The preferred audio format is a WAV or AIFF file. We also accept SDII (Sound Designer II) formats. Any sample rate is acceptable between 44.1khz and 196khz and Bit Depth should be 16 or 24. The files can be 2 separate mono files or stereo interleaved files.
Provide High Resolution audio files to take advantage of our highest resolution playback system. An ideal master will have 24-bit 96kHz resolution. These files contain more detail from which our encoders can create more accurate encodes. However, any resolution above 16-bit 44.1kHz, including sample rates of 48kHz, 88.2kHz, 96kHz, and 192kHz, will benefit from our encoding process.
Don’t up-sample files to a higher resolution than their original format. Up-sampling won’t recover or add information to an audio file.
For example; if you recorded and upload your mix at 192khz sample rate then we can playback the audio using that high quality file. We then master the song prior to converting to a CD ROM standard of 44.1khz, 16 bit file. The sonic quality will be noticeably better.
Read more from the “Prepare a Mix for Mastering Checklist”
Contact Andrew Mitchell with any questions and/or comments:
andy@audiobaymastering.com