Quality Control for Audio & Video
A fault that only shows up after pressing or after release is expensive and often impossible to correct. That is why we check every master before it leaves us, not only technically but musically as well. This applies to audio and to video alike.
Technical checks
The technical check makes sure the master is free of faults and meets the requirements of the target format:
- Clicks, crackles, dropouts and other digital faults
- Levels, loudness and true peak
- Channel assignment and phase
- Track starts and ends, markers and pauses
- File format, resolution and metadata
Musical checks
Meters find technical faults, but not musical ones. That is why a Tonmeister listens through every master in full and in real time. We listen for edits that become audible in context, for decays that end too early or still contain a noise, for pauses between movements that feel too short or too long, and for transitions that disturb the musical flow. Much of this only becomes apparent when you hear the album in one go and are no longer working on individual passages.
Quality control for video
For music videos and concert films we check picture and sound together. Is the sound exactly in sync with the picture, even in close-ups of hands, bows and lips? Do the picture edits agree with the music? Does the soundtrack in the film sound like the approved master? We also check the file itself against the specification of the platform or broadcaster. More about our video production.
For every master, in every format
Quality control is a fixed part of every delivery, whether stereo master, DDP, SACD or Dolby Atmos. We always check the file that is actually delivered, not an earlier stage of it. If we find something, we correct it and listen to the passage again.
Do you want to be sure your master goes into release without faults? Talk to us about your project.