many blind listening tests conducted by designers of audio codecs suggest that the majority of listeners have
difficulty noticing any differences between high-resolution AACs and their source files when they are properly
converted.
Even segments of the mastering community are divided. One mastering engineer in Britain named Ian Shepherd has
written several posts on his Production Advice blog that describe the Mastered for iTunes process as B.S.
In a critical YouTube video, he uses phase-reverse null tests that he believes should prove that in at least one
instance, a Mastered for iTunes version of a song sounded less like the original version than his own consumer-
grade iTunes encode.
While I dont doubt Sheperds central argument that Mastering Engineers are human, and therefore fallible, there
are flaws in his methods. The engineers who believe in the merits of iTunes mastering have at least three good
counter-arguments at their disposal:
First is that Sheperds sample size of one song is far too small to be conclusive especially with a manual process
like mastering for iTunes.
Second is that Sheperds files are irrelevant. He takes a song that was mastered before the new protocols were put in
place, and then uses both a lower bit-depth source-file and a different AAC encoder than was used to create the
Mastered for iTunes version. He then compares his own custom file to a down-sampled CD version rather than
the original high-resolution master.
Even if Shepherd fixes this part of his methodology, theres still a third argument: Since the original engineers used
a healthy dose of additive EQ to restore frequencies they claim were lost during the AAC conversion process, its
plausible that the phase-shift inherent in non-linear EQs could cause a phase-based null test to report additional
cancellation differences even if the use of that EQ was successful in restoring the original frequency balance.
With all that in mind, its no surprise that Shepherds results are different.
energy and helping to polarize opinions about
things that just arent worth fighting about.
Im talking about the ongoing war between
subjectiv ists and objectiv ists And...
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But all of this goes without even mentioning that null tests are only useful in establishing whether or not any
difference exists between two files. Null tests have never been established as a reliable indicator of how audible
those differences are.
Even using a simple frequency analyzer would have been a step in the right direction. But ultimately, a blind ABX
test would be necessary to get any sense of which file sounds closer to the original when heard by real-world
listeners.
Of course to average listeners, arguments on both sides may sound like a bunch of hot air as they consistently fail to
hear any differences in the sound of either file-type.
Still, Sheperd presents a thoughtful case and he raises fair questions, even if his test is flawed. His call for
skepticism is healthy But he might benefit from applying that same skepticism to his own claims in order to help
design a new and more conclusive study.
The End Result
Most major mastering engineers seem to disagree with Shepherd so far, and have heralded Mastered for iTunes as
a step in the right direction. Bob Ludwig of Gateway Mastering said in a recent interview with Postive Feedback that
the results of iTunes mastering can be so dramatic you can easily hear the difference between the new and old
technology on your little laptop speakers.
Instead of ingesting the music from a CD rip or 16-bit file, the new system uses 24-bit master
files for the encode. The AAC encoder can make use of bits 17-24.
[Another] important addition is the realization that the act of AAC encoding can cause
clipping where there was none on the original PCM .wav or .aiff file Apple has created tools
to log the number, severity and time of each clip so the mastering engineer can lower the level
of the 24-bit master by fractions of a dB and the clips and resulting distortion from them is
eliminated.
It is a complicated answer, but a 24-bit AAC encoded file can thus sound better and measure
better in certain cases than a normal 16-bit Compact Disc, which unfortunately has been
regarded as the gold standard for sound in these comparisons.
Mark Santangelo of Masterdisk agrees that iTunes new-found ability to convert reliably from 24-bit source files is
a central feature of the new iTunes mastering process. The other major development is that mastering engineers
can finally A/B their original masters with the AAC versions, allowing them to make better choices than before.
Santangelo adds that theres a human component at work as well, and just like mastering for any medium, theres as
much art as science involved in the process.
When youre going through an album song-by-song and choosing the right EQs, youll never [match the iTunes
version] 100%. Thats just impossible with a lossy file. Youre just trying to get as close as you possibly can.
But when you consider the file size and fidelity of your original file and then do the math to compare that with what
youre getting [back from the encoder ] you realize Gosh, Im losing maybe 65, 75% of the information that was
there. To be honest, Im pretty impressed that with that kind of loss, its even able to do what its doing in the first
place.
I guess when you think of it that way, our ears are really getting fooled quite beautifully.
Justin Colletti is an engineer and journalist. He is a staff writer for SonicScoop and the
managing editor of Trust Me, Im A Scientist.
This entry was posted in All Stories, Featured Stories, March 2012, Most Popular, Techniques, Technology.
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